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After discussing the potential political message behind Carpenter’s The Thing in class yesterday, it made me think of a particular scene that plays well into the Cold War allusions pointed out by Alison. I’m talking about the scene where they find the bags of blood tampered with, causing them to lose faith in the current station chief Garry. They decide they must elect a new leader they can trust. First they all suggest Vance (I think that was the character’s name, not sure), who appears nervous and declines the position. Childs then steps in saying it should be him, but they dismiss him as too aggressive. It is left to MacReady to step up as a sort-of medium and take charge.
I don’t know much about Cold War politics, but it struck me as another possible allegory because we see the crew lose faith in their leader in the face of an external threat and have to make the decision as to who would be the best replacement. They recognize that they can’t have a leader too passive nor too strong-willed, instead looking for someone who can be both and more importantly knows when to be either. Just a point I thought I’d add that I didn’t get to say in class.