The Thing, Cixious and John Carpenter's The Thing

Two things I love: Kurt Russell. Kurt Russell kicking butt. So really, get down to it, I only love one thing, since Kurt Russell has two settings “kick butt” and “sleep.” Who am I kidding, Kurt Russell doesn’t sleep. They set him to “kick butt” and ripped off the knob.  As a kid, I must’ve watched Big Trouble in Little China and Escape From New York (also both John Carpenter films) a combined 500 times. Carpenter is, unlike Russell, hit or miss. The Thing was, as far as I’m concerned, one of his best. But we’re not here to swoon over Kurt Russell and his manly beard and flowing locks. Instead, we are here to talk about what makes him “masculine,” how masculinity operates in the film and more importantly where that puts femininity.

                But the film doesn’t feature any women, you say. Yeah, I heard you in the back, always groaning and complaining about my lame jokes. I’ve got my eye on you. Well, that is a good observation though….for a jerk. Well, Helene Cixous would argue with you. I bet a lot. She seems like she was an arguer. But we’ll get to her and her dirty mouth.

So, what does this film do with masculinity?

                First, let’s talk about Kurt Russell. I mean, come on, I wanted to BE Kurt Russell when I grew, yet I still grew up to be mild mannered Bob Gurnett and not eye-patch wearing Bobbito Pliskin. I still think its BS. More to the point though, Kurt Russell in this movie, along with his guns, flame-throwers, dynamite, ect, is a symbol of masculinity. Even the actor chosen for the role, at the time, was a symbol for all that is man. Cixous discusses what she describes as a male obsession with phallic objects. She says that man is “poised to keep glorious phallic monosexuality in view” (2047). She speaks of how men are uncomfortable – even militantly opposed – to female sexuality because it interferes with their need to hold the phallus as a sign of their power.  We see the very phallic flame-thrower as a sign of power when MacReady returns after being cut loose in the snow. He was the bearer of the flame-thrower, therefore he was the one giving out orders. This is also represented by the gun that Windows attempts to take from the case, the knife and scalpel that Clark brandishes and the dynamite used to bring down the entire camp. Over and over, phallic symbols show the masculine power, either over the more submissive researchers – keep in mind MacReady is the much more “manly” pilot – or the Thing itself.

An exact image of how the 10 year old Bob envisioned his adult self.

Alright, so Kurt Russell (aided by his flamethrower penis – wow, loved that I typed that) is a representation of masculinity, but how is this masculinity represented in relation to feminity?

                Well, the relation to feminity is the only reason why this observation is important. Cixious argues that man’s need to creative a phallolococentric (no surprise there is a red line under that) society is based on Freud’s (HIM AGAIN???) idea of castration anxiety. She believes that this causes a great fear in men of female sexuality. This fear, she claims, is what causes the demonization of women in literature. She argues, “That is because they need femininity to be associated with death; it’s the jitters that gives them a hard-on! For themselves!” Oh yeah, she went there. So let’s examine this. There are two “female” characters in this film as far as this analysis goes. The first is very fleeting. You may not even remember her, but she was my favorite. That’s right, the chess computer. When she crosses Kurt Russell, he calls her a bitch and destroys her. The Thing is another representation of this. It is demonized for taking on their form, for taking on their bodies, much like Cixious talks of how woman is perceived when she does not practice the “modesty” expected of her. Eventually, the flamethrower wielding men, with their dynamite and guns and manly beards are triumphant over the Thing.

I could talk all day about the Thing in many instances resembles a vagina with teeth and is a man-eater, but didn’t we beat that to death in class?