THE THING film analysis (update) "Was Childs infected?" part 1/2

A study of hidden plot details and thematic use of costumes in John Carpenter's The Thing. Written and narrated by Rob Ager.

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[jbaz77777]

This may have been Carpenters intention...but it's a bad conclusion. If Childs was The Thing there was no reason for him to go hang out with McReady at the end. That would be stupid. He would have 1. Killed him or 2. Gone somewhere to freeze and be found by the rescue team. Interacting with Mac was a risk he didn't need to take.

[robag88]

We only see them interract for a minute or two and we're not shown what Childs' intention is. To ensure his frozen thing-body would be found by the rescue team, returning to camp would be essential. He may not have expected to find Mac and may not have known if Mac was still human. It also makes it a more dramatic ending having them interract a little.

[Ender Wiggin]

4.Finally, continuing on the survival mentioned above, Blair not only disabled the transportation, but also killed the remaining dogs, and attempted to kill his fellow man. Again, the creature would not eliminate other potential "carriers" as this would limit it's ability to spread, and had already shown that it preferred to have more then one carrier, when the "dog" infected the first person (in silhouette).

[robag88]

Very good points on the Blair issue thanks.

I'm not so sure about the killing dogs though. It was happy to kill Fuches rather than assimilate. I'd also say it's possible Blair (if infected) wanted to be quarantined so he would be out of sight. Killing the dogs contributed to that quarantine decision.

As Mac says, it just wants to go asleep in the cold until a rescue team finds it. It needed to kill everyone in the camp so the rescue team couldn't be informed.

[Dan Hansen]

in the beginning the dogthing licks bennings all over then bennings drinks from macs bottle, so thing infection couldve been all over the bottle all along

[robag88]

I don't know if it actually licked him, but it looked like it was trying too. Bennings is assimilated later in the store room so it couldn't have been the dog saliva.

[robag88]

The way to prevent it is to radio a warning back and advise quarantine of the base. By smashing the radio Blair is ensuring that there won't be a Quarantine and that rescue teams won't know what they're walking into.

[robag88]

The prequel is irrelevant to the first film - diff film makers, nearly a 30 yr time gap, and a poor script that has assimilated characters showing up wearing the same clothes they had on before they were attacked.

[warrenterra79]

It could be seen as a guy wearing a beret. I think this scene was a red-herring because the entire dog-thing would have absorbed into the man like it did with the other dogs later on.

[warrenterra79]

You missed a key point:

Childs still has the ear-ring at the end of the film and the thing cannot imitate metal :)

[Dan Hansen]

and even though it isnt played by any actors in the movie that shadowy figure looks most like norris with his sweater and curly hair

[Dan Hansen]

yes bennings is assimilated later in the storeroom, in the beginning the dogthing licks his gloves and he doesnt wear them again, so i assumed he touches macs bottle with dogspit on his gloves, just a farout theory

[warrenterra79]

This film is genius. I can't believe I never noticed these things (pun intended) :)