There was a long TV clip -apparently real- of Ronald Reagan talking about a supposed Soviet missile buildup. At first I thought it was just to add atmospheric realism. But on further cogitation it seemed way too prominent and quite different from anything else in the film, almost as though it summed up a "theme" of the film.
What did you think the meaning of the Reagan clip was?
I don't remember it, but I'll be re-watching the film soon enough, so I guess I'll see then.
shareReagan was talking about the military build-up of nuclear weapons in the Soviet Union.
Perhaps this was to say that the young girl in the film was created to be a new kind of weapon (her telekinesis) in the arms race of the Cold War?
They Live. We Sleep.
^ That's what I thought.
They thought they were alone...
I don't think Arboria was interested in producing weapons. Barry? Perhaps. Arboria was a peacenik though, he wanted a retreat from society. Peace, love and all the other things cult leaders of the 60's wanted, including the "THE WALLS ARE MELTING" hallucinagens.
Even the film he watches as he dies seems to push that. He says something along the lines of it makes him feel more peaceful, and the film is about an island nearly untouched by modern society.
If anything, Reagan's speech was highlighting what Arboria wanted to escape from and the cold war may have been the cause of his exit from society.
Interesting counter-point.
I look forward to revisiting the film with this in mind.
They thought they were alone...
In the clip, just before it cuts off, Reagan is transitioning from the general global Soviet buildup to a specific threat "closer to home." If I remember correctly, he would have been referring to the Sandanistas taking power in Nicaragua. Shortly after that, Barry puts on that leather jacket which says "Noriega" prominently on the back (?). Not sure of the significance, but it's clearly a reference to the Reagan clip, as Manuel Noriega was the Soviet puppet that became dictator of Nicaragua when the Sandanistas took over.
-Make it so!
Thanks for the intriguing connection I had overlooked.
(The specific details of your history doen't seem to be entirely accurate though: The Sandinista leader was Daniel Ortega. While clearly no friend of the U.S., and behaving in a way expected of someone steeped in "communist" ideology, he's not generally considered to be a Soviet "puppet". Manuel Noriega was dictator in Panama [not Nicaragua]. While he so ticked off the U.S. that they invaded and arrested him, he too is not generally considered to be a Soviet "puppet".)
Haha, serves me right for just popping off a post without checking the details. I was going by my hazy memory of the 80s alone. I don't even remember whether this had happened by 1983 actually.
I do remember that the Sandinista victory in Nicaragua was connected (at least in the Reagan administration's analysis) to the insurgency in El Salvador, and that the actual issue at that time was whether the U.S. should intervene there.
The administration had kind of a puppet of a puppet of a puppet theory as I remember; Cuba was the Soviet puppet, Nicaragua was being aided by Cuba (? was it?) and the insurgency in El Salvador was being supported by Nicaragua.
The idea at that time was that the Soviet Union was orchestrating all of this with the goal of gaining bases or at least influence along the main global oil supply routes that went from South America, the Middle East and Africa to Europe and the U.S. I remember a Reagan campaign issue pamphlet that diagrammed this out on a big color coded world map.
So back to BTBR... As you pointed out, Noriega indicates Panama, and the Panama Canal was one of the vital oil route links being threatened by all this activity in Central America (at least according to the theory). The speech clip refers to this, when he says something about the Soviets threatening our interests around the world... and the bit near the end where he uses the phrase "closer to home" or something similar.
But still... I wonder what the significance is within the context of BTBR. Maybe just a shout-out to the era? I've got nothing, lol.
-Make it so!
No significance - Cosmatos said he put small hints to Reganism in the film but that ultimately it doesn't mean anything to him or his vision. Though he welcomes viewers to make their own connections.
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