Jul 15
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They Live, 1988
I had never heard You Gotta Be before reading eleutherophobia and now its on my OC playlist. So thank you for that.
It's a quality song! You Gotta Be (Des'ree)
TBH, I went back and forth between that one and Drive for They Live/the octopus. Because when I finally edited that fic into a semi-coherent shape, the through-line that emerged ended up being about the line between "do it scared" and "don't ignore fear entirely."
Like, it felt important that Tom will go cliff-diving but he won't go bobbing for apples, that he'll be alone with a (whale-sized) yeerk but he still cuts his own hair. Sometimes fear is a sign something's wrong, sometimes it's not. If you listen too much to fear then you do dumb shit like trying to pressure your girlfriend into a body-modifying felony, but if you don't listen enough to fear then you do dumb shit like agreeing to an interview you know is going to be a catastrophe just to prove your own machismo.
Jordan is terrified of driving but she'll drive LA thruways for Rachel, Jean is terrified of her kids moving away but learns the only way to keep them close is to let them leave, Rachel is terrified that if she acknowledges her own fear then that fear will tear the world apart but it won't start healing if it's being suppressed. You can't ignore fear, but you can't do everything it says.
And like, "You Gotta Be" is
Listen as your day unfolds Challenge what the future holds Try and keep your head up to the sky Lovers, they may cause you tears... You gotta be hard, not too, too hard
Whereas "Drive" is
I can't help but ask myself How much I let the fear take the wheel and steer It's driven me before And it seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal But lately I'm Beginning to find that I should be the one behind the wheel Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there
𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙇𝙞𝙫𝙚 1988
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
In which Rachel does not become a professional wrestler, Tom does not (quite) cheat at basketball, and the U.S. doesn't entirely suck.
THEY LIVE
