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heatray5dC.H.U.D.:
To dismiss C.H.U.D. merely as liberal propaganda that promotes the fallacy of the increasingly dire plight of America's urban homeless under Reagan is the miss the point entirely. In its pursuit of social justice, C.H.U.D. leaves no stone unturned, and no concentration of power is left unstained by guilt for the horrible mutation by toxic waste of Bowery homeless into Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. The government is guilty of homicidal pragmatism that condemns the citizens Manhattan to horrifying mutilation at the mucous-coated, vestigial hands of a hoard of man eating mutants; the local cops of hubris that blinds them to danger until too late; the media of egotistic exploitation of the worst off among the homeless in pursuit of the story that will finally win them recognition and relevance among their peers.
Certainly the decision made by Reagan's administration to dispose of highly toxic waste in the utility tunnels beneath Manhattan is a double-edged sword at worst. Yes, some homeless individuals met their deaths from radiation exposure, but the majority were turned into nearly indestructible super beings. Finally able to support themselves, the symbolic rise of the C.H.U.D.s from the sewers is a direct metaphor for their empowerment to finally seize the upward mobility previously denied them. These individuals, in tearing the heads off the bourgeois tenants of the tenement buildings above, are the living embodiment of the success of Reagan's economic and environmental policies, literally "trickling up" through society in search of position and power of their own.
One can see in various scenes that the sewer bums' capacity for self-determination and spirituality are in no way hampered by malnutrition, police brutality, instantly deadly levels of radiation or a life lived entirely in darkness. Each of them pursues his sacred Constitutional rights in his own way through creative re-conceptualizing of reality, the possession of weapons intended for self-defense, and crude, prayerful obeisance at the edge of a pool of molten radioactive waste. The glowing eyes of the C.H.U.D.s represent the light of freedom that burns within every man.
The victory of conservative policy is, of course, undermined by the liberal minority, represented here by a rogue cop, a pro-choice fashion photographer turned muck-racking reporter, his pregnant model girlfriend, and a violence-prone soup kitchen manager - liberal archetypes, every one. Their efforts to turn the tide of society against these successful policies results only in anarchy, both above and below the streets, as personal property is violated, trucks explode in flame, and the newly successful homeless are slaughtered mercilessly.
C.H.U.D. released in 1984, figured heavily in Reagan's landslide electoral victory that year. No other single factor contributed as heavily to his popularity during this electoral cycle. Reagan was beholden to the entertainment industry and media over the following four years, because he had been unable to campaign much on his own behalf due to the constant occupation of his time by various activities in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Iraq.
The low down:
zombies: 0
ninjas: 0
hot lava (in liters): 0
nazis: 0
breasts: 0
decapitations: 2
Miss Cleo: 0
monkeys: 0
To dismiss C.H.U.D. merely as liberal propaganda that promotes the fallacy of the increasingly dire plight of America's urban homeless under Reagan is the miss the point entirely. In its pursuit of social justice, C.H.U.D. leaves no stone unturned, and no concentration of power is left unstained by guilt for the horrible mutation by toxic waste of Bowery homeless into Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers. The government is guilty of homicidal pragmatism that condemns the citizens Manhattan to horrifying mutilation at the mucous-coated, vestigial hands of a hoard of man eating mutants; the local cops of hubris that blinds them to danger until too late; the media of egotistic exploitation of the worst off among the homeless in pursuit of the story that will finally win them recognition and relevance among their peers.
Certainly the decision made by Reagan's administration to dispose of highly toxic waste in the utility tunnels beneath Manhattan is a double-edged sword at worst. Yes, some homeless individuals met their deaths from radiation exposure, but the majority were turned into nearly indestructible super beings. Finally able to support themselves, the symbolic rise of the C.H.U.D.s from the sewers is a direct metaphor for their empowerment to finally seize the upward mobility previously denied them. These individuals, in tearing the heads off the bourgeois tenants of the tenement buildings above, are the living embodiment of the success of Reagan's economic and environmental policies, literally "trickling up" through society in search of position and power of their own.
One can see in various scenes that the sewer bums' capacity for self-determination and spirituality are in no way hampered by malnutrition, police brutality, instantly deadly levels of radiation or a life lived entirely in darkness. Each of them pursues his sacred Constitutional rights in his own way through creative re-conceptualizing of reality, the possession of weapons intended for self-defense, and crude, prayerful obeisance at the edge of a pool of molten radioactive waste. The glowing eyes of the C.H.U.D.s represent the light of freedom that burns within every man.
The victory of conservative policy is, of course, undermined by the liberal minority, represented here by a rogue cop, a pro-choice fashion photographer turned muck-racking reporter, his pregnant model girlfriend, and a violence-prone soup kitchen manager - liberal archetypes, every one. Their efforts to turn the tide of society against these successful policies results only in anarchy, both above and below the streets, as personal property is violated, trucks explode in flame, and the newly successful homeless are slaughtered mercilessly.
C.H.U.D. released in 1984, figured heavily in Reagan's landslide electoral victory that year. No other single factor contributed as heavily to his popularity during this electoral cycle. Reagan was beholden to the entertainment industry and media over the following four years, because he had been unable to campaign much on his own behalf due to the constant occupation of his time by various activities in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Iraq.
The low down:
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