MovieChat Forums > The Stuff (1985) Discussion > Mindless Consumerism

Mindless Consumerism

posted 19 years ago by johnnynack
7 replies | jump to latest

Although this movie was cheesy, yet entertaining to watch, I think it had a strong message about how our society is is quick to purchase the latest crazes. Most of the time people don't think about what they are consuming, so long as it is low in calories and not a risk to what they view on the weight scale. One could compare The Stuff with the Carb diet that already seems to be losing steam because of the fact that it doesn't work and we need carbs. I think the director of the film had the right idea when making the film, it is just coated with heavy layers of cheesiness. Don't get me wrong though, I love the film.

[–] sundance7490 19 years ago

And it was the eighties so commercialism was at it's height. If I ever see this, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to ever eat ice cream again, or for that matter even look at it without getting sick. I saw the preview, and it looks pretty creepy. Does anyone know if this is ever on TV? At least it won't be as graphic if I see it on TV, plus, I'm only fourteen.

Leave it to Beaver...and you'll be sorry you did!

[–] brontiustrex 19 years ago

Don't worry about it fourteen year old, there is booger all to be concerned about here. Most of it is tongue in cheek and anything in you might not like will be no worse than the $hit you've already seen. And it's too low in production value to really offend your senses. Remember, trailers will make a film look like something it's not.

Don't get me wrong though, it's a hoot.

[–] sundance7490 19 years ago

Just out of curiosity, what the heck does tongue in cheek mean? I've heard that at least four times from reviews off of amazon.com and imdb. What is it?
I'm hoping for spoilers right now because I can't find it anywhere in my city except for sale, so can someone tell me is it like a spoof to The Blob where it starts eating people, or is it like where it eats you from the inside out. Or both? I heard there's this one scene where Jason (the kid) almost gets eaten by the stuff in a tank. What was he doing in there anyhow? Can someone kinda elaborate on these scenes?

Leave it to Beaver...and you'll be sorry you did!

[–] Blurred_Lime 19 years ago

Just out of curiosity, what the heck does tongue in cheek mean?

"Tongue-in-cheek" suggests something offered with a dose of irony -- the tongue's positioned to stifle laughter, seeing if you "get it." In this case, Cohen's lampooning social shortcomings without telegraphing the humor... much. He apparently wanted to open the movie with Stuff commercials and was shot down, which seems a shame.

I'm hoping for spoilers right now because I can't find it anywhere in my city except for sale, so can someone tell me is it like a spoof to The Blob where it starts eating people, or is it like where it eats you from the inside out. Or both?

The whole "eating" thing was a little abstract, here. Once someone eats The Stuff, it colonizes them. From that point, they crave and eat nothing but The Stuff, addicted, and try to get others to consume it as well. If these "Stuffees" are cornered, The Stuff vacates the host body and oozes away to safety. Given sufficient volume in an encounter, The Stuff'll fight back and try enveloping/smothering its adversary. At no point did I get the impression The Stuff was consuming its victims in a literal sense. It was about control rather than destruction... which plays back into that cheeked-tongue message regarding 'mindless consumerism.' A discarded human shell is dead and brittle, lower jaw obscenely overextended, unless reoccupied by a quantity of Stuff. Think "Puppet Masters" rather than "Blob," if you're feeling really masochistic. Which you must be, if you're hunting high and low for this flick. ;)

I heard there's this one scene where Jason (the kid) almost gets eaten by the stuff in a tank. What was he doing in there anyhow? Can someone kinda elaborate on these scenes?

The kid, left to his own devices at one point, was attempting to sneak into the main Stuff distribution plant by way of a tanker truck. He's locked in, of course, and the tank's partially filled with Stuff. Whether he was to be devoured or added to the ranks of Stuffees is moot -- there was plenty of opportunity for him to be absorbed/populated, but he's rescued just in time.

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[–] squelcho 19 years ago

A fine piece of 80s low budget trash.
This film had a cult following in Europe where it played the all-night arthouse circuit, usually alongside a few of Cohen's other epics like Q the Winged Serpent, Invaders from Mars, It's Alive etc.
I have nothing but respect for the man. Black humour covers a lot of the things a desperate budget doesn't.

[–] Equivocator75 18 years ago

I too first saw it on video in the 1980's when I was in my early teens and your theory ties in with what I thought about it (message-wise) then AND now. I even thought about 'The Stuff' when the Atkins diet began to get bad press. But my favourite scene is where it's being sold on the black market like a street drug. Quite frankly if smoking ever gets totally banned I can see people doing the same, even when you know it's bad for you blah,blah, blah...

[–] Mistelten 18 years ago

I think it's a good message and I like that they hit on that one point without going too political