In 1976 Iwas 10 but not an average 10 by any means.
I, the youngest of 4 children pretty much tagged along with my older brothers as they ventured out of teenagehood and into manhood. 10 years their junior nothing is more a drag than dealing with your kid sister unless shes cool as hell, which I was (and am) The Man Who Fell To Earth starred David Bowie, Rip Torn and Candy Clark.
A human ET so to speak as Bowie the alien lands on Earth in search of water for his planet and basically becomes a drunken degenerate addicted to porn. Anyway the government discovers him a weird doctor keeps him captive and does weird experiments on him and he looks totally sexy by the way if not emaciated but then again Bowie was never bulky.
I don't think I saw this in 76, my mom would have killed my brothers but whenever it arrived in the States I saw it and it was stunning to me. Scary yea, but more intriguing. I shouldn't have seen it. I'm sure by today's standards its tame but I recall images that were somewhat inappropriate to say the least. 1976 was a great year as I rode around that summer being snuck into cool clubs and seeing live music.
Hearing Bowie and Elton and T Rex.
So maybe it wasn't so bad after all.
Maybe the media even that long ago is only as powerful as the weakness of the viewer. I'm tough remember.. this shit rolls.
The Man Who Fell to Earth has come to mind alot lately. I recall scenes blurred by time of Bowie wrenched in pain from the atmosphere. On a personal side note I have been going through some funky medical stuff lately as well and when the pressure in my head gets really powerful I think of what I recall as an elevator scene where the alien is just nearly crushed in pain from the air itself. Bizzare medical tests make me feel the same as if Bowie should be playing as Im zipped through tinging tunnels.
Being ill even in the slightest zooms us to comfort zones and blasts back memories. As we face fears and the unknown about our own mortality its best to find that cozy spot in your mind when the biggest worry was if your mom was going to find out you went to see an inappropriate film.
Basically the movie is a snooze.
The book written by Walter Tevis is actually quite good showing how we humans basically suck. Bowie is hot and Candy is well just what her name implies.
Happy Birthday Man Who Fell To Earth, thanks for the memories.