'I Mean It'

This is R. J. Macready (Kurt Russell) from John Carpenter's "The Thing" (Universal Pictures, 1982). I drew this with charcoal watching a grainy back-up copy on video-cassette (I was a stickler about copyright laws even back then). I was 17 when I did this (some time after the movie's release on video). In the movie, this is where Macready explains his idea for the blood test to determine which one of the outpost staff "ain't who he's supposed to be." He's going to tie the remaining scientists to a bench, take blood samples, and then subject those samples to a hot needle, expecting that the alien-infected blood will crawl away from the burning object (which it startlingly does). Hearing Macready's idea, one of the staff named Childs says...

Childs: You ain't tyin' me up.
Macready: Then I'll have to kill you, Childs.
Childs: Then kill me.
Macready (walks up to Childs and points the gun at his forehead, cocking it): I mean it.

That's the picture I wanted. Right there.

There is an unnerving story about the picture, though. You see, my video player wouldn't pause on a frame without blanking the screen and giving me a big, gray bit of nothing. This meant that I had to rewind the tape ("backwards search") to right before the shot I wanted, watch the scene, when Macready said "I mean it" I would draw a line or patch or two, and then I'd back it up and do it again...

...for four-and-a-half hours...

Not unnerving enough? Well, the rest of the scene involves a third party, "Clark," who tries to jump the gun-wielding Macready from behind while he's concentrating on Childs. Macready shoots Clark between the eyes.

Macready: I mean it.
Childs (backing down): I guess you do.
Clark (runs in heavy boots at Macready's back with knife)
Macready (whirls and fires the gun, killing Clark instantly)

I played that whole scene over and over and over again for 4.5 hours, drawing a tiny bit here and there the whole time. It was late at night, and my mother was trying to sleep in the other room, but she kept hearing this execution scene played like this. Needless to say, when she came in and asked me just what the hell was going on ("Are you going crazy?!?!"), I showed her my work in progress and she said, "Oh, well turn the volume down, will you?"

This is one of the oldest surviving pieces of my artwork--the original is right here in my study. I still smile thinking about it...

Enjoy! --Faile35