SPOTTIEOTTIEDOPALISCIOUS REFLECTIONS ON CINEMA

Repo Man: Punk Rockers, Coke, & Conspiracy Theories

Jonathan Moody

Comedian Bill Hicks: Why do ya’ll [inhabitants of Fife, Alabama] bring shotguns to UFO sightings?
Hicks (imitating a redneck): Well, we don’t want to be abducted.

In the 80’s, there was a sappy film by the name of E.T. that captivated audiences everywhere. However, Alex Cox’s Repo Man was an inconspicuous emerald with wings that flew in an ellipse. The design of Cox’s jewel contains the type of edginess that makes Spielberg’s take on extra-terrestrials feel, well, soft & romanticized. Throughout his film, Cox gives his audience a perspective that’s hardcore. He implicitly invites the audience to see that the act of strangers repossessing an automobile is equated with aliens abducting a human body. The director’s nuanced metaphor underscores the aftermath of capitalism.

Capitalism entails mass-production with no regard for human need (keep an eye out for the plethora of pine-tree fresheners in the film). It also damages the virtue of the commodity: the product, in the face of competition, can no longer stand on its own; the product has to become an icon or be tethered to an ideal. So, in essence, it is not enough for a shampoo to be presented as a product that eradicates dandruff. In order for shampoo to be salient to the consumer, the merchandise must be associated with the notion that it can induce multiple orgasms. One can make the same argument about capitalism concerning humans in Repo Man as well: for example, the crooked television evangelist enticing Americans to buy bibles for the poor in El Salvador. “Manufactured” ideals are antithetical to punk rock. Perhaps this explains the irony behind Emilio Estevez’s character’s name: “Otto” (a nice play on auto). Perhaps this explains why he’s drawn to the lure of repossessing cars as opposed to the bland life of being a stock boy at the local grocery store—pricing an endless inventory of cans generically labeled “Food.

Otto’s hatred for the Establishment is so intense that his cold stares could twist the caps off imported beers. His disgust is authentic because he only finds delight in seizing cars & in having sex. Another paradox unfolds in regards to the former: Otto finds “virtue” in repossessing cars, an occupation that’s deemed by the masses as diabolical. His decision to remain a repo man in spite of dissension reflects the spirit of punk rock: “going against the grain.” Otto not only embraces this concept in his actions but also embraces this concept in his attitude.

Because so many institutions like religion and education have failed him, it is no wonder Otto stares at his parents in horror after realizing they’ve been caught under the spell of the smooth-talking evangelist who utters: “I DO want your money, because God wants your money.” It’s no wonder he tosses a philosophy text into a fire while dismissing his co-worker’s theories on UFO’s the way people dismissed William Cooper’s conspiracy theories.1

The one person who does not fail Otto, though, is Bud (played wonderfully by Harry Dean Stanton). Ironically enough, Bud, like the other workers in the repo company— “Lite” & “Miller”—is named after a mass-produced beer. Herein lies the inside joke of Repo Man that not only pertains to Otto but also pertains to the co-modification of punk rock: the counter-culture that Otto assimilates into is actually the Establishment that he believes he’s fled. Bud becomes Otto’s mentor and introduces his mentee to coke & The Repo Code:

I never broke into a car, never hot-wired a car, kid. I never broke into a trunk. I shall not cause harm to any vehicle nor the personal contents thereof, nor through inaction let that vehicle or the personal contents thereof come to harm. That's what I call the Repo Code, kid. Don't forget it; etch it into your brain. Not many people got a code to live by anymore.

Otto, however, does not share Bud’s go-getter attitude. When it’s revealed through their seedy world that a ’64 Chevy Malibu driven by a mad scientist is worth 20 G’s, Otto is merely along for the ride, not necessarily the loot. What keeps the audience interested in Otto & Bud is their uncanny ability to wind up in the wackiest of situations: from run-ins with Chicano punk rock revolutionaries to rolling up on the ’64 Malibu only to find out that it contains three dead radioactive aliens in the trunk. The surreal vibe never diminishes.

To Cox’s credit, given the nature of his task, the narrative of Repo Man feels like it could collapse at any moment. However, he incorporates equal amounts of punk, satire, social commentary, action, & science fiction. And the fact that the film never collapses is a testament to Cox’s impeccable pacing. His motif of juxtaposing the fear of car repossession with the fear of alien abduction kicks in at enough intervals so that the pairing of the two unrelated types of seizures will seem natural.

Because both the narrative devices and metaphor are successful, it’s difficult to believe that Repo Man is Cox’s debut film. In examining narrative with regards to characterization, Cox minimizes background history on the cast across the board. We receive no in-depth information on how someone as wise & crafty as Bud, or any of his co-workers, has chosen their lifestyle. Everything we need to know about how Bud & everyone got to where they are he sums up in one line: “…an ordinary person spends his life avoiding tense situations. Repo Man spends his life getting into tense situations.”

 

 

1 William Cooper, author of Behold a Pale Horse, cited numerous conspiracy theories concerning UFOs. One theory indicated that the Cold War was a hoax: that the U.S. and the Soviet Union were actually working together to combat an alien invasion.

 

Jonathan Moody lives in Fresno, TX, with his wife. He teaches British Lit. at a private school in Houston.

Here's a soundtrack that Jonathan Moody jammed to while he wrote his film review:

-Bad Brains, "Big Take Over"
-Iggy Pop, "Repo Man"
-The Modern Lovers, "Pablo Picasso"
-The Circle Jerks, "Red Tape" & "Wild in the Streets"
-Living Colour, "The Cult of Personality"
-OutKast, "Extra-Terrestrial (E.T.)"
-Sleater Kinney, "Jenny"
-Saul Williams, "List of Demands (Reparations)"
-Velvet Underground, "Venus in Furs"
-Stevie Wonder, "Saturn"
-Doom, "Gazillion Ear"
-Kool Keith, "Blue Flowers"