The story of John Carpenter's THE THING follows a group of Americans studying in the Arctic tundra that come across a group of Norwegian soldiers chasing after a dog. After the Norwegian helicopter traveling to destroy the dog explodes, the Americans take the dog as their own without any explanation as to why the Norwegian’s were chasing the dog in the first place. Shortly after, the Americans investigate the Norwegian’s base camp only to discover the mutated remains of what appears to be two individuals. Simultaneously, the dog they have brought to their camp mutates, attacks the other dogs, and attacks the crew coming to destroy it. The Americans find themselves in the midst of an invasion from an alien capable of imitating other life forms and attacking anything that attempts to stop it.
The alien “thing” is a shape-shifting creature capable of absorbing the body and creating a perfect imitation of whatever it has absorbed. This is clearly an attempt to showcase the idea that women are a constant threat to the male status quo. Women can "absorb" an aspect of a male, and produce a similar life force. Simply put, it's a giant metaphor for childbirth. Without this invasion from the female alien, the men at the camp would be living in nothing more than a monotonous lifestyle in the frozen tundra. It takes a woman to threaten the very livelihood of these men and cause a rift into their common activities. As the men struggle to determine who remains human and who is nothing more than an alien imitation, violence is used almost as a currency. For example, when MacReady is accused of being the “thing”, he secludes himself (yet again) in a room filled with explosive devices and a brightly lit flame. He threatens to blow up the entire base camp if anyone tries to kill him or hurt him. MacReady is not only defending his status as a human, but also maintaining his role as alpha-male by use of ultimate force. The threat of extreme action through violence is enough to force the rest of the men to accept defeat, and back down. In a patriarchal society, brawn is almost always valued higher than brains, which keeps MacReady at the top of the totem pole, and the rest scrambling to align themselves under his leadership.
