Although the post-irony poison in our 2026 water may make us inclined to giggle at the prospect of an isolated group of crewmates being picked off by a mysterious “imposter” identical to themselves, John Carpenter’s 1982 masterpiece The Thing remains heralded as one of the greatest (horror) movies of all time–while the same cannot quite be said for its 2011 prequel. Taking a retrospective glance at both films, it’s evident what makes the classic so untouchable.

This article attempts to analyze Wes Anderson’s work through the lens of James C. Scott’s 1998 book Seeing Like A State, using Asteroid City and The Phoenician Scheme to try to understand auteurship as a form of quasibureaucratic control, a form of control that these films, despite their pervasive stylization, subtly yet consistently undermine. Many have accused Anderson of retreating into pure mannerism, but these films can be read as dramatizations of resistance to their ow