Defining History

Don Siegel’s, 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a classic science fiction/horror movie based on the plot that pods from outer space were taking over the small town of Santa Mira. This black and white movie scared many people due to its plot that mirrored Senator Joseph McCarthy’s fears of the spreading of communism and that the world would soon be taken over by communists and that everyone would suffer as a consequence; however, in the movie the people who were actually harmed felt no emotion, pain or love as if it was a better world. John Whitehead supports the view of McCarthyism in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, in his essay.

Whitehead states in his famous essay “A Cultural History of Horror” notes that the film, which pretended to scare viewers, actually comforted them. Audiences found the more understandable world depicted as being reassuring, even if such an understanding was only a monstrous plot or cover-up. “Joseph McCarthy and his anti-Communist banter used the same rationale” (whitehead essay). This comfort was shown in the movie by the people after being affected by the pod. Affected people felt no emotion, they could not love, cry, or be angry. They felt as if it was a perfect world. Becky, Dana Wynter, was frightened to go to sleep because she loved the doctor, Miles Bennell, yet once she was taken over; she believed everything was ok.

Tim Dirks reviews the movie stating that it was “very effective in eliciting horror with slow-building tension, even though there are no monsters (just indestructible plant-like pods), minimal special effects, no violence in the take-over of humans, and no deaths. The film had a few preliminary titles: Sleep No More, Better Off Dead, and They Came From Another World before the final choice was made” (Tim Dirks review). The movie was written so well that there was no need to add high quality special effects, people dying, and lots of violence.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers, in black and white is still interesting today. Although we have not repeated the days of Joseph McCarthy and his paranoia regarding the spread of communism, we have had our trends that could arguable mimic the plot of the movie. For example, the free loving sixties with rampant drug abuse could fit this bill or the money and cocaine addicted eighties might as well. In the late nineties, many thought that the Internet would provide a means of greater government control and intrusion into our lives.

Having read about McCarthyism and watched the movie, I agree that the movie was based on McCarthyism and its over the top fear of communism. McCarthyism is a term used to describe, “a period of intense anti Communism suspicion in the United States that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s”(wikipedia). Invasion of the Body Snatchers does seem to have been influenced by McCarthyism in many ways.

In Invasion of the Body Snatchers, everyone in the town but two innocent people have been taken over by pods that came from outer space. Of those taken over by the pods, they immediately felt safe and protected, they showed and felt no emotion, and everything was just simple and plain. Those who had not been taken over felt a sense of fear, they wanted to love and feel. During the height of McCarthyism, people were accused of being communist and were not accepted, as were those who had not been taken over by the pod. Those accused of communism lost everything: jobs, families, and many were taken to jail.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is science fiction and horror but also has a sense of history due to the McCarthyism and its anti-communist references.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is definitely a good movie and people should watch this film today. Its message is still relevant in that it shows how people deal with disastrous events. Just a few years ago we had national disaster with 9/11. There were real people being killed and real people killing; things like this do not just happen in movies. There are immoral people in this world and you never know when or where a disaster could happen again. We must always be prepared in this unpredictable world.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers shows unprepared people not knowing how to face the invasion of the pods and simply giving in, turning into a shell of a person with no fear or emotion. This movie is unquestionably science fiction, but it is good and I recommend it to everyone. I struggle watching black and white movies and I thought it was surprisingly good.

Overall I think many older people would enjoy this movie because they can connect easier with the McCarthyism theory due to their age and time; whereas younger audiences may not understand the history behind Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Workscited

Dirks, Tim. “Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956).” Rev. of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. 2007. 12 Oct. 2007 http://www.filmsite.org/‌inva.html.

“McCarthyism.” Wikipedia. 9 Oct. 2007. 12 Oct. 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/‌wiki/‌Mccarthyism.

Whitehead, John W. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Rev. of A TALE FOR OUR TIMES. Gadfly Online. 2007. 12 Oct. 2007 http://www.gadflyonline.com/‌11-26-01/‌film-snatchers.html.