Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a sci-fi/horror film from 1956 set in Santa Mira, California. The movie begins with a hysterical local doctor Miles Bennell screaming of a mass invasion from outer space. Soon the doctor is calmed and tells his story by flashback. He tells the police and psychiatrists whom are restraining him that one day the town just wasn’t the same, as if it were taken over by something evil. Many of his patients come to him saying that their loved ones just aren’t the same anymore, that they are emotionless. Baffled by this thought, Dr. Bennell investigates by going to visit the estranged patients and also notices the differences in their personality, or lack thereof. With the help of his friend the scientist Jack Belicec, the two discover that these people are being taken over by plantlike pods that produce a replication of their victim’s body while the victim is asleep. The pod people work together to spread more pods throughout the city until everyone is replaced. Dr. Bennell, Belicec, and Becky Driscoll, Dr. Bennell’s sweetheart, work frantically to warn the FBI outside of Santa Mira but are unable to, and they are forced to get on the run. Meanwhile Jack Belicec’s body is taken over and Dr. Bennell and Becky Driscoll are left on their own, against the entire pod race. Becky is also taken over while on the run, leaving Dr. Bennell alone. Overcome with fear and trying to warn anyone he can, he runs into the highway screaming,”They’re here already! You’re Next!” This is the end of his story and we return to the insane asylum where his story is confirmed to the police and psychiatrists.
Critic John W. Whitehead reviewed Invasion of the Body Snatchers and argues that it is a political allegory of communism during the Cold War era. In 1956 when this movie was released, the idea of communism was in everyone’s mind, whether they were a follower or not. The Red Scare had swept the nation, causing everyone much fear of Soviet spies, nuclear warfare, and the possible communist takeover. Communism is a political system in which everything is owned by the government in an attempt to eliminate social classes and poverty. Although it sounds good on paper, it always ends with a dictatorship. With a dictatorship in place that means simple freedoms such as the right to own property are taken away, thus creating fear within all Americans. Whitehead says that the pod people very closely resemble the profile of the communist Russians in that they are “ice cold, outwardly peaceful but very authoritarian and emotionless. Many Americans even considered Russians a different species who, because of their disbelief in God, were soulless and wanted to destroy Americans or turn them into Communist clones.” (Whitehead) Another critic by the name Tim Dirks reviewed this movie and argued the same theme of nationwide paranoia due to the communist scare and its attempts of “numbing our individuality and emotional psyches through conformity and group-think.” (Dirks) There are several other ways to interpret this movie other than it being a political allegory, but it is hard to disagree with the above two criticisms. The terror present in Invasion of the Body Snatchers rivals that terror felt by the world during the communist reign of the Cold War.
Having read the criticisms from Whitehead and Dirks prior to watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers, I had a general overview of the plot and what to expect. Their reviews focused mainly on the parallels between the film and McCarthy’s America so that is what I tried to read deeply into while watching it. After watching the film I concluded that their reviews were very accurate with the McCarthyist theme. They describe the widespread fear of conformity and reduction of individuality, similarly to the terror felt by Dr. Bennell and Becky Driscoll. In contrast however, the pod people completely take over their victims, leaving them soulless and to do the bidding of their kind. Although the communists wish the same, to convert others to do their bidding, the victims are still left with a mind of their own but within communist boundaries. The two critics made excellent reviews and by no means did they read too far into the McCarthyist theme. Director Don Seigel says that Invasion of the Body Snatchers was not meant to be a political allegory, but it is very easily interpreted as so. The similarities of resistance from conformity are so strong in both the movie and in McCarthy’s America that it is hard to believe that Seigel did not intend the movie to be about the communist reign.
With this movie being a political allegory, it is not completely relevant to today’s world in that it is paralleled to the communism during the Cold War. However it is relevant in that communism and dictatorships still run strong in some countries. It is often said that history repeats itself, leaving us to think that perhaps one day another communist scare will occur. A similar scare has already occurred after the terrororist attacks on the United States on September 11th. A nationwide fear was sent down every American’s spine, and the government took quick action declaring war on Iraq. The government also interrogated many people as suspects of being involved in terrorism, similar to the McCarthy witch-hunts. Invasion of the Body Snatchers is not only a political allegory but is actually a very eerie and creepy sci-fi film, which is what makes a science fiction film what it is, and I recommend it if you’re into such films. The movie communicates the importance of individuality by showing the fear of having your body “snatched,” encouraging everyone to be unique in their own ways. Freedom is an excellent thing and should be used to its fullest, that’s why our government fights for it. Without it we might as well just be pod people.
Works Cited
Dirks, Tom. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” 2007. 12 Oct. 2007.
Whitehead, John W. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers A Tale For Our Times.” Gadfly Online. 2007. Gadfly Productions. 12 Oct. 2007.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
In the first paragraph I think that you did a really good job on briefing the reader on what is going on in the movie. It is not to complex which is a good thing for the intro. Even though you did do a good job on the briefing of the story in my opinion it was a little choppy and did not flow to well, but you still had a lot of good information there. Your thesis is extremely good in the since that it is telling the reader what just happened and what you are about to talk about in the rest of your paper. Also in the first paragraph there is a couple of grammar mistakes like using whom when it should be who and needing comas where there aren’t. In the conclusion paragraph you need to restate the thesis either the first or second sentence. I like how you tied the movie to the September 11th and to other countries and how they ran things. Your last paragraph is well written and you did an excellent job on wrapping everything up or summing up you paper. Good Luck.
Jeff Aycock
The first paragraph offers clear and concise background and summary of the movie but no thesis to your paper. Each paragraph presents a new topic it is hard to understand the purpose of your paper. I did not see any overall thesis statement. Your entire paper is very clear and well stated with few noticeable grammar mistakes but it does not offer your explanation of the movie. You seem to not be favoring one side over the other allowing th3e cited sources to make your argument for you. By adding your own opinions and vies you will strengthen your essay. Try to make a thesis in your first paragraph this will allow you to focus on one main idea rather than discussing every possible interpretation of the movie. Though it is alright to mention each criticism you may want to choose a general area, perhaps discussing its parallel, or lack thereof, to communism. Think of it more as an argument, you are trying to prove a point, not only with sources but with your own inferences about the move as well. I think you have a good grasp on the movie and seem to believe it is an allegory for communism, including your own opinions would really make this a great essay. Also your last paragraph seems to contradict itself in that you show more parallels between the fear of communism and terrorism than differences.
In your essay, you do a great job of first summarizing the story but you did not state how people in the other cities found out about the pods. Also, in your first paragraph your thesis is suppose to be stated, and then again in your conclusion to help summarize your argument and the purpose of your paper. You also need to make sure that each paragraph flows together. What I mean by that is to make sure there are transitions into each paragraph to tie them all together. Without your transition sentences your paper does not make as well of sense to what the point is of the paper. Your paper was then strong in the areas of grammatical errors and the clarity. Another strong area of your paper are your conclusion sentences. What makes those conclusion sentences strong is how you make a connection of communism with the title of the movie. This was a great argument for your thesis statement.
all in all i think that the essay was really good. you explained yourself thoroughly. In the first paragraph i think that you gave the reader a really good explanation of what is going on in the movie. the first thing that i noticed is that you might need a transisition from parapgraph to paragraph. It would have been good if you had other sources that you good might your argument on because it seems that you only really relied on one source.Other than these things i really liked your essay and thought it was pretty good.
Post a Comment