Jeffrey Aycock
Review of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Is Joseph McCarthy crazy for railing against communism in the 1950’s? Is Dr. Miles Bonnell crazy for trying to warn people about the seed pods and their taking over of human being’s bodies and lives? Are these two people one in the same? Is the movie “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” telling the story of Joseph McCarthy?
The movie, “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” could be simply a very good science-fiction movie made in the 1950’s. Many film critics proclaim “that this movie is a thrilling; disturbing classic science-fiction/ alien film from veteran producer Walter Wanger.” (Tim Dirks) Some people interpret this movie as an example of McCarthyism or “paranoia toward the spread of a harmful ideology such as socialistic communism.” (Tim Dirk) Another interpretation of the movie is the “numbing of our individuality and emotional psyches through conformity and group thinking.”(Tim Dirks) I believe that the movie is an analogy of what Joseph McCarthy was trying to convey to the American public in the 1950’s, which was communism is here and we must stop it.
In the 1950s Joseph McCarthy was a Wisconsin senator that was not well known and wanted his name to get out to the public so that they would know who he was. Joseph McCarthy asked his friends how to get his name known and they suggest that he should take an anti-communist stand. So in 1950, to get his name out there he decided that he would try and tell everyone that there was communist in our country and that we need to do something about this. McCarthy produced documents that contained a list of known communists working for the state department. He actions made a lot of people in Hollywood lose their jobs because of their supposed association with communism.(Wikipedia) McCarthy was telling the public that some people in the movie industry were putting communist messages in the movies that were being produced. McCarthy is most famous for this quote “I have here in my hand a list of 57 people that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party, and who, nevertheless, are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department.” Even though he did sound as though he was trying to help the country by educating them about the advancement of Communism right before their eyes, many believed he was doing all of this more for himself and his ultimate goal of increasing his name recognition rather than trying to stop communism.(Wikipedia)
In the movie “The invasion of the body snatchers” was Dr. Miles Bonnell playing the role of Joseph McCarthy? Dr. Miles Bonnell was trying to warn people that the seed pods were not good and the authorities needed to do something about them. The people would not listen to Dr. Bonnell. The local authorities and doctors that he was telling his story to were calling him crazy and thought he was telling them a nightmare of some sort. They refused to believe his irrational fears of the coming problem. Not until a complete stranger came into the hospital emergency room where Dr. Miles Bonnell was being questioned and began telling the authorities what had happened and what he had just seen involving the seed pods did they believe Dr. Miles. This is very similar to what happened in the 1950’s with Joseph McCarthy when he tried to warn people that there were communist in our country. Even though McCarthy had told people that there were communist in our country and produced lists of these names, many people did not believe him and were very skeptical of his message. History and the release of classified documents years later would verify many of his concerns to be true.
In this movie communism was represented by the seed pods or the people who were transformed from them. I say this because communism is when a society has no control over what they do, what they say, or how they live their lives. Their world is socialistic and controlled by the government. In the movie the seed pods are described as dehumanizing and eventually will take over of an entire community. The seed pods are essentially robots of people that have no emotion, don’t think for themselves, and are told what to do. That is again is essentially what Communism is. It is the government telling everyone what to do, when to do it, and how to live your life. For example in the movie when the Doctor looks out the window in the morning to see what is going on and sees way to much activity for that time of day. He watches as the body snatchers gather and grab seed pods out of the trucks that arrive there. This is a great example of how it is related to communism, because the body snatchers were TOLD by someone that they had to go and grab the seed pods out of the truck and they had to listen and do it.
In the 1950’s McCarthy was trying to tell the United States that communist were in our country and that we needed to do something about it and to stop it. Joseph McCarthy shocked the United States with wild stories about the coming of communism. In the movie Dr. Miles Bonnell shocked the local authorities with wild stories of the coming of the seed pods. I believe that the movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” has a direct correlation to the actions of Joseph McCarthy in the 1950’s and the coming of Communism. McCarthy was a “crazy man” trying to spread the word about communism in the United States.
Review of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Is Joseph McCarthy crazy for railing against communism in the 1950’s? Is Dr. Miles Bonnell crazy for trying to warn people about the seed pods and their taking over of human being’s bodies and lives? Are these two people one in the same? Is the movie “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” telling the story of Joseph McCarthy?
The movie, “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” could be simply a very good science-fiction movie made in the 1950’s. Many film critics proclaim “that this movie is a thrilling; disturbing classic science-fiction/ alien film from veteran producer Walter Wanger.” (Tim Dirks) Some people interpret this movie as an example of McCarthyism or “paranoia toward the spread of a harmful ideology such as socialistic communism.” (Tim Dirk) Another interpretation of the movie is the “numbing of our individuality and emotional psyches through conformity and group thinking.”(Tim Dirks) I believe that the movie is an analogy of what Joseph McCarthy was trying to convey to the American public in the 1950’s, which was communism is here and we must stop it.
In the 1950s Joseph McCarthy was a Wisconsin senator that was not well known and wanted his name to get out to the public so that they would know who he was. Joseph McCarthy asked his friends how to get his name known and they suggest that he should take an anti-communist stand. So in 1950, to get his name out there he decided that he would try and tell everyone that there was communist in our country and that we need to do something about this. McCarthy produced documents that contained a list of known communists working for the state department. He actions made a lot of people in Hollywood lose their jobs because of their supposed association with communism.(Wikipedia) McCarthy was telling the public that some people in the movie industry were putting communist messages in the movies that were being produced. McCarthy is most famous for this quote “I have here in my hand a list of 57 people that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party, and who, nevertheless, are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department.” Even though he did sound as though he was trying to help the country by educating them about the advancement of Communism right before their eyes, many believed he was doing all of this more for himself and his ultimate goal of increasing his name recognition rather than trying to stop communism.(Wikipedia)
In the movie “The invasion of the body snatchers” was Dr. Miles Bonnell playing the role of Joseph McCarthy? Dr. Miles Bonnell was trying to warn people that the seed pods were not good and the authorities needed to do something about them. The people would not listen to Dr. Bonnell. The local authorities and doctors that he was telling his story to were calling him crazy and thought he was telling them a nightmare of some sort. They refused to believe his irrational fears of the coming problem. Not until a complete stranger came into the hospital emergency room where Dr. Miles Bonnell was being questioned and began telling the authorities what had happened and what he had just seen involving the seed pods did they believe Dr. Miles. This is very similar to what happened in the 1950’s with Joseph McCarthy when he tried to warn people that there were communist in our country. Even though McCarthy had told people that there were communist in our country and produced lists of these names, many people did not believe him and were very skeptical of his message. History and the release of classified documents years later would verify many of his concerns to be true.
In this movie communism was represented by the seed pods or the people who were transformed from them. I say this because communism is when a society has no control over what they do, what they say, or how they live their lives. Their world is socialistic and controlled by the government. In the movie the seed pods are described as dehumanizing and eventually will take over of an entire community. The seed pods are essentially robots of people that have no emotion, don’t think for themselves, and are told what to do. That is again is essentially what Communism is. It is the government telling everyone what to do, when to do it, and how to live your life. For example in the movie when the Doctor looks out the window in the morning to see what is going on and sees way to much activity for that time of day. He watches as the body snatchers gather and grab seed pods out of the trucks that arrive there. This is a great example of how it is related to communism, because the body snatchers were TOLD by someone that they had to go and grab the seed pods out of the truck and they had to listen and do it.
In the 1950’s McCarthy was trying to tell the United States that communist were in our country and that we needed to do something about it and to stop it. Joseph McCarthy shocked the United States with wild stories about the coming of communism. In the movie Dr. Miles Bonnell shocked the local authorities with wild stories of the coming of the seed pods. I believe that the movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” has a direct correlation to the actions of Joseph McCarthy in the 1950’s and the coming of Communism. McCarthy was a “crazy man” trying to spread the word about communism in the United States.
No comments:
Post a Comment