Katie Creel 3

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers”

Although many believe “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is based on Communism or McCarthyism, the conspiracy of the pod people is actually the basis of the movie. The pod people are trying to seize the town; and, therefore, they are forming a conspiracy to take over the entire population.
This movie does not show McCarthyism because there is no form of heroism in the movie. For example, since the pod people are determined to take over the bodies of other humans, they cannot be considered heroes. Communism is also not an issue in the movie because the pod people are trying to take over the citizen’s bodies, and are not trying to control the souls that are currently in the bodies.
When this movie was first released it was considered a horror/si-fi “classic” film. Today, however, the movie is neither classified as scary nor as a si-fi film. For example, now-a-days, people consider movies such as “The Ring” scary, not “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Although the times have changed, as well society, this movie should not be classified as a scary si-fi movie.
The beginning of the original script of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was quite different than the script used in the released movie. In the original script, the doctor was not shown in the beginning, however, in the revised one, the doctor was shown to prove he survived the pod people. This revision was not dramatic enough to sustain the movie’s classification of scary.
Even though this movie is a “classic,” today’s people should not watch it. Because this movie does not have McCarthyism tendencies, it is a thing of the past because the pod people were trying to corrupt the town by creating a conspiracy. Also, communism is not found in the movie, because the pod people are trying to take over the people’s bodies, not control of the individual’s lives. Today “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is not considered a horror or a si-fi film because it does not compare to the true horror displayed in scary films of today, such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
Overall, this movie did not relate to McCarthyism or communism. Also, it should not be considered a classic horror film. The movie would have had a stronger horror tendency if the pod people actually took over the town.