In what ways does War of the Worlds comment upon post 9/11 society?

In the 2005 remake of War of the Worlds Spielberg uses post 9/11 iconography to create a link between the two. He does this by referencing the disaster in the movie and using iconography found in a post 9/11 society. Creating a link between the two causes the audience to feel real-life fear when watching the movie and initiates paranoia within them.

The main icon used in War of the World referencing 9/11 is the use of Aliens. They have lots of similarities with the terrorists who caused 9/11 and Spielberg uses this to his advantage in the movie.  The main similarity between the two is that they both use technology as a weapon. The aliens are more technologically advanced than the terrorists and use high tech weapons to destroy the human race but both are similar. Furthermore both use transport as a weapon against their enemies, this implies that every day items have a potential to be a weapon. Another similarity  between them is that they both want to exterminate humans; in the terrorists case they want to because the Americans don’t share the same views as them but the Aliens just want to wipe out the human race.

Throughout the movie the aliens are commonly referred to as ‘things’ or ‘them’ which implies that they are mysterious creatures and this adds to the theme of ‘Fear of the unknown’. 

Another example of iconography used in War of the Worlds is the use of grey dust when the tripods are obliterating the humans. The dust connotes the iconic image from 9/11 when dust and rubble covered streets within a miles radius. This creates a sense of realism within the scene. Spielberg stylistically chose the people to be turned into dust instead of blood splatter for instance because it links in with the 9/11 theme and subconsciously reminds the audience of the famous photographs.