Compare how key messages and values are explored in the two American films you have studied in reflecting the period they were made.

In the two films, War of the Worlds (2005) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), key themes are prominent throughout the film that show a true representation of life in the period they were made. Both films are apart of the Science Fiction genre, both exploring the scenarios of extra terrestrial life forms inhabiting earth and how the human would react to this.

The Sci-Fi genre allows directors and screenwriters to present audiences with alarming ‘what-if’ scenarios that subsequently mirror the happenings at the period in time. Invasion of the Body Snatchers was made in 1956, a time when the fear and threat of Communism, war and assimilation were at its peak, and politicians where using these fears to their advantage, the most famous case being John McCarthy who took it upon himself to add to the paranoia of American citizens and purged anyone who he suspected of being connected to communism or against him and his ideologies. With the new threat of ‘McCarthyism’ looming over the directors, actors, screenwriters and producers in Hollywood, it became harder to voice opinions and show true feelings on the happenings going on around them, so any representation of it would have to be incredibly subtle, hence why the Sci-Fi Genre is very useful. This same tactic is used in the 2005 version of War of the Worlds in which once again, alien life forms attempt to take over earth. This movie was made shortly after the events of 9/11 and is able to show some of the feelings and emotions that were still riding high, even years after the attack, but the Science Fiction element of it helps to exaggerate the events but still have it bring those same emotions back.

The representation in both films is very prominent in the sense that the protagonist is usually always a white, all-American, straight male who appears to take down the gigantic threat almost single handedly whist other characters, mainly females watch on in awe if they’re still around to see it. In War of the Worlds, Ray, our male lead, is first shown to us working on a construction crane in New York City, a very masculine job meaning he is already being seen by the audience as a hard working guy, adding likeability. We then find out that his kids are coming to stay with him, which makes us doubt him; why don’t they live with him? But soon enough we discover that he is divorced from his wife, who immediately is presented as bossy, controlling and stubborn and her main conversation point is about how clean the house is, a insignificant detail in the grand scheme of things. His wife is then not seen again until the end of the film when she is showing extreme gratitude to Ray for saving the day. The other main female in this movie is Ray’s daughter Rachel who is 10 and suffers from extreme panic attacks. Not a very strong female lead, especially considering the directors could have made a conscious decision to make her older and more active in helping out, when instead, the Rachel we get is just a young, scared and confused girl who constantly has to be babied.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers presents us with an even worse female character, Becky