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

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

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (IOTBS) was made in the 1950s, this was during the constant fear of annihilation the American people had due to the cold war with the USSR. War of the worlds was made in 2005 it was 4 years after the tragedy of 9/11 occurred and the was a constant threat of terrorist attacked this is evident when there under attack and Rays young daughter who has been brought up in this society shouts “is it the terrorists!” both of the films were sci-fi as it allowed the audience to interpret the ‘what if scenario’ as in both periods the threat was constant and unknown, the films tapped in to these fears sub-consciously through allegorical iconography and representation for example Don Siegel’s invasion of the body snatchers reflects the social paranoia of 1950s America. The film uses pods frim outer space to represent McCarthyism, the people who get replaced by pods have no individuality or emotions as in 1950s many Americans were willing to give up their individuality in order to be protected from the perceived threat of communist infiltration. In War Of The Worlds Steven Spielberg used the tri-pods to represent terrorism and annihilation. This is displayed when they first start to attack they come from the ground and start flying, this so called flying threat that starts destroying buildings, and the civilians start running away is reminiscent from the events of 9/11. A lot of the camera angles are from the peoples perspective and you also see a scene were the camera tracks into a camcorder on the floor which is recording the destruction that the tri-pod is causing and this represents the footage taken from 9/11 the news channels were showing all these camcorder videos that civilians had taken.

The protagonist in IOTBS is miles and he is the hero and the antagonists are the Pod people who are all evil and represent communism however there is no resolution to this film as during the period it was made the cold war was still taking place and the constant threat of annihilation and communist infiltration was still there.