Invasion of The Body Snatchers & War of The Worlds - Comparison

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

By Michael O’Neill

After viewing two films (Invasion of The Body Snatchers and the 2005 remake of the motion picture War of The Worlds) it is clear that when producing a film, directors use the time period for inspiration. For World of The Worlds the director chose to cleverly base the alien invasion of the 9/11 attacks and in Invasion of The Body Snatchers the director used his skills to portray his view on McCarthyism.

For this essay I will be discussing the effect time periods have on films but focusing more on the stereotypical themes explored in each. Both of these films fall under the sci-fi (science fiction) genre, these are often used to develop a “what if?” scenario for the viewer. Sci-fi films are powerful as they give the director the ability to use their most weird ideas and create a piece of art and present it to the harshest critic, the audience.

As World of The Worlds is set in a modern day environment, the iconography would mainly be symbolism that is instantly recognisable (this occurs from the moment the film begins as the audience are introduced to a shot of New York minus the world trade centre, this is the first signifier that the film is set post 9/11 and subconsciously tells the audience that this is a time when national security is at its highest and everyone in America is at a state of paranoia)

Invasion of The Body Snatchers on the other hand is set in a stereotypical 1950s American town, this film is great as it really shows how society was back in the time period, this is through the usage of the characters living in a patriarchal society.  A common household under the influence of a patriarchal society would be the man as the breadwinner and now matter how hard she tried the woman would always be considered as lower. An example of this would be when the young child Jimmy is accusing his mother of “changing” Miles suggests that the boy is to stay with his grandmother (this was done without the mother present but wasn’t questioned as Miles is male and the grandmother wasn’t properly consulted as it was simply considered her “job” or “role” to look after the child.

There are also aspects of a patriarchal society in War of The Worlds, as Ray’s ex-wife seemed to be more upset by the fact that the house was untidy as opposed to the wellbeing of the children. This fits in to the patriarchal society theory, as it is a stereotypical sexist belief that a woman’s main role is the wellbeing of a household.

Another thing these films have in common would be the types of characters they use the first being the use of active and passive characters, in War of The Worlds the active character would be Ray, the passive being the children (in particular Rachel as it could be argued that Robbie becomes an active character when he makes the decision to assist the military, Rachel on the other hand being a young age relies solely on her father).