In what way does invasion of the body snatchers reflect the time in which it was made?

In what way does invasion of the body snatchers reflect the time in which it was made?

Invasion of the body snatchers reflects the time in which it was made through the use of allegory showing the social issues in 1950’s American society.

The film opens with the protagonist miles in a state of panic due to a threat that is yet to be seen by the audience. The film then shows miles telling the beginning of the story through the use of a flashback. The film starts of with the main character Miles in a state of panic and shock in order to reflect the state of panic in America’s society at the time and immediately becomes more relatable to the audience. At the time America was under the fear of communism and the red scare, otherwise known as McCarthyism which had senator Joseph McCarthy go on what was essentially witch hunts and accusing many people of being communists. This state of fear and panic gripped the nation into fear and paranoia, which McCarthy took advantage of and utilised in order too push his agenda and gain power. This resulted in McCarthy becoming an internal threat to America. The town the film is set in is very relatable to the audience as the majority of America is comprised of small towns, this would have made the threat of the pod people more personal to the audience.
After Miles has explained his story the film then transitions to Miles returning home to a small town known as Santa Mira. Unlike most Sci-Fi films of the time, Invasion of the body snatchers is not set in a major city and instead ops for a smaller suburb town instead. This would have been seen as unusual to the audience and this challenges what they expect. This contributes to the sense of unease that the film is trying to create.  The use of the small town shows the threat of the pod people to be more internal, similar to McCarthy and by doing this it makes the message more personal to American citizens and taps into the fears that were already present in society at the time. 
Once Miles returns to Santa Mira encounters two individuals who have problems with their family members, believing them to ‘different’ in some way. Miles shrugs it off however, saying that it’s merely a ‘psychological problem’.  Both Little Jimmy’s mother and Uncle Ira look and sound the same, however to there family members something isn’t quite right and whatever this something is it isn’t natural to them.  The ‘Grimaldi’ family business is being affected because of this and shows a threat to the American way of life. This is also how McCarthy’s influence and threat level increase and turned him from a small issue into a national one, by affecting a minority that were truly terrified of communist infiltration and taking advantage of this. The problems seen by this minority were believed to just be with them, not those they had under suspicion.
The complaints keep rising however, and this makes Miles think there is a genuine problem emerging in the town. We begin to see more and more people, such as Becky’s father, become affected by this ‘Psychological condition’ but Miles stays confident saying that the condition is just the problem. This reflects how people began to adopt McCarthy’s point of view and adopt his ideology. Anyone seen without his ideology or didn’t believe his point of view they were seen as ‘others’ and were treated as threats to the American way of life.
The pods slowly begin to increase in numbers and start to appear in authority figures, such as the doctor and the police officer who merely shrug off Miles’ claim of there being a body/ Pod on the table.  The pods rising power got so strong that if anyone raised concerns, questioned or challenged the pod people they would be labelled as crazy/ paranoid or accused of imagining things.  If they continue to raise concerns they are threatened with imprisonment. Similarly, as McCarthy’s influence began to rise in society people with authority and power began to believe his ideology. At that point anyone who opposed him was labelled a communist and they stayed silent out of fear.

After the events with the bodies and the authorities Miles wakes up agreeing with their explanation, his behaviour has been noted though and he is now under suspicion by the authorities. Many people in society where discouraged from questioning the new status quo and changes set by McCarthy. McCarthy’s words made people feeling that they were unable to trust authority figures and this caused them to believe in his ideology. This caused paranoia to grow in people as they felt that their thoughts and personal beliefs where being undermined and questioned. Anyone who showed signs of dissent, question McCarthy or anyone who followed him or was considered problematic to his caused was identified and viewed with suspicion. People would also adopt these viewpoints and those that were under suspicion where viewed as potentially dangerous or a threat.

When at Jacks house Miles discovers more of the pods and realises that there is a serious conspiracy at work here.  He tries to call the police and the FBI (two important authority figures in society) but they would not provide assistance for him.  Instead he decides to tell his friends while he waits, saying, “if there is no-one here to answer, they will think we have gone”. This shows that paranoia has set in and is beginning to grow significantly.  Miles is now seen as a threat and other to the majority because he goes against the status quo and because of that he is seen as this threat.