In what
ways does
Invasion of
the body snatchers
Reflect the
time in which it was made?
Invasion
of the body snatchers was made in 1956 during the time of McCarthyism, and this
film tackles the aspects of McCarthyism.
The
film is non-linear as we see the end of the film at the beginning; Miles (Kevin
McCarthy) is in a state of panic because of an unseen force, which happens to
be on the rise. McCarthyism in the late 1940’s, didn’t have much support or
belief, in fact people just thought his theories were suspicion, just as what
miles thought about the pods; but as the pods gained power they became the
status quo, and any one who did not agree with the pods was blacklisted, such
as those who did not believe in McCarthyism were. 1956 was the beginning of the
end of McCarthyism, as he had accused the president of being a communist, so
people were no longer believing in McCarthyism and he gradually lost power; The
pods gained power and began to increase, so this film was set at McCarthy’s
rise to power.
As
Miles recollects his past, we see that the film is set in a small town this
represents McCarthy. He was a man without much support and started small, in
the film the pods only started with a small town. As McCarthy gained power it
became international and was the norm, in the film we only see the beginning of
the pods gaining power, they start off small, and then the scene at the end of
the film we see trucks with the name of cities on them, this is used to suggest
that the pods are going international like McCarthy.
The
small town also shows the internal problem. The Pods are internally a problem
in America that starts off small, the problem from the outside are the pods
also as they are aliens. McCarthy was the internal problem in America, and the
outside problem of America was the USSR. The use of the small town is also used
tap into the fears and paranoia of the US citizens. The internal threat was
ideological of McCarthy because McCarthy went after Hollywood and accused most
of them of being communists. So the director, Don Siegel, couldn’t come out
with a film that blatantly attacked McCarthy, he had to allegorically attack
McCarthy with the Pod people.
With
McCarthy’s ideology, people’s paranoia and fear were increasing; they didn’t
know whether to trust their closest friends and family. This lead to people
exposing the people they love and trust the most as, “Communist Sympathisers.”
The clear way that this is represented in the film is the scene when Miles is
at the gas station and he says, “I saw Mack checking the trunk of my car. He
could have been checking my spare tyre, but… I didn’t think so,” this quote
suggests that people have been acting suspiciously, so he people that Miles
loves and trusts the most are now Pod people, or allegorically Communist
Sympathisers.
The
scene when Miles and Becky run away from the mob of Pod people, this allegorical
of the, “Group think,” or, “Herd mentality.” Basically they lack their own individual
ideas and identities, and will follow one ideology. The Pods come together as
one group to chase Miles and Becky, as they are the only people who have their
own individual identities and ideologies, they do not bow down to, “Group think”
therefore they must be stopped. This is the case with McCarthyism; people would
gain the herd mentality against, “Communist Sympathisers, the chasing however
never happened, it is allegorical of the people turning in and getting loved
ones black listed.
The
status quo at the beginning of the film is normal, the pods are just
imagination if you believe in them you are crazy, however as the film
progresses the status quo changes, and basically if you don’t believe in the
pods you are crazy and blacklisted. McCarthyism was the status quo at the time
the film was made, if you didn’t believe in or stood against McCarthyism you
were blacklisted. The scene at the beginning of the film is Miles in Prison,
because people think that he is crazy, this deals with the theme of identity
loss in America, Miles was a respected Doctor, as the status quo changes he is
seen as a crazy person, as the majority of people who don’t abide by the pod
people, become the minority.
Miles
represents the American citizens. He is the only person to realise that there
is actually a problem emerging, as the problem begins to grow he becomes more
paranoid and fearful, everyone else changes and follows the status quo except
him, and they single him out (the US citizens would single out other citizens
as communists if they didn’t follow the status quo) and in the end Miles is
blacklisted and arrested which we see at the beginning of the film.
The
film were we see little Jimmy being afraid of his mother, and then eventually
does not become afraid; this represents how McCarthy worked, he used to arrest
supposed communists, starting with the weakest first, Children, women,
teachers, working men and then People of high importance like politicians and
Doctors. The POD started off with this child’s mother as she was an influence
on his life, is she turned so would the child, McCarthy would do the same thing
with propaganda, arrest the teachers, place someone who would teach them that
the USSR are bad and their parents are communists.
The
Pods then attacked the workingman such as Miles’ friend, and then people of
high importance like the chief of police, psychiatrists like Miles’ friend and
then eventually Miles.
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