Invasion of the body snatchers- exam question

In what ways does Invasion of the body snatchers reflect the time in which is was made?

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Invasion of the body snatchers reflects what life was like and what the social problems were like during the 1950’s.

The opening of the film is the ending scene showing Miles as paranoid and panicky due to an unknown threat to the audience. The film then cuts to the beginning of the flashback, which is narrated by Miles the whole way through. The film begins like this to show what American society was like during that time and how strongly they feared Communism. Americans feared McCarthy, as he made sure anyone who was a Communist or sympathised towards them was seen as the enemy. If caught, he would blacklist them making them isolated from the rest of society, unable to get any job or live their normal lives. The film taps into the fears by many Americans as it immediately shows the audience the fear and paranoia in the small town of Santa Mira by Miles and other people living there.

The next scene is of Miles returning to Santa Mira, his small hometown. The film has been set in a small town instead of a major city to challenge the audience’s expectations of what the films intended message is, this creates an edgy feel for the audience. The film is set in a small town to represent McCarthyism as an internal problem and not a widespread, national problem. This is to relate to normal Americans and taps into their existing fears and paranoia. The setting subverts genre expectation and audience expectations as it changes the expectations of major cities being destroyed to small towns becoming ‘infected’ with a mass problem, which will quickly spread to other cities and countries and eventually the whole world.

At first, Miles shrugs off the complaints of two individuals who complain about their family members being exactly the same but with something ‘different’ as psychological conditions. There is no physical change in the PODS, which reflects that there is no physical way to prove they are different. This shows that anyone could be a McCarthyist or have a different belief to others and no one would ever know. Little Jimmy Grimaldi’s mother looks and sounds the same, however he is terrified of her, as something has changed. The same thing happens with Uncle Ira as he looks and sounds exactly the same but his family also complain of some sort of change. The Grimaldi families business goes out of business due to this change, which represents the threat to Americans during the time and how their whole lives could change if going against McCarthy and his ideologies. McCarthyism was originally only a small town problem, which soon grew rapidly to a nation one. The problem was seen to be with a minority of those who were paranoid rather than the ones under suspicion.

As the complaints began to increase, Miles began to understand and take notice believing that there was an actual problem beginning. More people start getting affected by the mysterious ‘psychological conditions’ such as Becky’s father, although Miles stays confident that the problem is just psychological. McCarthyism grows as more people start to adopt his point of view and ideologies. They start to believe that people who don’t share the same ideologies and point of view as them and McCarthy as ‘others’ and threats.

The PODS in the film increase in number, starting with authority as they are looked up to a lot by the public. The Dr. and police officer that Miles calls when discovering Becky’s POD shrug his complaint off of the dead body found at Becky’s fathers house. Typically, sci-fi ‘aliens’ look different so the audience know they are ‘others.’ However, the PODS look identical to the original person, which challenges the audience’s expectation, The PODS grow in number and anyone who questions or challenges them are labelled as crazy or paranoid and are accused of making things up and imagining it in their minds. Anyone imagining this is threatened with going to prison if they don’t let it go. As McCarthy and his ideologies grow, members of authority start to take on his point of view. Some of these actually believe him, although some do it out of fear as they don’t want to be seen or labelled as a Communist and get blacklisted.

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Miles wakes up the next day happy with the explanation he was given from the authority figures. Although they have kept in mind how he behaved and will keep a close eye on him in the future. Not many people questioned the status quo or changes in society and they felt they couldn't trust authority figures because they had started to adopt the ideologies of McCarthy too. This meant that paranoia grew and people feared that their thoughts and personal beliefs where being undermined and questioned. Anyone who displayed signs of opinions that questioned McCarthy and his followers or were considered to be potentially problematic were identified and viewed with suspicion. The majority of the  society would adopt these views and anyone under suspicion where seen as dangerous and threats to them. This made many living in the United States realise that instead of being seen as a threat and dangerous, they could change their views and ideologies to fit in with the status quo. 

Whilst at Jacks house, Miles uncovers more PODS and starts to believe there is something else going on than just psychological conditions. He tries to phone the police or the FBI which are both symbols of authority, however they don't offer him help or support. Miles decides to let his friends escape while he waits as he says "If there is no-one here to answer, they will know we have gone." As McCarthy grew, he could attack, label or even consider someone to be a Communist and their lives would be over. This can mean literally for some as many committed suicide after being black listed. McCarthy's power had grew so much that government figures feared him incase he labelled them as Communists. As a result, they backed him and even changed their policies to support him.

Paranoia began to grow, Miles was now a threat again and and 'other' to the rest of his society. He is in the minority going against the status quo and is therefore considered a threat by everyone else. By the mid 50's, McCarthy and his ideologies had become the status quo and they held the majority in US society. Anyone who opposed it were in the minority and seen as threats. Therefore people would fear McCarthy and speaking out against him so adopted the status quo, essentially becoming POD people. During the HUAC hearings Judges would be openly biased. The 5th amendment right was refused and Freedom of Speech was restricted. People feared the government and became paranoid of them so adopted the status quo view that McCarthy was right and if you fought him you were guilty.

As Miles tries to leave town, he encounters a number of people who he suspects are POD people. He is right for each one. This means he is more aware of his situation and is able to challenge it more. However, PODS increase in number which isolates him more and positions him as more of a threat. When Miles is at the gas station, he says "I saw Mack checking the trunk of my car. He could have been checking my spare tire, but i didn't think so." From now onwards, every character is acting suspiciously and all the people Miles could trust are no longer trustworthy, as they are now PODS. the scene at Sally's house placing a POD in the babies room show how ideologies can be passed down from parents to children. This means that if people are to stand up to McCarthy, it as to be now before its too late. After McCarthy's ideologies were dominant and the status quo, people became increasingly paranoid. As it was an invasion of ideologies, no one could be a 100% certain who to believe out of their friends and families as not a threat to them. This increased paranoia further, causing friends and families to expose their loved ones and close friends as 'Communist Sympathisers.' They did this out of fear and hatred of 'The others.'