Invasion of the Body Snatchers - part 1

Invasion of the Body Snatchers    

In what ways does Invasion of the Body Snatchers reflect the time in which it was made?

Invasion of the Body Snatcher is a film that reflects the social issues in America in the 1950’s. The film opens to a flashback of Miles in a state of panic and shock to reflect the issues that were going on from the international threat of McCarthy, fear of communism and the Red Scare in the USA. The opening scene of Miles taps into the fear and paranoia felt by the majority of Americans also instantly informing the audience about the unseen threat that Miles and other Americans are about to face in the small town of Santa Mira.

After the opening the film opens to Miles retuning back to his home in the set small town Santa Mira. This is not usual because the audience expectations are for the film to be set in a big town however set in a small town to impact on a sense of uneasiness, this was designed to tap into real Americans existing fears and paranoia so that they receive a clear message about the internal problem of McCarthyism.

Miles is informed in the film about individual’s family members acting and behaving differently, however Miles does not see this is a serious issue and states them as being psychological conditions. People’s complaints grow and grow to Miles and the ‘Grimaldi’ family business goes out of business because of the change in people who have this ‘psychological condition’; McCarthyism started as a small issue with only a minority of people following it due to fear of communism and people labelled those who followed it to being paranoid.

As the amount of complaints grow Miles finally begins to realise that there is an actual problem occurring however, Miles will not accept that it is anything more that a psychological condition. Americans started to accept McCarthy’s point of view and listen to his various ideologies, anyone who disagreed or didn’t share the same point of view as McCarthy would be labelled as ‘others’ and were seen as outsiders and a possible threat.

The numbers of PODS grew and they began to appear in the positions of authority in the form of the police officer that ignored Miles complaint of the dead body he found on the pool table in Becky’s fathers home and in form of the Dr. PODS increased in numbers and people who dared to question the POD people were labelled as paranoid and crazy they were also told that they were imagining things that were not real and were threatened to be imprisoned if they did not stop. McCarthy grew in power and people of high positions such as actors would adopt his ideologies and believe him however, others who did not believe him pretended to in fear of being labelled a ‘communist’ and being ‘blacklisted’.

Miles wakes up the next morning and is pleased with the explanation given by the authority figures the day after the events that occurred with the bodies however, authorities labelled him as suspicious due to his behaviour. The majority of Americans would not question the current status quo and the recent changes in the American society because they were discouraged. Due to McCarthy's persuasion authority figures began adopting his ideologies which caused the American civilians to lose trust in the Authorities, this reinforced paranoia because the American civilians felt their personal beliefs and thoughts where being questioned and undermined. McCarthy and his followers would immediately label anybody who questioned, showed signs of dissent or could be a potential problem for McCarthy as suspicious, people in the society would accept these view points and would also view anybody under investigation as a potential danger to society or as a threat.

Whilst Miles is at Jacks house he discovers more PODS and realises that there is a conspiracy on going. Miles is rejected by the Authority when he calls the FBI and the police for help and advice. Miles then suggests that his friends should escape while they can and he will wait "if there is no one here to answer, they will know we have gone". Paranoia at this point increases dramatically because Miles has been re positioned as a threat and as one of the 'others' because he is rebelling against the status quo and so is seen as a threat to it.

McCarthy's influence grew and he became a strong enemy to have because of his status and power. If McCarthy as much as so suggested someone to be a communist they would be immediately be blacklisted. Being blacklisted was the worst thing possible to happen to you as it would be the end of your carrer no matter how successful you were, some people even committed suicide because they felt that their lives were over. By the mid 50's McCarthy himself and his ideologies became the status quo and so anybody who opposed to McCarthy and his ideologies were in a minority and were seen as a potential threat.