How far do the American films you have studied convey key themes in a similar way?

Both films, Invasion Of The Body Snatchers and War Of The Worlds portray similar themes throughout the narrative. These are both used to convey the issues that society faced at the time and to show how citizens felt and coped with the situations.

Paranoia is a main theme that is constant throughout both films. In Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Miles exploits the theme of paranoia as he is constantly on edge about the people and 'pods' around him. However, this is first shown in the very first scene were Miles is going crazy about the unseen force. This is a reference to McCarthy at the time and reflects the paranoia of many Americans as McCarthy was seen as a major threat but nobody would stand against him. Miles becomes more paranoid throughout the film as he begins losing friendship and trust of those closest to him due to the 'pods'. This is also linked to fear of annihilation.

In War Of The Worlds, the theme of paranoia is exhibited when Ray and his daughter are hiding in the house with Ogilvy. All three characters are in hiding from the aliens but show an extensive amount of paranoia as they have different view points on how to go about coping with the situation. This part of the film taps into peoples feelings as they couldn't cope with the paranoia of not knowing whether the terrorists were coming back. This is also shown when Ray and his daughter have to creep around the house and dodge the aliens, despite nearly being caught.

In Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, fear of others is shown when Miles is in Jack's green house and he discovers more 'pods'. He realises that something is going on and insists on staying at jacks so it doesn't seem suspicious. Miles then realises that the minority has become the majority and fears the 'pods' even more. Fear of others is also shown when Miles and Dana are on the run from the 'pod' people, this is because they now cant trust anyone and their fears and doubts have been increased.

Throughout War of The Worlds, fear of others is shown within many situations. It is shown in one of the first scenes when the citizens do a double take after the aliens come out from beneath the ground  and realise that a conspiracy is taking place. They all run due to the fear of the unknown, others and annihilation. Another scene were this takes place is when Robbie runs off to join the army and fight against the aliens. He has a fear of others and a fear of annihilation so would rather kill the aliens than them kill him.

The fear of extermination is only shown in War Of The Worlds but is conveyed through likes of the aliens capturing all of the people and Ray getting pulled up into the alien. This is when he lets off a grenade and everyone escapes. Another scene is when Robbie, Ray and his daughter have made it to the top of the hill after getting off shore and look around to see the aliens killing off all humans and basically exterminating anything living.

The difference between both films is that even though they portray similar themes, they both go about them in different ways and have different meanings and ideologies. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers is about McCarthyism and communism at the time and how they went about coping with the situation whilst War Of The Worlds is a post 9/11 film that portrays the terror and paranoia, as well as the long-lasting effects that many people around the world faced.