War of the Worlds/IOTBS Exam Answer

September 11^th 2001 was one of the most important days in modern history as the fall of the World Trade Centre led to the rise of a culture of paranoia and anger; this of course is reflected in films and is labelled as “post 9/11 cinema”. Post 9/11 cinema often deals with themes of great loss and tragedy but also sometimes also reflects the unity that was experienced in the western world because of 9/11. Examples of this type of film are: The Hurt Locker, Restrepo and one of the films I will be discussing here: War of the Worlds.

Another similar threat to American culture was prominent in the 1950's where the second film I will be discussing takes place; Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This threat was of course Communism or more accurately the 'Red Scare' that followed the rise of Communism. This red scare was the result of American propaganda against the USSR which led to a society opposed against the Soviets and their economic model. One of the leading men in the red scare was US senator Joseph McCarthy who led a campaign of scaremongering and manipulation to scare society into giving him and his associates an extraordinary amount of power in decided what and who were acceptable in American society. This power was of course greatly abused and was mainly used by McCarthy to censor anyone who sought to oppose him including but not limited to: artists, political commentators and those who worked in Hollywood. It was because of this that director Don Siegel decided to create a film in response to 'McCarthyism' criticising its followers and warning others of its dangers, this film was titled 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'

Firstly War of the Worlds reflects the paranoia prevalent in a post 9/11 society in the scene where Ray is escaping from the alien attack with his family, upon hearing explosions Ray's daughter asks “Is it the terrorists?” this is a fantastic representation of post 9/11 cinema as it is a direct reference to 9/11 and Muslim extremists specifically as terrorism hadn't truly been experienced on such a large and destructive scale before or since. This line is also crucial because Ray's daughter immediately suspects terrorism, this is because after the attacks paranoia and fear regarding another imminent terrorist attack was so commonplace in society that it is the first conclusion someone would come to after a disaster. This scene is also a good representation of the fear of others that came with the paranoia for the same reasons outlined above, especially how Ray's daughter does not suspect a natural disaster or some other explanation different to terrorism.

The second scene in which War of the Worlds displays this paranoia is the scene where Ray and his daughter are hiding in a basement with another man, the man wants to escape the basement to fight the aliens while Ray disagrees and believes the smartest decision is to wait until the aliens have passed. When the man tries to escape Ray decides to murder the him so that he can protect himself and his daughter. This is a powerful representation of paranoia as when people are scared they tend to disregard others to protect themselves, a real life example of this would the massive support for the invasion of Afghanistan post 9/11; people were so scared of another attack on that scale that they were fine with invading another country and damaging the lives of countless civilians because it meant that they would ultimately be safer as a result. This is shown through Ray's actions in this scene as paranoia led him to murder the other man. Once again this scene can also be used as an example of the fear of others in society post 9/11 as in this scene Ray feared that another persons actions would lead him to be killed and not simply the aliens themselves.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers on the other hand shows paranoia in a completely different way, examples of this would be the various scenes throughout the film where different people approach Miles with the concern that those close to them are no longer themselves, this is a representation of the paranoia felt by those in 1950's America. I know this because at the time people believed that Communism would worm its way into American life and change everyone into a Communist; stripping them of emotions and values. While this did not happen in real life it is still being represented here as the film shows what would happen at the beginning stages if such an event were to take place and how normal Americans would react to these 'changed' people.

Another scene that shows paranoia in Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the scene where Miles and Becky stop for fuel at a petrol station. In this scene the man who runs the petrol station makes idle conversation with Miles and Becky and seems friendly enough, regardless though Miles at this point does not trust anyone except Becky as they could be pod people and out to get him. This is a clear example of Miles being paranoid even though he was correct. This is example of fear of others which also plagued society in the 1950's as this scene and many others in the film show Miles constantly being suspicious of others after he finds out of the pods existence.

A major theme that runs through both War of the Worlds and Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the fear of annihilation, however it takes a different form in both films: In War of the Worlds it is the fear of extermination and in Invasion of the Body Snatchers it is the fear of assimilation.

The scene that best illustrates the fear of extermination in War of the Worlds is where Ray is talking to the reporters who show him the true scale of the invasion. In this scene Ray and the audience both get confirmation that the entire human race is at risk of being completely destroyed. This scene is most comprised of video recordings of Tripods destroying major cities, the reason the Spielberg chose to show this is so that he can properly convey the risk that these invaders pose to humanity.

This same sentiment is shown in a later scene where Ray and his family witness the military attacking the Tripods to no avail, this once again is to show the scale of the threat humanity is dealing with; the scene accomplishes that by opening with the military attacking the Tripods but the Tripods do not even get slightly damaged by this, putting in perspective the difference between human and Martian military strength. This scene is a good demonstration of fear of extermination because like the previous scene it shows to Ray and the audience that considering the circumstances it is a virtual certainty that the humans will be destroyed.

In Invasion of the Body Snatchers the fear of assimilation is perfectly illustrated in the scene where Becky and Miles are in Miles' office watching the people of Santa Mira distribute pods so that they can spread pod people to other cities and towns. The fear of assimilation is shown so well here because the townsfolk otherwise are acting completely normal, meaning that it is almost impossible to discern who is and isn't a pod person (or a McCarthyist) it also is good because it shows to the audience that the threat is active and if left alone it will simply get worse, meaning the humans (audience) need to act quickly against these pod people (McCarthyist's)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers overarching narrative is a criticism on McCarthyism and this narrative is shown throughout the film but no where more prominently than when Miles is trying to escape the pod people after Becky becomes assimilated. This scene begins with Miles running away from the pod people to warn the outside world, this scene is crucial to the film because it directly represents the film’s overarching narrative. Invasion of the Body Snatchers was spurred on by the rise of McCarthyism in 1950’s America and the pod people represent McCarthy’s followers. Following this we can clearly see that when Miles is warning the audience (as the director was attempting with IOTBS) that they need to take action against the pod people (McCarthyist’s). This is made even more apparent when Miles is facing the camera (and in turn: is facing the audience) and proclaims “they’re here already, you’re next” meaning that if the American public does not fight back against McCarthy then it may be too late and McCarthy will further his grip on American culture.

The scene that best illustrates the narrative (importance of family) is where Ray and his family are getting on the boat. This scene is important because Ray is also concerned with his neighbour, who cannot make it on the boat. Ray is faced with a choice between helping these people or abandoning his family where they will be unsafe without him. Ray chooses to leave the neighbours behind but his son (Robbie) decide to risk himself to save others; in juxtaposition to Ray’s actions. It is an important moment for the narrative because it shows that even though in times of panic and danger family and those closest to you should have priority, this however does not mean that the lives of others are worthless, Ray realises this when he sees Robbie.

At the end of War of the Worlds we see Ray’s family fully reunited and the invaders defeated. This is quite a happy ending and shows the situation fully resolved. This is rather different to the ending of Invasion of the Body Snatchers where even though now people believe Miles the film still has no true conclusion. The reason for this is firstly that the 2005 adaptation of War of the Worlds was inspired partly by the September 11^th 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre, as such during the films production there was a large anti-terrorism climate in the West (American had entered a war with Iraq and Afghanistan shortly after). The ending ends in the human (westerners) victory because Spielberg and most of the west believed and wished they would win the wars in the Middle East.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers on the contrary does not have a satisfying conclusion because the director was using the film to represent the (then) current climate of McCarthyism which was on going during the film’s release, as such the film could not have any real conclusion because there was as yet no conclusion to the real life events it was based on.

In conclusion: films are excellent representations of the worries and beliefs of society at the time of production, with Invasion of the Body Snatchers showing the dangers of blindly following others will lead to a collapse in society as we know in and War of the Worlds mainly shows the importance of unity in the face of adversity .