Invasion of the body snatchers

In the era of late 1940’s to the early 1950s they were highly overshadowed by feeling of intense fear, paranoia. This was created by the appearance of the Alien registration act, which banned the ability to teach think or even talk about overthrowing the government. The government kept records of the peoples political beliefs, even those as young as 14.  This created immense fear upon those who believed in political parties that was not considered the status quo. As people were questioned about the ‘aliens’ if they did not answer they would be imprisoned. This meant that people now feared their own government and they were denied their 5^th amendment right. This cause outraged, as the Americans rights had been broken.

 Post-World War 2, the attitudes of the American society changed and became more paranoid. The status quo included: white, heterosexual, family orientated and Christian. Those manifesting these ‘qualities’ were not part of the status quo. An advert was made by the government which described the homosexual individuals as dangerous and that they should be feared.  This then made gay people feel isolated and had an increased paranoia of being attacked or put in jail. Gay people then had to alter their personalities and forced marriages occurred more often than never.  Those who did not follow the status quo were known as ‘others’. These ‘others’ generated panic and fear within the American society as they thought the ‘others’ were going to take over.

The film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers was created and filmed during the time of Communism, McCarthyism and the Cold War. The opening of the film displayed the main character as an ‘other’. This is because he is acting irrationally and ‘crazy’ that would scare many American citizens. However the threat in IOTBS is not Miles but a threat that is unknown and psychological. This links to the communists and the homosexuals that were feared in the early 1950’s, these ‘characteristics’ are not visible and would only be able to see or recognise if they were displayed loudly or talked about. In the film, a specific threat is present; this threat is immediate, however, not visible.  The 1950’s USA were in a state of panic over the ‘others’ and annihilation.

During the start of the film when Miles begins to narrate his story, all the environments seem ‘normal up until he says that the fruit stand is always there, which creates a sense of worry for Miles. He establishes that the status quo has already changed due to the little boy not wanting to go to school and the stand closing down. He establishes the status quo almost immediately. Jimmy and Uncle Ira’s niece are taken to Miles; they both think their relatives are not actually them. However no one else is paranoid that others may be like uncle Ira.  Jimmy and the others alike are seen as deluded and crazy.

The introduction to the film is highly different to War of the Worlds.