invasion of the body snatchers

It is often said that, “films reflect the time in which they are made.” How far is this true for invasion of the body snatchers?

Invasion of the body snatchers is set in 1950’s America; the film reflects American society at this time. During this time the fear of “others” has become stronger, this did not only include communists but anyone outside of what was seen as the status quo. During this time this consisted of being; Christian, capitalist, anti-communist, white, straight, and a conformist.  Anyone outside of this status quo was seen as a threat such as; gay people, black people, people with different religions, and those with different ideologies. This fear was caused by fear and paranoia of attacks after the creation of the nuclear bomb, and the fear that “others” would be the ones to cause or start the attack. The media and government at the time spread this belief by releasing videos and safety guides on what to do in the event of a nuclear bomb. This paranoid and fear based society created the perfect ground for conformity to become what was expected, those who conformed were seen as safe and doing what was right while those who did not conform or could not conform to what was expected where seen as dangerous and a threat to those who did.

The film begins with panic, this is an usual way to start the film as it projects a view of America we do not usually see, and it’s not what we expect, when we imagine America we picture them always being ready to handle a possible threat and as a result not fearing them however invasion of the body snatches portrays the opposite of this. This is done to show the panic, paranoia and fear that existed in the US during the 50’s.  Society during this time had high feelings of these emotions due to the threat of nuclear war from the USSR and the fear of anyone other than those who fit the status quo.

Invasion of the body snatchers is set in a small fictional down called Santa Mira, this town is used as a representative of all small town in the USA and the film is set here to show that this problem is not just one that effects the big cities such as New York but one that effects everywhere and that can happen to anyone.  This would make the fear more real for those watching as once they leave the cinema many would be going into a town that looked a lot like Santa Mira. When we first see this town the majority of the people upholding the status quo and a small minority showing symptoms of a psychological condition, these people outside of the status quo are treated as a minor problem. This reflects how McCarthy and his early followers were first treated when he began to rise in politics, because of his initial lack of influence he and his followers were not taken seriously and as a result were ignored until there where more of them than there where those against, their views became the new status quo and those against became the new “other.”

The hero of this film, Miles, isn’t what is expected of a hero in cinema, he is a normal man who people are able to relate too. There’s nothing about him that stands out. This is used to show that the problem is faced by everyone and can be fought by everyone. At the beginning of the the film Miles is part of the majority and fits the status quo, because of this he doesn’t see anything wrong at first although his narration tells us he felt that something was off from the moment he arrived in the town, but as unable to tell what exactly it was.  This gives an increased sense of fear as it tells those watching that there is no way to recognise the “others” and so no way way to stop them until they’re already there. By the end of the film Miles has became one of the “others” as the ones who were originally feared and seen as the others have became the majority. This represents how people during the 50’s wanted to conform to what was expected of them and so if they felt they didn’t fit in they would try to change themselves, this is portrayed in the film as more people begin to let them selves be replaced.

The first person that is noticeably different to Miles in invasion of the body snatchers is a police officer, while not physically different there is something psychologically different about him. The fact the first person we see who has changed and became an “other” is an authority figure is done to show how authority figures are used to make people more likely to conform as they are more likely to do as they say and to believe what they say is right. When a person of authority tells Miles what he saw was incorrect Miles believed him without questioning it, this was a tactic used by McCarthy in the 50’s, because he was in a position of power people didn’t question it when he accused people of being spies, communists or anything else against American beliefs and instead believed him without questioning it.