Ray is at work on the docks.This shows the new york setting.This is a locational and visual link to 9/11. In a shot of new york, the world trade centre is missing.This shows us that the characters live in a post 9/11 world. This environment full of fear and paranoia as they live in new york and they witnesses these attacks. They are paranoid incase of another attack. This has been done to draw a direct connection to 9/11.This also introduces family which is a key theme for the entire film.
The first tripod attack uses generic sci-fi conventions. Humans vs other is almost always present in any sci-fi film.There is also the use of futuristic technology and aliens. There are a lot of allegorical messages in this scene which I believe are direct links to 9/11 and the twin towers. Fear of annihilation is present in this sequence as annihilation is the aliens goal. This is allegorical as annihilation was also the goal of the terrorists in the 9/11 attacks.We see people fleeing, being engulfed by clouds of grey smoke. This is seen on a lot of footage from the attacks. We see a man recording the attack with a camera,we see the attack through his camera.This is another direct link to footage from the 9/11 attacks. There are a lot of helicopter and slow angle shots which are very reminiscent of 9/11 as we are positioned to look up at the pods the same way people would have been looking up at the twin towers. However i found that the biggest signifier was how the aliens looked.The pods are used as a vehicle as well as as weapons, this is the same way the planes were used during the attacks. Before 9/11 no one though of a plane as a weapon however because of 9/11 we do now. This scene is about how the audience will respond as this scene attempts to tap into existing fears of terrorism.
Ray then comes home,he looks in the mirror and begins to wipe the dust and ash off of him. This shows how the fear has taken over. In one scene rachel screams 'is it the terrorists again' shows us how paranoid people were, they automatically assume any attack is terrorists. In the scene were the military drives past them, Robbie desires revenge. after the 9/11 attacks there was an increase in the number of army recruits. Quick response from the US. There is a scene after this were a plane is scattered around after a crash which is a visual signifier of 9/11. After this someone shows Ray media footage, these attacks have been happening all over the world. there is now 24 hour news coverage globally. The repetition of images increases fear and paranoia.
-rachel sees shoes clothes falling from the sky (military drives past them scene)
- port terminal scene, car is stolen at gun point
-missing people image boards,iconography ground zero
- ray kills ogiluy, fear + paranoia drives people to do drastic things,uncharacteristic responses
- ogiluy, allergory for conspiracy theories, after 9/11 more attacks to muslim americans,extreme paranoia
-we look to authority/ military for help
- ray saves people from the pod with the grenade,he is suicide bomber,he doesn't intend to survive but he is saved by the people around him,unity, working together
- family, disaster is backdrop, we survived + overcame
- attacks are all over the us, no where is safe
- 9/11 was out of the blue,unprepared,the pod attack was also out of the blue,could have been prevented
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