section c

Section C – US Cinema

‘Films always reflect the times and places in which they were made.’ How far is this true of the American films you have studied for this topic?

The two American films which I have studied for this topic are Invasion of the Body Snatchers and War of the Worlds. Invasion of the Body Snatchers is set in the 50s in America during the Cold War and War of the Worlds is a more modern film set in New York.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers was made during the Cold War when McCarthy was trying to stop communism in America by persuading the people of America to become anti-communists. This is shown through the characters in Invasion of the Body Snatchers as Miles represents communism whereas the pod people represent McCarthy and his followers. This is shown through the narrative as the ideologies and method of the pod people gradually replaced the ‘dominant ideology’ just as McCarthy and his followers did during the 50s. The idea of the pod people becoming the majority rather than the minority shows that anyone who appeared to oppose McCarthy became the minority and subsequently seen as a threat to him and his followers. Also, just like in the real world of Joseph McCarthy those who do not fall in line are considered as ‘others’ or ‘outsiders’ which links to theme of the fear of others which this films portrays.

Once the pod people have become the majority and Miles is trying to run away from them, the camera makes an extreme close up of his face and puts him into a small frame which makes our protagonist seem trapped as he is now the minority in society. This links to the theme of annihilation and the loss of identity as the pod people are taking over the personalities and opinions of everyone and making them all think the same way reflecting the idea that McCarthy made all anti-communists of America share the same opinion. Also, this links to the theme of paranoia as the use of framing shows how McCarthy feels surrounded by the threat of the pod people taking over his personality and thoughts.

By the end, the pod people are seen as the ‘norm’ but we still see them as antagonists showing that even though this became the ‘norm’ in American society there was still a minority who didn’t agree with it. This film has no resolution in its narrative making the audience leave the cinema with the film still in their minds; the director did this to make the audience concerned for their society and make them do something to stop McCarthy and the anti-communists.

War of the Worlds is based around today’s society after the incident of 9/11 in New York. This film shows the aftermath of this incident through the theme of paranoia, fear of the unknown and the fear of annihilation. This is shown through the representation of characters as the aliens in War of the Worlds represents the terrorists of 9/11 and Ray et al represent society during the aftermath of 9/11.

This film uses iconography in it’s mise-en-scene to represent the 9/11 incident in 1997. When the aliens are first introduced, they begin to attack people straight away but instead of the death of the people being shown through blood and gore it is instead shown through dust and ash which is iconic of the rubble and dust left behind after 9/11.

War of the Worlds relies on binary oppositions in order to reflect on the time and place in which the film was made. One binary opposition which the film relies on is unity against separation for example Ray et al represent unity and the idea of America sticking together as one against the terrorists. On the other hand, Olgivy represents separation as he is isolated and dies on his own.

When the storm first begins before the aliens are introduced, Rachel asks Ray “is it the terrorists?”  showing that people are cautious of everything small thing that happens in New York society as a result of 9/11 and therefore represents the theme of paranoia.

Unlike Invasion of the Body Snatchers, War of the Worlds has a resolution as Robbie returns home from the army and the family become reunited. This resolution gives a message about family sticking together through everything and represents the idea of America becoming closer together after 9/11. This differentiates from Invasion of the Body Snatchers and shows how tragic events can either bring a country together or tear them apart.

To sum up, both films reflect the times and places in which they were made very strongly and put a message across to the audience through the representing themes.