Laurel Caldwell
October 12, 2007
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The classic movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a movie that is very controversial. It can be depicted, of course, as a Horror/Sci-Fi film, but also as a political allegory that talks about McCarthyism. McCarthyism is a term that describes a period of time from the late 1940’s to the late 1950’s where there was very strong anti-Communist suspicion in the United States. When this movie was first made, Communism was very prevalent around the world and McCarthyism was occurring throughout the United States. Because of that, it is reasonable to believe that this movie’s underlying theme is about McCarthyism. However, I think that this movie is just one of those old scary movies.
John Whitehead states in his review “A Tale for our Time” that Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the “greatest of all the horror and science fiction classics of the 1950’s.” There are a few reasons as to why this movie is so good. It could be because of the cast, who were all unknown actors at that point. It could also be because of “crafty manner in which director Siegel avoided the use of special effects. Or maybe it was the strong story provided by Jack Finney and Daniel Mainwaring’s screenplay” (Whitehead). This movie has had three re-makes since it first came out in 1956. Each time it was re-made, there was an issue going on throughout the world that people could connect that specific issue to the movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. For example, at the time of the original movie in 1956, it was Communism; and the last re-make of it in 2007, the issue was terrorism. Because Invasion of the Body Snatchers has been re-made so many times, it shows you that people from many different generations can easily relate to the movie.
In the review from Tim Dirks, he informs his readers that in the original version of the movie, there was no prologue or epilogue. Without the prologue and epilogue, people found this movie very horrifying. Originally, the movie started with Dr. Miles Bennell meeting his nurse, Sally, after getting off the train. She tells him that there had been something weird going on around town while he was gone. The movie ended with Dr. Bennell wandering around the highway screaming, “Look, you fools. You’re in danger. Can’t you see? They’re after you. They’re after all of us. Our wives, our children, everyone. They’re here already. YOU”RE NEXT!” Because the movie ended like this, it scared people a lot. Having lifeless forms take over your body is a scary thing to people because you would not be able to be independent and be yourself or express emotions. It would just be a dull boring life and we would all be the same.
After watching this movie, I am not so sure if I would agree with the criticisms made by Whitehead and Dirks. Yes, the pod people do resemble the communists in a way that they take over your body, but really, they are just something made to scare you. When people come to watch movies, they come for entertainment and to just relax and watch a good movie. I don’t understand why people look so deeply into movies. Of course there are some movies where you do want to look more in depth into them, and really think about the message the director is trying to portray, like The Passion of the Christ maybe for example. But why would a director of a scary movie put issues into the movie that try to make you think as to which theme they want you to follow through the movie. Most do not want to be sitting there thinking, “Hmm, this looks a lot like political allegories to me.” But, I believe that when the directors made this movie, they were interested in how they could make this movie the best they could, how they were going to pull in the most money at the ticket box, and how they were going to pull in a big audience. They did this by making a plain ol’ scary movie, that would continue to fascinate audiences throughout the years.
Works Cited
Dirks, Tim. “Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1956).” 1996. 9 Oct. 2007. http://www.filmsite.org/inva.html.
Whitehead, John. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers: A Tale for our Times”. Gadfly Online. 1998. 9 Oct. 2007. http://www.gadflyonline.com/11-26-01/film-snatchers.html.
4 comments:
Maria Gagliano
Good Job on this paper. You interpreted this movie in a very creative way. I like how you explain why people have to think so deeply about all movies, and why they cannot watch a movie just for the sake of watching a movie, a scary one at that. I especially like how you include an example by talking about The Passion of the Christ, which caused a raucus when it came out. You were right, maybe the directors and writers of Invasion of the Body Snatchers just wanted to make a hit movie. Although I enjoy your interpretation of the movie, I would like to see you expand more in detail about the movie to support your thoughts. Pretend anyone who is going to read you paper is clueless about this movie.
There were some places where you could change from passive voice to active voice to make what you are saying more strong. It tends to get a little wordy in some places, try and stick straight to the point you are trying to get across. (example: you say “McCarthyism is a term that describes… just got ahead and say McCarthyism describes). You have good topic sentences for each paragraph, but I think adding in a concluding sentence to your paragraphs would give your paper an even better flow.
I enjoyed this paper !
Kendall Lewis
I think you did a good job on your paper. I was interested in the way that you interpreted your paper and how you were creative about doing it. I agree with you that most movie producers will make a movie in a way that will sell the most. Usually they are thinking about money rather than other things. Using examples like the Passion of the Christ helped prove a point to the reader and help explain to them what you were talking about and the point you were trying to make. You organized your paper well and you kept a certain topic in each paragraph. You were not jumping from one topic to another in a single paragraph.
I think you could make your paper more descriptive about the actual movie itself. Some people who might read your essay might have no clue what Invasion of the Body Snatchers is even about or what pod people even are and this can make them misinterpret your paper. You might want to add some conclusion sentences that will lead into your next paragraphs. I think it would make your paper flow a little bit better.
I thought your paper was very good. I like your concluding paragraph about how people look too deeply in movies. I think you are right that people should just relax and watch and the movie. It is hard to get the main ideas out of a scary movie because you are too scared to think. I also like how you compare it to the movie, Passion of Christ, and how that is a movie that you should really pay attention to and get all of the meanings and idea of because it is a spiritual movie.
The thesis is good but I think you need more supporting detail in the following paragraphs into why you think this was a scary movie. You could include more examples from the movie and even from the reviews. This will help you to have a real good focus on your thesis.
In the second paragraph you say “It could be because of the cast…..It also could be…..Or maybe it was the strong story…..” these parts of the sentences make you sound like you are really not sure. You want to sound strong and show that you know what you’re talking about because you’re acting as a movie critic. You want the reader to think that those are the reasons why it is a good movie not think that these might be the reasons that it is scary movie. You could say, “The first reason was the cast of unknown actors at point.” Then you could give an example of what or how the cast did to make the movie worth watching. Just watch your sentence structure in the paper with passive voice and active voice as well.
I like this paper. I think you knew what you were talking about and really supported what you were saying. I really liked how you were able to make your paragraphs and sentences flow. You had nice topics sentences that really led into what each paragraph was going to talk about. I like how you went into depth about what you thought the directors were thinking when they made this movie “how they could make this movie the best they could, how they were going to pull in the most money at the ticket box, and how they were going to pull in a big audience” Also I like how you quoted from the movie what Dr. Bennell was screaming at the end. I do think however that you could maybe expand more about what happens in the movie. You give a brief description about what happens at like 3 parts of the movie, but maybe go into the details a little more. Also, some of your sentences were a little wordy. Maybe shorten a few of them up.
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