Critical Interpretation: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

Melissa Lovell
Eng 101
Weinstein
12 October 2007

The movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers has been around for a while. Before we watched the movie with the class, our teacher told us to read some critical interpretations some other people had made when they watched the movie. The one interpretation that stuck out to me the most was the one that suggested that this movie was just a science-fiction movie. The next day in class when we started to watch the movie, all I could think about was if it was a science fiction movie or not. I believe that the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a science-fiction movie with some really cheesy lines.

Tim Dirks stated in his critical interpretation that this movie is only a science fiction movie. In his review, Dirks said, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) is a thrilling, disturbing classic science fiction/alien film” (Dirks 1). He does not believe that there is any reference to communism in this movie. The movie is about pods that transform into the people that they are around. When you go to sleep, the pods take over your mind and then take over their bodies. That is all Tim Dirks saw in the movie. He knew that when some people saw the movie their were going to see the reference to communism, but he couldn’t help but see the science fiction in the movie. When the movie came out there had just been the Red Scare and so most people had communism on their mind so I think that maybe that is why some people saw the communism in this movie. He also thinks that some people think that the movie is about communism because the writer and producer were thought to be communists. The things that you hear before you watch the movies are going to greatly effect how someone views a movie. Many others have viewed his interpretation the same way. Some of those others even remade the movie into a scarier science fiction movie.

When I watched the movie, the interpretation that I took away from the movie, it that it was indeed a science fiction movie. I even thought that it was a tad bit scary. We talked as a class before we watched the movie and after we watched the movie. Some people in the class thought that the movie did have some communism ideas in the movie. Some others in the class thought about the movie the same way that I had. I didn’t see how any part of the movie would make someone think about communism. Most of the lines in the movie come off as corny. The people are so normal at first and then when the pod people take over their bodies they become like robots. The things that the people said and the way they acted were funny. I saw no signs of communism in the way they talked and acted at all. Some people in the class argued that the pods that took over the peoples bodies was just like what the communists do when they take over a country and the people there. In one part of the movie, the people that have been taken over by the pods get more pods to take to their families in other counties to turn them into pod people. Some people in the class also saw how some one could have taken that as communism. When we talked as a class, we discussed that the era that movies are made in and the things that are going on influence the way that people view the things that are in the movie. So if you decide to watch the movie with the thinking that it is going to be scary, you should be prepared for a few scary moments.

If you watch this movie, you should expect to see some fairly scary moments. At one point in the movie, the doctor is looking in the basement for a pod and he opens the top to a cellar type thing and there is a pod body growing in their. I have to say that this part of the movie scared me. There are some good parts when the people change from normal humans to pod people and they start acting different. They act quite creepy and they seem just like robots. There is a good chase scene when the doctor and his girlfriend are running away from the people who are trying to turn them into pod people. Then the girl gets taken over by the pod and she just changes all of a sudden. She is talking to him and then all of a sudden she changes and looks weird and starts talking weird. It would not be the best scary movie now days, but back when it first cam out I bet it was one of the scariest movies out then.

I would suggest watching this movie to everyone. It has its scary moments and then it has its funny moments. I think that it is always fun to watch old movies and see how many things have changed since then. Some people may watch the movie and see the political allegory, the communism, or some other form of government involvement in this movie. Some may see it the way I did, a scary science-fiction movie. Whichever way you see this movie, I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.