Just a movie

Henry Shields
English 101
October 9, 2007
Weinstein
It’s Just a Movie
Invasion of the Body Snatchers is considered to be one of the greatest horror/science fiction movies of its time. It has been reviewed by professors and students across the nation for its supposed “double meaning” and political allegory. Critics such as John Whitehead proclaim the movie symbolizes the time and events of the Cold War and “Red Scare” era. He states, “No matter the criteria of those who made the film… the alien pod people perfectly fit McCarthy’s profile of Russians…” (A Tale for Our Times-4). Alien “pod people” are claimed to symbolize Russians. And the humans on earth are claimed to symbolize Americans who are taken over and slowly killed off by the aliens (Russians). However, I feel that Invasion of the Body Snatchers expresses a vivid theme of horror throughout the entire movie; nothing more, nothing less.
Writer John Whitehead critiques the movie in his essay, “A Tale for our Times”. He makes references between the characters of the movie and real life people of the Cold War era. Joseph McCarthy, a republican senator from Wisconsin, was a big leader during the Cold War who was famous for bringing about the “Red Scare”. The “Red Scare” was the belief that there were communist spies from Russia infiltrating the government. Whitehead makes the relation between the “Red Scare” and the aliens landing on earth. He also compares the character, Dr. Bennell, to the role of McCarthy. Dr. Bennell becomes a leader and the one who tries to sort out all of the people who have already been “snatched”. Whitehead also talks about the schoolteachers show relevance to the Cold War in the movie. Schoolteachers in the Cold War era were checked the most for being communist. It was believed that if the communist really did want to take over they would try to brainwash our kids first. In the movie teachers are some of the first ones to get “Snatched”. Whitehead makes good points concerning the symbolism of the movie. Although his points are legitimate, I feel he has blown the plot out of proportion.
After watching the movie, I feel that the comparisons to the Cold War are absolutely ridiculous. In my opinion, the movie was a breakthrough for horror and science fiction. Because no one had ever seen anything like it, they immediately started trying to find something to compare it to. It just so happened that the first thing critics and viewers thought of was a real life event; the Cold War. Even the author claims it is irrelevant to all Cold War and Red Scare events. He states, “If the pods in Invasion seem to incarnate the popular image of a communist totalitarian state, it is only because government-dominated, bureaucratic, and conformist fifties was itself creating and America like this picture of Soviet Russia”(Tale for our Times). The author blames the viewers for interpreting the movie this way. He claims that Americans were constantly scared during the fifties and only “bureaucrats” like them could make such a comparison. I feel that people are taking credit away from the author’s work when they make false comparisons and accusations. I think the author simply made a good horror film that did a good job of scaring people. In his essay, Whitehead takes note of the “fine ensemble cast” and the “haunting piano chords” that are still used today in movies and shows. These are qualities that make a great movie. Overall I feel that Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a true classic horror/Science fiction movie, not the political allegory critics and viewers have made it out to be.