Kendall Lewis
English 101
October 12, 2007
English 101
October 12, 2007
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
One can interpret the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers in a variety of ways. It can be interpreted as a science fiction horror movie, a political allegory, or a social satire. There are clearly many examples of McCarthyism and Communism in the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but in my opinion it is clearly a science fiction horror movie. Critics like John W. Whitehead and Tim Dirks would interpret the movie according to Communism and McCarthyism because both historical events were occurring at the time this movie was produced. In society today, we would not interpret the movie based to those things because that historical period is no longer occurring in the world today.
Critic Tim Dirks interprets the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers as a Communist movie stating that, “its main theme was the alien (read ‘Communist’) dehumanization and take-over of an entire community by large seed pods that replicated and replaced human beings” (Dirks). While the movie was being made, Communism took a big part in society. People were given certain standards to live by. Like in the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the people were all expected to turn into pod people that acted just alike rather than unique individuals. According to John W. Whitehead, Invasion of the Body Snatchers “is still considered the greatest of all the horror and science fiction classics of the 1950s” (Whitehead). I agree with John Whitehead because the movie can clearly be related to events in our decade today. Events like the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon show how mass hysteria has spread over the United States in society today.
I truly believe that the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers is strictly a science fiction horror movie. Audiences today can truly enjoy the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers because it can be related to recent historic events such as terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the outbreak of AIDS. Events such as these show that there are still outbreaks in our society today and that times have not changed that much. Like the Americas did with Iraq, in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Miles was not giving up fighting against the pod people. He did not agree with that by any means and he was not going to give in to them. He wanted to stay a normal unique individual rather than turning into a pod where everyone thinks and acts alike.
Often times a science fiction movie involves a fear of the unknown. Like in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers Miles and Becky are unsure of what they are finding humans turning into. They are finding that people are before unsure of their surroundings and unsure about whom the people are that they are running into. They later learn they everyone is turning into pod people and that they are the only ones left normal. Becky later explains to Miles that she tried to stay awake; but that she fell asleep and the pods just took over her body. Miles is then left alone as the only human who is not a pod person. Miles is now scared because his pod is already created he just has to fall asleep before he will turn into a pod. When Miles sees other people starting in enter the town he tries to explain to them what is going on, but they appear to already be pods and know exactly what they are doing.
In conclusion I feel that Invasion of the Body Snatchers is strictly a science fiction horror movie. There is clear evidence that the movie represents some aspects of McCarthyism and Communism from critics Tim Dirks and John Whitehead, but if they were to view the movie today I feel they would get a different impression. I feel that viewers should watch the movie as a horror sci-fi movie rather than trying to interpret it as a political allegory. It was overall a good movie that I was able to enjoy. Even though it was an older movie I will still able to enjoy it today. Like most humans, movies that are relevant to society today tend to be more enjoyable than other movies. When one can truly relate to a movie and connect to it you know you have a good movie. I believe that when Don Siegal produced this movie Communism and McCarthyism were two big events going on in society. I think he intended for the movie to be interpreted to those things, but I believe if he were to produce it today he would just say he was producing a science fiction horror movie. Often times I believe producers can get caught up in what is going on in the world today and interpret their movies according to the events so they are capture their audiences, but in reality they are really just science fiction movies. I believe if the movie was truly related to McCarthyism and Communism today then audiences would not have any interest in watching it today. Overall, I would recommend the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers as a good science fiction movie that all audiences can still enjoy today.
Works Cited
Dirks, Tim. “Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1956).” 1996. 26 September 2007. http://www.filmsite.org/inva.html.Critic Tim Dirks interprets the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers as a Communist movie stating that, “its main theme was the alien (read ‘Communist’) dehumanization and take-over of an entire community by large seed pods that replicated and replaced human beings” (Dirks). While the movie was being made, Communism took a big part in society. People were given certain standards to live by. Like in the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the people were all expected to turn into pod people that acted just alike rather than unique individuals. According to John W. Whitehead, Invasion of the Body Snatchers “is still considered the greatest of all the horror and science fiction classics of the 1950s” (Whitehead). I agree with John Whitehead because the movie can clearly be related to events in our decade today. Events like the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon show how mass hysteria has spread over the United States in society today.
I truly believe that the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers is strictly a science fiction horror movie. Audiences today can truly enjoy the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers because it can be related to recent historic events such as terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the outbreak of AIDS. Events such as these show that there are still outbreaks in our society today and that times have not changed that much. Like the Americas did with Iraq, in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Miles was not giving up fighting against the pod people. He did not agree with that by any means and he was not going to give in to them. He wanted to stay a normal unique individual rather than turning into a pod where everyone thinks and acts alike.
Often times a science fiction movie involves a fear of the unknown. Like in the Invasion of the Body Snatchers Miles and Becky are unsure of what they are finding humans turning into. They are finding that people are before unsure of their surroundings and unsure about whom the people are that they are running into. They later learn they everyone is turning into pod people and that they are the only ones left normal. Becky later explains to Miles that she tried to stay awake; but that she fell asleep and the pods just took over her body. Miles is then left alone as the only human who is not a pod person. Miles is now scared because his pod is already created he just has to fall asleep before he will turn into a pod. When Miles sees other people starting in enter the town he tries to explain to them what is going on, but they appear to already be pods and know exactly what they are doing.
In conclusion I feel that Invasion of the Body Snatchers is strictly a science fiction horror movie. There is clear evidence that the movie represents some aspects of McCarthyism and Communism from critics Tim Dirks and John Whitehead, but if they were to view the movie today I feel they would get a different impression. I feel that viewers should watch the movie as a horror sci-fi movie rather than trying to interpret it as a political allegory. It was overall a good movie that I was able to enjoy. Even though it was an older movie I will still able to enjoy it today. Like most humans, movies that are relevant to society today tend to be more enjoyable than other movies. When one can truly relate to a movie and connect to it you know you have a good movie. I believe that when Don Siegal produced this movie Communism and McCarthyism were two big events going on in society. I think he intended for the movie to be interpreted to those things, but I believe if he were to produce it today he would just say he was producing a science fiction horror movie. Often times I believe producers can get caught up in what is going on in the world today and interpret their movies according to the events so they are capture their audiences, but in reality they are really just science fiction movies. I believe if the movie was truly related to McCarthyism and Communism today then audiences would not have any interest in watching it today. Overall, I would recommend the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers as a good science fiction movie that all audiences can still enjoy today.
Works Cited
Whitehead, John. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers: A Tale for our Times”. Gadfly Online. 1998. 26 September 2007. http://www.gadflyonline.com/11-26-01/film-snatchers.html.
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