Several people who have watched the movie The Invasion of the Body Snatchers have interpreted it as a movie that has a double meaning. People such as Tim Dirks and John Whitehead thought the movie was political allegory and a social satire. I feel as if the movie, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is not in fact a movie based on political issues but is just a sci-fi movie made to scare the viewer.
In his review of the movie, John Whitehead said “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) He felt that movie was showing how people started acting when the alien pod people started taking over. He felt like they were the Russians and the Americans were starting to be taken over and changed by them. I feel however, the movie is just a horror film made to scare. I think that whoever wrote the script was just trying to make a movie that would frighten the viewers. I feel this movie has to relevance to the whole “Red Scare” and I don’t think it’s a social satire. At the time when the film came out, Americans were all married about communism and they were scared of the Russian people. A man named McCarthy started basically a “witch hunt” for anyone who was connected to communism. This made everyone go crazy and start accusing others of being connected. If someone was found out to be involved with communism or supported it, they were black listed from everything, even their jobs. I think this is why John Whitehead assumed this movie was connected to Communism and had a double meaning. I think he, like many other Americans at the time tried to find some tie to the “Red Scare” because that was on everyone’s mind at the time.
I however do not feel like this movie is anything but a horror film. Watching it now it present times, I felt it had no connection to communism and Russians. I think people were thinking it did simply because that was the main issue of the time. People assumed anything to have a double meaning because they were paranoid and frantic. I think all the movie is, is just a fun film for people to enjoy. I think if Whitehead and Dirks watched the movie today, they would find no relevance to communism. I think they would realize the only reason they associated the two together is because they had the issue on their mind. The film is something that can be watched by many people and interpreted in many ways, but to me its just a sci-fi movie.