IOTBS

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

The opening of the film shows a police car arriving on the scene at a hospital. We seethe police get out and are guided by a doctor to a man that has been brought in. we can hear a lot of shouting coming from one of the rooms and when the door is opened the character Miles jumps out at the police officer. He screams that he is not insane and this gives the audience a sense of paranoia from Miles. This relates to the time the film was made because at the time there was a lot of talk about nuclear war and McCarthyism. This shows the audience that something isn’t right to begin with and that the threat in the film has already happened and what we’re seeing is the after effects. We see that the threat is unknown to us and that we will have to go back and see what has happened. The start of the film also shows that the effect of the threat was immediate to us.

When Miles starts to tell his story he sys that everything looked normal but something just wasn’t right. This relates to the real world because everyone had trust issues and there was a sense of not knowing if anyone was a communist or a homosexual. Whilst driving home Miles’s secretary tells him about all of the people asking for him and not going to anyone else. This shows that everyone has a doctor and that they won’t see another one because they trust him. Miles is a doctor so he is trusted around the town and the audience can see him as an authority figure. We see a policeman on the road and he doesn’t seem normal to Miles and his secretary so we are made to think that he is one of the aliens. He is another authority figure and because he has been taken over by the aliens it shows that they can no longer trust authority figures and it could also happen to Miles.

A poster from the 1950s said that it could happen here so lets nuke em first. This was telling people to encourage nuclear war and this is relating to the conformity shown when the aliens are trying to get Miles and Becky to join them. The conformity at the time in the real world was McCarthyism and his accusations against people and how people conformed to it and followed everyone else. The poster also relates to the towns name. It is called Santa Mira and it is not a real place. This is showing how it could of happened in any town in the world so it is relating to the nuclear bomb droppings that could be dropped anywhere at anytime.

The character of Jimmy is said to be deluded just like in the 1950s when people stood up and spoke the truth about McCarthy and his accusations. They were seen as deluded and Jimmy is showing this because he is saying that people are not who they say they are. Some people did this in the 1950s but most people conformed and kept quiet like the people that wanted to see Miles whilst he was away. They say that it is no longer important and that they don’t need to say now. This is showing the conformity. The character Miles is also one of the characters that is standing up to conformity and is like Jimmy. They are both trying to show the truth and reveal the town’s truth.

In the 1950s the USA was in a state of panic after the war and the threat of nuclear war. The town of Santa Mira is also in this panic when people say that their loved ones aren’t the same and they are thinking the town has had evil thrown over it. This is what America was feeling at the same time.  This was the threat caused by the nuclear weapons. This made the whole country live in fear and paranoia of the threats. This is where the film came from and this is shown through the character Miles. Miles shows the normal everyday authority figure because he knows everyone and gets along with everyone and when Becky comes to see him he helps her instantly but when people start to change he gets paranoid and doesn’t like conformity. He represents the people of the time that didn’t agree with McCarthy and his opinions.

The aliens in the film represent conformity at the time of the film. They are trying to get Miles and Becky to join them and be normal. This is what McCarthy was doing at the time and he didn’t care about the consequences. The consequences shown in the film is the fact that they loose their old bodies and become normal forever which is what McCarthy wanted. A policeman in the town square represents McCarthy because he is shouting orders at the aliens and that they need to capture Becky and Miles. This is like when McCarthy tried to capture any communists or homosexuals and put a stop to them doing anything to disrupt the world, which is what the aliens fear, is what Miles and Becky are doing. The fear that Miles and Becky share though is the fear that many felt during the 1950s and unlike most they are trying to stand up to them and escape.