Invasion Of The Body Snatchers Essay

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1956 American science fiction horror film produced based on Jack Finney's science fiction novel The Body Snatchers (1954). The storyline is based around an extraterrestrial invasion that begins in the fictional town of Santa Mira. Extraterrestrial plant spores have fallen from space; these spores then grow into large seed pods. Each pod can reproduce a duplicate copy of a human. As each pod reaches full development, it takes on the physical characteristics, memories, and personalities of each human placed near it. In order to take on these traits however, the human must sleep. Although the duplicates resemble and seem normal, they entirely lack human emotions such as love, ambition, faith, etc. Little by

Being set in 1956, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a highly accurate film representing the 50’s era. Even film’s overall theme is based around mass hysteria which can be tied into paranoia towards the spread of communism, a direct result of the Cold War. There also other factors in the film that shows what life was like during that era. Take look at the cast itself. The cast was entirely all white as African Americans faced racial discrimination throughout the 20th century because Hollywood tended to avoid using African-American actors/actresses. Segregation was still widely prominent throughout the USA and Hollywood significantly relays that message with the absence of African American roles. We can also look at other cultural aspects such as Dr. Bennell’s smoking habit. Early throughout the film Bennell is seen smoking cigarettes which nowadays would be taboo but because this is the 50’s, many physicians still doubted that there was a wide-spread connection between smoking and disease. It would not be until the mid-sixties for warning labels to start appearing on cigarette products and advertisements to warn the public of the health risks associated with smoking. Overall, I strongly believe that Invasion of the Body Snatchers does a great job representing the 50’s with its close knit suburban lifestyle