Back in 1954 an author named Jack Finney serialized a novel in Collier's Magazine.[1] It was a science fiction tale that involved the arrival of strange pods from outer space. These pods began replacing people with zombie-like lookalikes. The name of this book was The Body Snatchers. Since it was released, it has been translated onto the silver screen four times. The Invasion, released in 2007, is the most recent incarnation of The Body Snatchers.
Since the release of the book (and the films), many have interpreted the story as a criticism of the McCarthy era.[2] I guess the argument goes that the spread of the pod-people represents the homogenization of American culture due to fears of being labeled as a communist.[3] I daresay that they are looking at it 100% wrong: I think the spread of the lookalike pod people is a parallel for the paranoia Americans felt during the early years of the Cold War about being infiltrated by communists. Communists look just like us, but they're working to overthrow our way of life and make us all the same—pod people.
My verdict: I haven't seen any of the other Body Snatcher movies, but I daresay that this one was a little more morally complex. Not only do the aliens (now a microscopic rather than giant pods) take over people and turn them into drones, but now they're fixing all the worlds problems—e.g. they achieve peace between Israel and the Arab countries. In essence, the movie asks: if they're ending world hunger, murder, etc., should they be stopped. Leann thought the movie was scary (I didn't). Despite the tense situations, the profanity was kept to a nearly unnoticeable minimum. The editing was sometimes nonlinear, and I didn't feel like this ever contributed anything meaningful to the narrative. Overall, despite its critical and box office performance [4], I liked this movie.
Notes:
[1] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Body Snatchers.
[2] I guess it shouldn't be surprising to me that Senator McCarthy's efforts to root out communism would get a bad rap from the art community (e.g. The Crucible, The Majestic). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph McCarthy#McCarthy in popular culture.
[3] If Roger Ebert is to be believed (and I find that he usually isn't), the 1956 film was about McCarthyism, the 1978 film was about Watergate, and the 1993 film was about the spread of AIDS. See http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/REVIEWS/708160304.
[4] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Invasion (film)#Reception.
Since the release of the book (and the films), many have interpreted the story as a criticism of the McCarthy era.[2] I guess the argument goes that the spread of the pod-people represents the homogenization of American culture due to fears of being labeled as a communist.[3] I daresay that they are looking at it 100% wrong: I think the spread of the lookalike pod people is a parallel for the paranoia Americans felt during the early years of the Cold War about being infiltrated by communists. Communists look just like us, but they're working to overthrow our way of life and make us all the same—pod people.
My verdict: I haven't seen any of the other Body Snatcher movies, but I daresay that this one was a little more morally complex. Not only do the aliens (now a microscopic rather than giant pods) take over people and turn them into drones, but now they're fixing all the worlds problems—e.g. they achieve peace between Israel and the Arab countries. In essence, the movie asks: if they're ending world hunger, murder, etc., should they be stopped. Leann thought the movie was scary (I didn't). Despite the tense situations, the profanity was kept to a nearly unnoticeable minimum. The editing was sometimes nonlinear, and I didn't feel like this ever contributed anything meaningful to the narrative. Overall, despite its critical and box office performance [4], I liked this movie.
Notes:
[1] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Body Snatchers.
[2] I guess it shouldn't be surprising to me that Senator McCarthy's efforts to root out communism would get a bad rap from the art community (e.g. The Crucible, The Majestic). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph McCarthy#McCarthy in popular culture.
[3] If Roger Ebert is to be believed (and I find that he usually isn't), the 1956 film was about McCarthyism, the 1978 film was about Watergate, and the 1993 film was about the spread of AIDS. See http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/REVIEWS/708160304.
[4] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Invasion (film)#Reception.
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