Body Snatchers 1956

The film Invasion of the Body Snatchers made in 1956 recognizes the Americans fear of the spread of Communism in the 1950's. During this time era, people were accused of being spies left and right. Although it never mentions Communism, this film is an allegory to what was really going on during the time.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers begins with Dr. Bennell talking to a psychiatrist about what is happening in his town. He then flashes back to when he was returning to town and found his patients coming to him saying that their friends and family aren't the same person. At first he doesn't believe it, but throughout the film he then sees that something unusual is happening. Dr. Miles Bennell soon finds that the people in his town are being replaced by doppelgangers that were grown from giant pods. All this started when seeds that drifted from Space fell to Earth. The author uses this metaphor of destruction to relate to the Red Scare.

Outside of the United States, Communism was taking over just as the pod people were. Inside the United States, people were fighting to keep it away, just as Dr. Bennell was trying to keep the pod people from spreading. The way that the police and everyone else in the town were searching for humans resembles how the United States saw the Soviet Union, because they were thought to have spies in our country and we were to search for them. Organizations such as the Un-American Activities Committee and the Loyalty Review Board were formed because it was thought that certain citizens were not being loyal to our country. In the film, there were secret meetings in houses at night where the pod-people were speaking of how to get Dr. Bennell to turn over to their side. This can relate to how the communist party used to also have secret, confidential meetings. During the Red Scare, people could not do much to help the spread of Communism. In Invasion of the Body Snatchers the citizens watched their loved ones be turned into pod-people right before their eyes and they could do nothing about it.

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