While watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers I found myself frequently wondering how the movie was received at the time it came out. With advancements in technology, the “special effects” of the movie were laughable in comparison to what we’re used to in the movies of today. I was surprised with how little the characters questioned the aliens and simply accepted the transformation. This reference to communism seemed like somewhat of an exaggeration although I’m sure the scare was very real at the time. I had a hard time taking the intense scenes seriously with the ridiculous music and melodramatic dialogue.
It was not clear to me who was leading the revolution and how people were being persuaded to join. They were hosting meetings about it but seemed like people followed just because others were doing it rather than having any real motivation of their own. I was curious if the theme of communism was related to the way women were portrayed as sexualized and subservient to men in the movie or if this was simply the general value of the time.
I also found myself wondering how this movie in particular was received during the time of its release in 1956. Apparently the movie was a hit and received universal acclaim by numerous critics. This came as sort of a surprise to me as I felt the movie was very unique in its style but it was considered one of the greatest science fiction films of its time. A major theme that I did see throughout the film was how the film related to the fear of the spread of communism throughout America. Whenever the individuals in the movie went to sleep they were in turn transformed by letting their guard down. This to me represents the McCarthy era to me as going to sleep represents the taking your eye off the series nature and repercussions of communism.
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