"Invasion of the Body Snatchers"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at different interpretations over the years of the movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", looking at such themes as cold war paranoia, political interpretations, capitalism and commercialisation. It also examines some of the movie's themes through the critical literature around the subject, both historical and literary/cinematic.

Outline
Introduction: The Multiple Interpretations of The Body Snatchers
They Walk Amongst Us: Illegal Immigrants and the Promised Land
Liberals or Otherwise

From the Paper:

"I would like to argue for yet another interpretation of the film, as well as contrast it, briefly, with another film which has made itself known with the "they-walk-amongst-us" theme: John Carpenter's classic They Live (1988). In brief, They Live is the story of a drifter who is given a pair of special sunglasses which allow him to see the aliens who walk amongst us; he also sees subliminal messages everywhere telling people to "obey" and "consume". I would argue that the shared context for both these films, and possibly for the entire genre, are neither communism nor consumerism. Rather, it is a subliminal theme about the fear of the immigrant."

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