Throughout the Cold War fear was at an all time high all across the country spreading from family to family and town to city causes what I like to think of as a fear epidemic creating controversy everywhere. Fear of the abnormal; communists, any non-caucasian race, homosexuality and feminism were all but normal in the caucasian male dominated normalcy of America. The perfect American family: father, mother, son, daughter, and dog all heterosexual living a middle class life with a white picket fence surrounding their perfectly unblemished lives was the only way to live in the 50's and everyone on the outside looking in were the greatest causes of anxieties. The film Invasions of The Body Snatchers and the readings of Katrina Mann touch base on these very anxieties of the 50's in their own theatrical ways.
The film is based on a small non-existent town of Santa Mira, California which appears to be a normal middle class working suburban society in the 50's. However what we begin to uncover as the film unfolds is that this town is anything but normal. The women of this film seem to be a bit more "frisky" then they really probably would have been during this time and the residents of Santa Mira are having their bodies taken over by an alien form that seem to resemble their original selves in every way right down to their very memories. What was the message that Don Siegel was trying to portray throughout this film? I believe he was trying to show his audience that what we view as normal may just be an act, do we really ever know anybody or their true intentions? Look at the Rosenbergs; two communist spies that lived in America and led completely normal lives until they were found to be frauds sending shock through their community that really had no idea who they were. This is what I believe Siegel was saying - We could be best friends with a Commie and never know until it may be to late. It worked for the alien attackers in Santa Mira, they seemed real and normal and no one expected a thing.
Katrina Manns message was a bit more realistic that Siegel's. She based her readings upon real instances not a syfy drama. Mann talks about the abnormal taking over the suburban dream by discussing the feminist societies that were beginning to bloom threatening the ideals of the betty crocker stay at home housewife and white superior society when the African American's move into the neighborhood. Mann really touches on the delicate subjects in a real light showing how easy it was to cause anxiety and uproar amongst an ignorant population. Homosexuality, Feminism, Racism, and Espionage caused a ridiculous amount of uproar and fear throughout the 50's causing people everywhere to act out and do heartbreaking things like lynchings and public executions to the most innocent of people and films like the Invasion of The Body Snatchers only added more to the fear epidemic.
