Invasion Of The Body Snatchers

Americans became very fearful of Communism and rightfully so. By 1950, fear of Communism was reaching a fever pitch as depicted in a staged communist takeover of a tiny Wisconsin town. American fears of Communism had dated back many years and by 1917 with the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia these fears were being realized. More recently however, by March 1945 U.S. government agents had secured classified documents belonging to Amerasia magazine, a pro-communist magazine. Generally, loss of the American dream was a driving force perpetuating fears of communist takeover. Specifically however each U.S. citizen had their own version of fears. For example a business person might fear wealth being distributed equally under a system of communism

In Caitlin Flanagan’s Is There Hope for the American Marriage, she establishes the foundation for what the American Marriage means in today’s world by arguing that marriages are likely to collapse over time. With this being said, Flanagan goes on to depict the fragility of marriage during times of adversity, and how susceptible the couples can be when searching for alternative bonds from people other than their own partner, even if it means making moral sacrifices. Through a series of anecdotes from sources like herself to politicians, she further expands on this idea that the ideal marriage is nothing but a hoax for the likelihood of publicity. Flanagan includes sources from sociologists, such as Andrew J. Cherlin and Maria Kefalas, both whom

The First and Second Red Scare of the United States paved the way for a long standing fear of communism and proved to be one of America’s largest periods of mass hysteria. Throughout the years authors and analysts have studied and formed expository albeit argumentative books and articles in an attempt to further understand this period of time; the mindset held during this period however is shown to be completely different compared to now.

In a like manner, due to the fear and hysteria surrounding communism during the 1950’s those accused of being

Since the late 1940s, American cinema has been obsessed with the idea of the atomic bomb and what it stands for; whether that be destruction or absolute power depends on the film. This symbolism would then come to define the 1950s, and later on American cinema as well. This symbolism then must be addressed from the lenses of, both, history and socio-political commentary. Then the question must be posed why specifically these two lenses? The answer to this question, then, lies in the films of the 50s, and beyond. Whether this answer lies in the apocalyptic imagination present in the films or the politics of the time, McCarthyism would influence American culture far beyond the 50s, depends on the historian who is asked. The answer, then,

In the 1950’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy turned Americans against each other by installing fear in the people regarding toward Communism. During this time, in fact, people were getting blacklisted even if they weren't communist. In an incident at the Republican Women’s Club of Wheeling, McCarthy delivered a speech. The situation involving the Senator escalated when he stated that the State Department is infested with Communist. In this point in time, due to the false allegations, people went on a decade long period of witch hunts. Sam Roberts, the author of “A Decade of Fear” stated that in fact, “...thousands of alleged Communists in the U.S. were arrested and deported during what became known as the Red Scare.”

    Would you want to live in a society where you didn’t have any freedom, and were being controlled by your government? Americans in the late 1940’s to late 1950’s certainly didn’t. Their government wanted to control the possessions people had and how they acted politically, economically, and socially in their everyday lives. The Americans worried about this state of having no freedom. This created a fear that spread all over the United States, called the Red Scare. During the Red Scare, people worried about communism becoming part of the U.S. and feared the influencers that fueled it to become a countrywide panic.

During the late 1940s and the early 1950s, the thought of communism instilled fear within many Americans because it was portrayed in such a way that confined diversity and corroded political culture while the United States was supposed to be the land of the free. This fear of communism was nicknamed the “Red Scare” and was fed by Joseph McCarthy’s accusations of hidden communist in the country. The Manchurian Candidate was a black-and-white American film released in 1962 that depicted the Cold War and the affects of that paranoia had on the nation. It was released at the peak of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the spread of communism. This film was about Raymond Shaw, the son of a right-wing political family, who was brainwashed to act as an assassin

The communist paranoia that occurred in America during the period of 1947-1957 has come to be known as the ‘Second Red Scare’. This was a political and social movement of fear which led to communist witch hunts known as the ‘Red Hunts’, that categorise the period. The

The Kind if government authority seen both mimics and satirizes the way Americans came to see the enemy (the Soviet Union) during the Cold War, which was near its height of distrust and fear in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.

America felt like communism was already infiltrating their country as it was stated that there are communists working inside of the American government. This is shown in document B as it states that their is a list of communist party members “who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy of the State Department” (B). This speech was said right at the height of the Red Scare which raised the fear of the average American dramatically. This paranoia of communism was shown again with the Hollywood 10 who were convicted of being Communist and could never find work using their real name again. After the events of the Red Scare had happened America focused its efforts on not allowing communism to spread at all costs. This was shown in Guatemala when America overthrew the old government and stated that “The domination or control of the political institutions of any American State by the international Communist movement…would constitute a threat to the sovereignty and political independence of the American States”(F). This shows what America thought about the dangers of Communism as they felt if any territory that was involved with the United States falling to Communism is a direct threat to

In “Stone Soup”, Kingsolver made several references to her childhood paper doll family to describe the differences between “traditional” and “nontraditional” families . She compared her paper dolls to the modern day “broken” families that are typically frowned upon in today’s society. She supported her arguments with statistics and historical facts, referencing to the economic boom of the 1950’s and how it affected a typical family in that time period. Not only has this author experienced divorce first hand and expresses this using text-to-self, but she addressed her past ignorance to divorce. “Once upon a time I held these beliefs about divorce: that everyone who does it could have chosen not to do it. That it’s a lazy way out of marital problems.” (Kingsolver). In order to truly understand a predicament such as a failed marriage, one must first be affected by it in some way rather

“Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist party (Barnes)?” This question was asked by Republican senator Joseph McCarthy to hundreds of people that he proclaimed were Communists during the late 1940s and early 1950s. McCarthy’s words were ones of fear that the American public gravitated toward to show their hatred for communism. Although this anti-communist effort was only most evident in the mid-20th century, the McCarthy strategy of creating baseless claims against people continues to happen in today's society. The media has covered and created false stories that the American public thrives on. Many people see these stories as factual instead of falsehoods. The American population has also become McCarthy-esque

American anticommunism stems from a history of fear, and want of control over individuals, and groups of people who are defined as “others”. In this case “others”, is a term attributed to American citizens who were a part of, or held any relation or affiliation with the American Communist Party. Before them, it was immigrants; and before them it was African Americans, and Native Americans (Schrecker, 13). This fear and want of control over the American Communist Party, which immediately started after WWI in America, during the Red Scare of 1919-20; was used by the Republican and Democratic Parties, and their constituents, to gain and hold support in the United States government, and to attempt to shape American domestic and foreign policy

Before analysing individual science-fiction films from the 1950s, it is important to gain a clear understanding of the social, cultural and political background against which these films were set. Paranoia is a term frequently used to describe an acute, anxiety dominated medical condition (Paranoia, 2009), however in the context of 1950’s America, this term can be used more accurately to describe the general, delusionary mood of the nation. The first important event that influenced a paranoiac filmmaking atmosphere was the Cold War. As opposed to the ‘hot war’ (WWII) that involved active military hostilities, the Cold War was based on heightened tension and suspicions between Western Bloc (USA) powers and Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union) powers (The