The Body Snatchers

Poster for the 1956 movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

The 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers has long been one of my favorites. I don't know what made me decide recently to pull out my DVD copy of it and watch it again. I can't remember the last time I watched it. In any case, after watching it, I thought that many of themes of the movie seemed to correspond to the past year of my life.

DVD Cover

The synopsis on the back cover of the DVD case reads (in part):

Something evil has taken possession of the small town of Santa Mira, California. Hysterical people accuse their loved ones of being emotionless impostors; of not being themselves. At first, Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) tries to convince them they're wrong...but they're not.

Plant-like extraterrestrials have invaded Earth, replicating the villagers in giant seed "pods" and taking possession of their souls while they sleep. Soon the entire town is overwhelmed by the inhuman horror, but it won't stop there. 

In a terrifying race for his life, Dr. Bennell escapes to warn the world of the deadly invasion of the pod people!

I think the movie brought to mind how the RC Church has changed since Pope Francis took over. Perhaps it was reading Patrick Archbold's 11/27/2015 essay Zombieland-Convert or Die in the Remnant that got me thinking about the horror film-like comparisons with the RC Church except for me the comparison is with "pod people" rather than zombies (although zombies is not entirely inaccurate, but that is another movie).

For me, the recent rise in leftist positions as the new norm in our society has flipped everything upside down (including my birth religion). It seems like almost everything I once knew and believed is now considered suspect at best. In order to conform to social expectations, change or die seems to be the message. Even that may not be enough for some people.

Everything You Know Is Wrong

Invasion of the Body Snatchers has been described as being about individualism versus collectivism.  One of the quotes from the Firesign Theatre album referenced above is "Men and Women are the same sex!" So much of the satire of my youth is now today's new normal. Amazing and scary.

In the movie, Dr. Benell says,

"In my practice, I've seen how people have allowed their humanity to drain away. Only it happened slowly instead of all at once. They didn't seem to mind... All of us - a little bit - we harden our heats, grow callous. Only when we have to fight to stay human do we realize how precious it is to us, how dear."

Another quote from the movie that moved me was by the female lead. When Becky learns that she is to be replaced by a pod, she resists and tells Dr. Benell:

"I want to love and be loved. I want your children. I don't want a world without love or grief or beauty. I'd rather die."

Such an attitude seems so at odds with today's careerism and "safe spaces" on college campuses. What woman in her right mind today expresses a desire to bear a man's children. Talk about horror films.

It seems like the "pod people" are taking away our liberty today just as they threatened in the 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers movie. The early draft of the movie ended with Dr. Benell running onto a highway to warn others that "You're in danger! Can't you see?  They're after you. They're after all of us. They're here already! You're next! You're next, you're ...."

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Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_the_Body_Snatchers
http://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/2177-zombieland-convert-or-die
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everything_You_Know_Is_Wrong
https://christopherjohnlindsay.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/79341/Invasion-of-the-Body-Snatchers
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/the_body_snatchers_theyre_after_all_of_us_and_youre_next
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Written Wednesday 23 December 2015