Although the 1950s is often labeled as an era of prosperity in most textbooks, it was anything but a decade of satisfied jubilation. The armistice of the second World War left much unresolved, especially when it came to the United States’ relationship with the rapidly ascending Soviet Union. The two superpowers had been divided by ideological tensions since the late 1930s, with the United States being a capitalist nation and the Soviet Union being communist, but with Germany no longer being a world factor, the apprehension was higher than ever. Consequently, Americans became extraordinarily vigilant about preventing the rise of communist influence domestically that would threaten their way of life. However, this paranoia would lead many to …show more content…
It was was a part of people’s everyday life and consequently was often featured in different forms of media. This immense fear of the spread of communism that was prevalent throughout the United States in the 1950s is clearly symbolized in Don Siegel's “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” The literal alienation of the threat of communism in film became one of the ways in which Hollywood producers got around the repercussions they would face by directly portraying such fears, which lead to a surplus of fantastical features throughout the decade. Additionally, the portrayal of communists as being monsters or aliens reinforced the prevalent beliefs of American Exceptionalism across the nation, and in turn appealed to the majority of the public. However, this had severe repercussions on the severity of the communist threat, and escalated it to unprecedented