The Invasion - First Thoughts
Do not trust anyone. Do not show emotion. Do not fall asleep.
The Invasion was good. Light on the spooky, and heavy on the socio-political or even philosophical message with which both liberal and conservative can agree.
Plot Summary:
An alien spore/organism enters our atmosphere with a crash-landed space shuttle and begins infecting humans, spreading like a virus. The virus lies dormant until you fall asleep; when you awake it has taken over your body and brain, controlling you and rendering you an emotionless zombie. Nicole Kidman must stay awake, not only to avoid zombification, but also to find her son and find safety.
Oh and it’s a remake of “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (’56, ‘78, ‘93)
In a nutshell, the movie is like a parable resembling a familiar Bible passage:
Be alert, stay awake, don’t fall asleep
(For the devil is on the prowl, walking to and fro, seeking whom he may devour next.)
I’m guessing the filmmakers didn’t really have that in mind when they made the movie, but you never know. There’s plenty of “America is a nation of Sheeple” commentary in The Invasion as well. And other countries are smart enough to see what’s coming before the big dumb U.S. does.
Also, we’re reminded that world peace can happen easily if we’re all stripped of our choices, our emotions and reactions. Life would be easier if we’d just be zombies. So, the movie is about the the struggle to be alert and awake, a fight against the stripping of our humanity.
Sure, world peace may only be a fantasy now because of our selfish ways, but there’s still hope for change as long as we have choice.
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Other commentary:
I enjoyed the movie even without thinking about race and ethnicity, but because I’m me, and I think about racial issues, I have to mention that the “heroes” and uninfected ones in the movie are still all-American white. Why is that? And even when they show “color”, it’s black people mainly and in secondary roles. The “other white meat”, Asians, are always second-seconds, and the Latinos? they must have been in the back washing dishes because they were no where to be found.
I’d like to see a movie where a Puerto Rican or Mexican stumbles on an alien secret plot to take over the world, and only he discovers the way to defeat an unstoppable enemy. Majority rules, I guess.
Anyway, on an un-related note: Nicole Kidman has a big (collagen) upper lip in some scenes and it’s smaller in others. If you look closely, you can even see slight puncture spots where the collagen was injected. I don’t know for sure, but it’s a little obvious that something was done to her lips. It’s gross and distracting, bugging me the whole movie. And as with all her movies, I wanted to scream “FOR THE LOVE OF GOSH, STOP WHISPERING YOU BLONDE NINNY!”
Related Links:
Same Old Aliens, New Neuroses by New York Times’ Daniel Lim
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