2024 Tarkovsky Prize 3rd Place: Isabella Mo
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
by Isabella Mo
I still remember the day I felt like the Demon Child. Waiting in line at preschool to wash my hands before lunch, the girl in front of me told me I looked like a princess. It was a silly comment, but I felt a surge of confidence. I spun around in a circle, arms spread wide, mimicking the twirl of a Disney Princess in a lavish gown. Unaware of my surroundings, I hit the boy behind me with my hand—right in the face. Before I could even reach the sink to wash my hands, I was cemented to the timeout chair. The boy was now crying, cupping his cheek in the embrace of a preschool teacher. She was calling our parents. I felt scared and hungry—they did not let me eat lunch. Meanwhile, the girl who commented was enjoying her food at a table nearby. I overheard her complain to the kid next to her that I was such a loud cry baby. I shouted at her to shut up. The teachers scolded me, my words justifying that I was a bad kid "acting out." That night, my Mom’s voice echoed through the house, demanding I stop my problematic behavior. No one asked me to tell them what happened. I was the perceived aggressor, the Demon Child.
The pain of not feeling heard nor believed from this experience resurfaces when I watch Don Siegel’s film Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The 1956 black-and-white film has many scenes of characters responding to the rising issue in Santa Mira in typical, unpanicked ways, which extracts familiar emotions from my perspective of feeling alienated. The human instinct to adhere to what is familiar and make assumptions to protect one’s perspective of the truth emerges continuously.
Most notably, we see before discovering the body snatching, Dr. Bennell uses typical treatments and advice for the less mentally sane to help his patients who claim their family members are not the same. For Jimmy Grimaldi, Dr. Bennell sends him off with medication and a hearty slap on the butt, instructing Grandma Grimaldi to have him stay with her for the night. For Wilma Lentz, he schedules an appointment with Dr. Dan Kauffman for psychiatric help. Though Dr. Bennell listens to Jimmy and Wilma’s worries, he fails to take them seriously. What I fear most, looking back at my memory. The trust characters in the film had when asking Dr. Bennell for help vanishes as he takes Dr. Kauffman’s word about what has happened in town the past two weeks—an epidemic of mass hysteria. Interestingly, it is odd how Dr. Bennell initially ignores the many identical worries of his patients. When abnormalities like these become increasingly common, scientific experts typically dig deeper to discover why the phenomenon occurs. However,Dr. Bennell mutes his patients’ voices, much like how mine was after the boy started crying. Reverting to treatments for those who are mentally insane reflects the lack of care Dr. Bennell takes to hear them out. But his perspective quickly switches.
As the film progresses, those with qualifications use "logic" to dismiss the concerns Dr. Bennell raises. When Becky Driscoll’s double in her basement has vanished, and the only evidence of Jack Belicec’s double is a spot of blood on the pool table, Dr. Kauffman concludes that the body on the pool table is the product of a murder. As Dr. Bennell and Jack try to convince him with evidence, Dr. Kauffman only responds with his reasonable assumptions: murders can leave little trace, dead bodies often have plain appearances, people can burn off fingerprints to hide their identity, and mass hysteria can cause one to hallucinate a double of Becky in her basement. If an audience member were a character in this film unaware of the body snatching and noticed the lack of Dr. Bennell’s evidence in the scene, they would agree with Dr. Kauffman. His responses are nothing less than convincing, surging feelings of uneasiness. He manages to build a plausible argument that Dr. Bennell is delusional. How can one defend oneself when one possesses no weapons to do so?
Though Dr. Bennell finally finds people who listen to him, this film highlights the ever-present dismissal of one's words during times of need. It is painful seeing Dr. Bennell's desperation grow, seeing the voices of others outweigh his own. Throughout the film, the justification of diverting one’s problems compared to helping the characters is constantly prevalent. In our world today, we see just that in many ways. From police arresting and shooting people of color because they assume they are or will cause harm to people telling girls and women that they are asking to be harassed, assaulted, and raped. We see how some decisions are out of one’s hands. They can only be made by those with more power and privilege. This film is not to say that we cannot trust those around us or those who serve and protect us. But it reminds us that they may not want to hear our voices. Evidence is crucial to making informed decisions, but manipulating it to fit preconceived lines of reasoning and failing to hear multiple perspectives is unethical. The truth is worth more.