sylvia pimentalThe Alien In Relief pt3
January 8th 2007 00:01
The fear of identity loss also reflects a broader concern over the dehumanisation of humanity in the face of modern reality, the creeping loss of individuality/humanity which Miles has noticed happening gradually to people who let go of their humanity. This fear of losing self is what aligns Invasion Of The Body Snatchers with horror, it ‘…explores both the cognitive and emotional implications of losing control of the body. In a sense, the film produces both a cognitive and emotional fear that we might lose our ability for cognition, and thus lose our individuality and humanity.’ (Fitzsimmons & O’Brien 2002: 3-9)
The fact that the novum is not the aliens, but a new form of something familiar (identity) plays a key role in the process of throwing the alien into relief. This is vividly realised in the scene where the fugitive Miles kisses his companion Becky only to recoil with horror as he realises that she isn’t Becky any more - she has become internally (where it counts apparently) one of ‘them’ while still retaining her physical identity.
The use of something familiar like identity as the novum means that the familiar functions as the object of estrangement. Identity functions as a site of colonisation (as individuals lose their individuality, becoming the same) and contest (as Miles fights to retain his individuality). Identity also functions as a metaphor for humanity under threat either from communism (which apparently attacks from within), or ‘the unknown terrors that materialise when “progress” is valued more highly than community and peace.’ (Morris 1997)
The familiar becomes not only unknown and alien, through its familiarity, but treacherous and threatening. And this happens - the familiar is made unfamiliar - without creating even a ripple on the smooth surface of the wholesome, cosy, familiar, normality of daily ‘reality’ in Santa Mira. This is what makes the alien so startling, so disturbing. Because it is so close to home.
Where The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers uses identity to create an effect of estrangement, The Matrix takes the concept of reality and turns perceptions of it on their head. Reality is revealed as unreal, a constructed virtual reality, a prison for the consciousness, that cloaks a dark and dismal ‘reality’ - a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Here the familiar is not just thrown into relief, it becomes unfamiliar and alien. Alienating and disorientating because it is so familiar.
The use of something familiar like identity as the novum means that the familiar functions as the object of estrangement. Identity functions as a site of colonisation (as individuals lose their individuality, becoming the same) and contest (as Miles fights to retain his individuality). Identity also functions as a metaphor for humanity under threat either from communism (which apparently attacks from within), or ‘the unknown terrors that materialise when “progress” is valued more highly than community and peace.’ (Morris 1997)
Where The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers uses identity to create an effect of estrangement, The Matrix takes the concept of reality and turns perceptions of it on their head. Reality is revealed as unreal, a constructed virtual reality, a prison for the consciousness, that cloaks a dark and dismal ‘reality’ - a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Here the familiar is not just thrown into relief, it becomes unfamiliar and alien. Alienating and disorientating because it is so familiar.
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