The Invasion

There are a lot of invasions. Illegals across our borders, communist/socialist/one world ideology aka cultural shifts, and certainly business incursions by other countries. These have been debated and 'proed and coned' ad infinitum. I am, as is my wont, talking of a movie.

I watched 'The Invasion' with my daughter the other day. It stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig with a good cast. It is a new take on 'The Invasion of the Body Snatchers',two versions and 'Body Snatchers'a third take on the theme. The first three and this current one are based on a novel by Jack Finney. Check it out. The first three deal with extraterrestrial 'pods' taking over and/or destroying the original human and leaving an unemotional 'shell' or 'vegetable' being. This latest one is much more interesting though I still love the original with Kevin McCarthy.

There is a plethora of analyses, ideas re the versions. Everything from creeping communism to creeping McCarthyism to cultism has been sliced and diced. The latest deals with a 'virus' like substance. Pandemics etc come to mind.

Here is my take on the flick. Granted, we have some liberal statements re war and conflict in general. Neocon fearmongering about disease and how easy it is for a substance to permeate the world health grid (Notice we are not dead from avian flu yet -s-). Fortunately, thanks to my inductive and deductive reasoning, my ability to analyze aka think for myself, I will give you my impression of this story, shortly.

Briefly, a virus like spore is brought back on the outside of a shuttle that crashes, strewing debris. The spore spreads by direct contact with one infected. Some of the methods are gross (My daughter's comments re the 'puking' into coffeepots and directly onto people included 'ewwww, gross, ugh, disgusting etc. Mine too lol). It becomes more surreptitious with injections, supposedly for a 'flu' brought back by the shuttle, distributed at 'innoculation centers'. How's that for a fear factor re our current talk of vaccines for various maladies?

My core reaction and interpretation is simple. It is the increasing lack of humanity that merits concern. This is true in real life as well as the metaphor 'virus'.

The infected experience a core personality change. This excludes emotion. The 'pitch' for this kind of existence is equally simple. No more war, conflict, arguments. Everyone is 'better', all is well. Humanity progresses in lockstep toward some utopia that is never made clear, just that the result is 'better'. In reality all is stagnating.

Sounds like a socialist world? If we all were commies then communism would work? Control is endemic. The ultimate in life is feeling that is not feeling. It is directed to the central matrix of unity? Then we all can have a 'better' world? Better, with no explanation save for the end goal. If we all 'felt' (unfeeling) the same way, then we would 'progress' (regress).

On the inter and intrapersonal level, there would be only directed logic. No more pesky emotions, which would create individual thought. A new day is dawning.

Per our discussion of the film, my daughter and I came to an elemental conclusion. We must balance our 'head and heart'. Neither emotion alone which would lead to cataclysmic destruction, nor logic, which would lead to stagnancy, cut the mustard. It takes that yin and yang constantly churning to produce a productive life.

I don't scare easily. Loss of humanity is a gut wrenching proposition. Reminds me of the Borg from Star Trek TNG. Particularly Star Trek First Contact. That unswerving onslaught on all that is cultural, human and in the Trek world other cultures replaced by machinelike exclusion. The anguish supplied by the music added to the dread.

Liberals often resort to emotion to win a point, vis a vis gun control (with 'facts' that are skewed or outright lies). We must counter with a balance of emotion and reason, with facts that are imbued with both. That is an unbeatable combination that will ensure a renewal of our Republic and at the core, our humanity. Without humanity how could we have a Constitutional Republic?