Paranoia, the Bomb, and 1950s Science Fiction Films

Paranoia, the Bomb, and 1950s Science Fiction Films argues that 1950s sf films open a window on the cultural paranoia that characterized 1950s America, a phenomenon largely triggered by the discovery and use of nuclear weapons during World War II. This study uses psychoanalytic theory to articulate a precise definition of paranoia. The various monsters that people 1950s sf-giant insects, prehistoric creatures, mutants, uncanny doubles, to name a few-serve as metaphorical embodiments of a varied and complex cultural paranoia. Postwar paranoia may have stemmed from the atomic bomb, but it came to correlate with a much wider range of public issues and events such as anti-communism, internal totalitarianism, scientific progress, domestic problems, gender roles, and sexuality. In the troubled Atomic Age, sf films offered audiences perfectly structured universes that provided comfort and relief while simultaneously reminding them of their darkest fears.