Science Fiction and film - Essay Example

Chaos ensues, and all of these lives are turned upside down as they try to deal with and adapt to the situation. Similarly, a cold war depicts a political hostility between various countries that are characterized by threats and open warfare. These two separate examples share very common characteristics with each other; thus, War of the Worlds acts as an allegory of a cold war (Geiger, 607). The hostile aliens of War of the Worlds can be seen as the political figures and military from various countries that would be the onset of a cold war as well as the ones that would be deployed to other countries to fight and initiate a reign of terror.

The aliens from the movie came to Earth and, without reason or forewarning, began a hostile attack on the human beings. In a cold war setting, the aforementioned political figures and military would be sent out in a similar fashion. While the various countries may have some forewarning to hostilities from other countries, there is still the possibility that a bomb or other weapon of mass destruction could be sent over to the other country without being alerted of it first. Especially during the time era of the movie, in the 1950s, the United States military, though strong and powerful, did not have the means that it has today to detect missiles before they would reach the country.

The aliens of War of the Worlds opened fire without letting their victims know as to why they were doing so. Again, though many wars may be started due to a certain issue, in the case of a cold war a political issue, it sometimes takes the dropping of a bomb before the various countries involved become aware of a reason, or even a problem. It tends to be the icebreaker of the entire ordeal. The aliens and the humans of War of the Worlds also represent the various countries and their differences in regard to political issues.