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Popular Culture Review
Worlds, in which the solution to the problem of invasion is the restoration of
patriarchal authority.
The narrator of the classic novel The War o f the Worlds is an unnamed
character much like the author H.G. Wells himself, a writer with some scientific
knowledge. Few of the characters in the novel are given names, and most are
referred to by their occupation or station, for example, the curate, the
artilleryman, etc. A few chapters detail the exploits of the narrator’s brother, a
medical student, after the arrival of the Martians (Mac Adam, xxvi-xxvii). The
hero of the 1953 film version is atomic scientist Clayton Forrester (Gene Barry)
who wants to get a good look at the Martians as much as he wants to escort his
love-object Sylvia to safety. Sylvia (Ann Robinson) is a pretty weak movie
heroine, even by 1950s standards: she is weepy and hysterical much of the time,
and her skill-set seems mostly comprised of serving coffee, square-dancing,
cooking breakfast, and driving a school-bus. Obviously, an update of the story
would have to entail some changes; the characters would have to be drawn in
such a way that contemporary audiences could recognize them as being realistic.
The choices made in changing the story to update it for Steven Spielberg’s 2005
version are therefore legitimate topics of criticism. Significantly, instead of
replacing Sylvia with a modem woman, the character is simply written out of
the 2005 remake. There are no adult women characters for the balance of the
movie, or women whose actions matter to the resolution of the problem. Any
trace of feminism’s impact on our culture is erased. What we are offered instead
is the story of a father and his children.
In the 2005 version of War o f the Worlds, the protagonist is Ray Ferrier
(Tom Cruise), not a scientist but an Everyman. At the start of the film, we see
Ray finish his shift as a longshoreman and race home in his vintage Mustang.
Ray is late to pick up his kids from his pregnant ex-wife, Mary Ann (Miranda
Otto), and her new husband, Tim (David Alan Basche). They have arrived in a
new SUV, which Ray somewhat disparagingly refers to as a “safe vehicle.”
As the expository scenes unfold, it becomes apparent that Ray is not exactly
the world’s greatest dad. His house is a mess, and he is rebuilding an automobile
engine on his kitchen table. He has no food in his house and provides no
guidance when he tells his kids to order out for food. Ray does not know how to
interact with his teenaged son, Robbie (Justin Chatwin), and does not know how
to calm his daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning) even though her anxiety disorder
is chronic. The narrative arc of the film concentrate