4 BLACK INVISIBILITY, WHITE SCIENCE, AND A NIGHT WITH BEN 1950s-1960s {aman invisible man. No, Lam nota spook ike dhose who haunted Falgar Allan Poe: nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. [ am aman of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liguids—and I might even be said poses a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people reise t0 Elson, 1952! IcJooked like something fiom outerspace, anit seemed lke a weird nightmare, ot part of me Mamie Till Bradley, mother of 14-year-old Emmett Til, who was murdered by White racists Something was wrong. In the sleepy, affable small town of Santa Mira the idyllic 1950s peace was being disturbed by a dangerous “chem” which worked to intrude upon the community's “as.” The town began reacting swifly albeit controver sially, to the threat, When interstate buses delivered outsiders to Santa Mira, the interlopers found themselves ominously met by the town's sheriff, immediately placed into the back of his patrol car, and taken away, never to be seen again, Control and conformity were Santa Mira’s new preoccupation; hence, is inhab: itants would no longer tolerate visitors (outside agitators) who possessed the potential to ask questions and to influence others with their differing agendas With each passing day, its citizenry tightened the reins, climinating.all manner of variance. A swing/jaz7 band who had arrived just months earlier to play in one of the town's popular restaurants, thereby marking Santa Mira's flirtation with progress—"We're on the way up"—was, in this new climate, let go. ‘The ban ‘was replaced by a pre-programmed jukebox. On the whole, chs was a lamentable94 Black Invisibility, White Science America, one that was repressing its citizens’ humanity: to be “mechanical” inthis way was to be “a walking zombie!" The horror/sci-fi fhm Innusion ofthe Body Snatcher (1956) fictional town of Santa Mita served as a metaphor for the many treats that 1950s America strug sled with—change, (atomic/cold) war, foreign invasion, communism, and racial tegration, It evidenced, as did many fils of the 1950 and 1960s, a “strong resonance between the elements in the film and various anxieties existing in the broader culture."* In the film, that the notion of safety-in-sameness happened to be delivered by otherworldly (illegal) aliens did not obscure the fact that Americans were happy to secure insularity and stability by any means necessary. m without any Black characters, evidenced how some Americans came to believe that while the road to cultural fascisin could bbe unpleasant—a sort of standing in front of the schoolhouse door to ward off individualism—ehe end was certainly justifiable. Invasion stands today as not only a fan cult-clasic, but one of America’s most celebrated films.* The film is a tale about how extraterrestrial scedpods land on Earth, bringing with them the ability to fully duplicate humans, then kill chem, {© produce emotionally neutered clones, or “pod people.”* Metaphoriclly, Invasion can also be regarded as the bellwether for the treatment of anything deemed as a threat to White conformity in horror films of the 1950s and 1960s, Pointedly, there was litele representational variation in the horror genre over the two decades of the 1950s and 1960s, as Blacks were often rendered invisible as Santa Minas outsiders, Invasion, a horror The Invisibles ‘As the 1950s emerged, Black characters were a very scarce commodity in horror, What had in the past constcuted “Black” labor, such as domestics of plantation ‘workers, became les necessary in an ers of film preoccupied with more scientific and extraterrestrial threats. Por these challenges, White and, notably, often Female characters would assume the role of aides, For example, in the 1957 film The Giant Claw, a (aughable) gargantuan monster bird with an anti-matter energy screen is menacing Farth (the US in particular). Though science’s most deadly invention, the atom bomb, cannot exterminate this alien, scientists remain undaunted, working to theorize a solution. In this film, there is litle need for Blacks carrying bags or serving meals. The bird isa dilemma for intellectuals and the spaces that such people work in ate laboratories or research centers, In this work context, Blacks can, presumably, serve no purpose. In the film, “Miss Caldwell” (Mara Corday), a White female mathematician ul systems analyst, takes on the duties of aide. Though she promises to be a leamed person, she is unable to map the basic flight patter of the bird (that is, alyze its system). Instead, Caldwell bee tably tolerates sexual harassment—she is referred to a “mother, dear mother" and wes one who takes orders and‘lack invisibility, White Sience 95 ‘ontered by a workmate to “kiss me and be quiet,” which she eagerly dees. This kind of notably “severe repression of female sexuality/creativity.” writes Wood, not only attributes passivity, subordination, and dependence to the wor but “in a male-dominated culture .... woman as the Other assumes particular significance."” Though her primary job is to look beautiful and to serve as a sort of housemaid, bringing, the men reffeshments, Caldwell is able to take notes and keep an eye om instrument panels—tasks presumably well beyond the reach of Blacks Even in the general absence of racial diversity, che use of racial symbolism was rife throughout the decade of the 1950s. The fil Bride of the Gorilla (1951) similarly links diffrence to aberration. Here, the character Bamey (Raymond Burt) isa rubber plantation foreman overseeing the management of a residence built deep in the Amazon jungle. Barney is a eruel manager, who reminisces fondly, “Ob, when they had shves!” Filmmakers knew such jungle films. had ‘acial implications, and this one was no exception, with lines such as: “White people shouldn't live too long in the jungle.” According to Thomas Cripps in ‘Making Movies Black, a writer for the Maryland newspaper the AfivAmercan, Carl Murphy, “was called in to advise on .. Bride ofthe Gola [thereby] establish ing a Black stake in isues other than the use of ‘nigger’ in the dialogue." Indeed, slurs are absent from the film, but so too ate substantive appearances by Blacks. In the film, Bamey becomes covetous of his boss’ wife Dina (Barbara Payton), and kills his bos to have her, The murder is wimessed by Al-Long (Gisela Werbisek), witch, who cures Bamey, Bamey i plagued by hallucinations in which he believes he is transforming into a gorilla. The film features a short cameo appearance by the fimed Black actor Woody Strode in the role of Nedo, a local policeman, Here, in his very brief appearance, Strode play it straight. He is stoic and professional. His actions are largely centered on quickly searching Al-Long’s room to see if she has hidden evidence related to the boss’ murder. His principle fimction is to lend credence to the fightening power of Voodoo. Alarmed by the witch’s powers, Nedo firmly scolds her: “I don't believe in Black magic Bur you keep away from my house, 1 don't want witches near my children.” He then swiffly exits the scene (and the movie), The brevity of Strode’s appearance is unfortunate, as ie served as a reminder of what Black actors could bring t© the genre appropriate fearfulness without playing bug-eyed spooked, However, either kind of portrayal, spooked or generally normal, halfway into dhe twentieth century was still a remarkable rarity. ‘Another film during this cycle of horror films, The Bride and the Beast (1958), hhas apes/primitivism and civilization at its center, However, inthis film Blacks again fade from the screen, The Bride and the Beast stars no Blacks, but still suc~ ceeds in casting the “dark continent” and that which comes out of it as creepily grotesque. In the film, Dan (Lance Fuller), a big game hunter, marries Laura (Chatlotte Austin). Their marsiage license cost $6.00, which prompts Dan to inexplicably enthuse, “I could buy six wives for that in the middle of Africa!”