Final Essay for "What are we afraid of?"

The movies: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Planet of the Apes (1968), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Escape from New York, and 28 Days Later (juniors only).

We are always afraid of something, and always will be, no matter how good things get.  Our fears don't always dominated us, but they do shade us.  Of course what we fear, specifically, changes.  However, as Americans, we do have a national character of sorts that means "we" don't exactly change. 

So have our fears really changed?  Do these movies show constantly changing fears over time?  Or, does America generally fear the same thing over and over again, just dressed up in a different scary mask each time?  Look to the heroes and the monsters to see the similarities and differences.