Post-Apocalyptic Movies : The Fear Of Culture In Movies

The 1987 film documentary Ethnic Notions directed by Marlon Riggs, identifies the evolution of African American cultural depictions through ethnic stereotypes and caricatures in American culture. I feel Ethnic Notions exposes the roots of false generalization from the beginning and presents a series of classifications for racial depictions that still are noticeable in today's society. These racial depictions identified with in this film begin in the mid 1800's and continue thought to the 1960's. I now after viewing Ethnic notions agree that there are generalizations and depictions that are exaggerated in American popular culture and entertainment.

Dances With Wolves, directed by Kevin Costner, and The Searchers, directed by John Ford, looks into the fabric of this country's past. The media has created a false image of the relationship between Native Americans and White men to suppress the cruel and unfortunate reality. Both directors wanted to contradict these stereotypes, but due to the time period the films were created, only one film was successful. Unlike The Searchers, Dancing With Wolves presents a truly realistic representation of Native Americans.

Towards the end of the era we see excessive blood and gore, victims, violence and sadism and finally torture, Saw (2004) and Hostel (2002).

Director Brett Harvey documentary, The Culture High is an interesting story that takes a raw and honest look that tears into the very grit of modern day marijuana prohibition to reveal the truth behind the arguments and motivations governing both those who support and those who oppose the existing pot laws. As we ask ourselves will marijuana be legalized in our lifetime? Or is the “war on drugs” really fundamentally affecting this country? This documentary states two reasons why the information on cannabis is kept from the public, either just one joint can cause psychiatric (mental illness) episodes similar to schizophrenia (a long-term mental disorder) or the addiction and how this drug can lead to another drug. The thesis that this documentary

When put into a scenario of what you would do post-apocalypse, the society may begin to question what is actually important. Everything is suddenly amplified and survival automatically becoming a key component to most. So what else can actually matters? Relationships are lost, but some may grow stronger. Ethics are tested, and beliefs suddenly change. In the novel, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, begins with America - or assuming the whole world- had gone through a unpredictable apocalypse. Combining what is left of the society and the world falling dangerously apart, it has caused them to go through many dangers to survive. Through all the disastrous events, the end of God and ethics, the father continues to show and represent his moral values through his son and refuses to forget any belief that he still has. For the movie, 28 days later, the protagonist of the story, Jim, wakes up from a coma to an abandoned hospital completely delusional to what has happened in London. When seeking out for help or any type of life that could be out there, he find himself in a deathly situation; A church full of zombies out for nothing but blood, until two other people save him and catch him up of London 's downfall of civilization. The tale is about the survival and heroics and how mankind tries to survive threw savage nature.

For years authors have used style to provide readers with dystopian literature in order to bestow them with a radical view of a potential future based on fatalistic qualities of their present societies. Authors have played upon our fears for decades. For example, Ray Bradbury with his frightening opinion of the future Fahrenheit 451 and George Orwell pulling his audience into an alternate universe in which he thought to be the world’s ominous future. Movies bring the viewers into new territories using cinematography and costumes to introduce people to a frightening possible future. Films allow the dystopian areas to be built. For instance, The Giver creates an entire “community”

The apocalypse is a very popular theme throughout the modern day film and literature industry. In all of these pop culture renditions, the apocalypse and doomsday go hand-in-hand. The apocalypse today is seen as the end of the world, natural disasters, mass illnesses or climate change are said to destroy the world and humankind along with it. However, the term “apocalypse” has been around long before the movies and books. Originally, the apocalypse did not always mean the end of the world. The word “apocalypse” comes from the Greek word “apokalypsis”, which also means “revelation” or to uncover a hidden truth (Dayton 7, 2). Therefore, the original concept of the apocalypse is a disclosure of knowledge, revelation or a lesson to be taught. In

Humans are constantly reminded that the world is changing in many ways. But always seem to forget that situations can occur where life as we know it can change in an instant. Many popular science fiction movies and books tap into our deepest fears. For example, the movie Frankenstein (1931) where a fatal accident causes the creation of a monster who is capable of destroying a whole town and the Bradbury story, “Usher II” where a man goes against society on the topic of banning books and censorship. The two stories show the common fear of losing the world as we know it.

From zombie apocalypses to alien invasions and climate change to nuclear warfare, novelists worldwide have visualized diverse ways in which the world has come to an end. The post-apocalyptic genre has grown in popularity which is demonstrated through many novels, films, television, and video games. What is it about the present-day that makes these post-apocalyptic visions so fascinating? Do these post-apocalyptic visions portray the loss of hope for the future? Are these stories frightening as they relate to the dystopian future? The Road, by Cormac McCarthy and World War Z, by Max Brooks deal with similar fears in the apocalyptic genre including the fear of uncertainty and the unknown, terrors pertaining to modern society, and panic of surviving in disastrous events in order to provide insight into some of the cultural fears of society.

American horror films have often played on our societal fears, and in Candyman (Bernard Rose, 1992), the film directly deals with race, reminding us that it is still very much a problem in society today, and that ‘our traumatic racial past still haunts us’ (Vern, 2015). The film ‘marks the introduction of an African-American monster to the horror mainstream’ (Donaldson, 2011) and it ‘succeeds in asking some very pointed questions about race and class’ (Elizabeth, 1992). Ultimately this is done by investigating ‘the obscure fears we harbour about the unknown’ – or the racial ‘other’ (Blackwell, 2015). Andrew Tudor says that ‘typically, a horror movie will exploit the tensions implicit in a particular contrast, confronting known with the

Three-time award winning book, “Life as we Knew it,” written by Susan Beth Pffefer is a part of the long discussion of the apocalypse topic. It is a form of literature in its own kind. It isn’t written like any other apocalyptic literature that focuses more on what happens after the apocalypse instead of what happens before, then, and after. In the book, “Life as we Knew it” the author shows the struggles of a young girl that is going through the struggles of

The Cabin in the Woods begins with a foreboding score playing over the credit sequence wherein images of sacrificial rituals are displayed within pools of blood. Given the tagline, “You think you know the story.”, most audience members would assume they’ve seen countless movies like this before, and to a minor extent, they’d be correct in their assumption. However, from the point that the ominous, blood-soaked intro credits smash cuts to a break room where two men have a mundane conversation, the viewer no longer knows what to expect. This serves as the perfect introduction into what Isabel Cristina Pinedo describes as the “unstable, paranoid universe” of the postmodern horror film, The Cabin in the Woods. Pinedo defines the postmodern world

Action-packed and highly-rated, Mad Max: Fury Road is a critically-acclaimed film about a journey of survival through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. There is no doubt that post-apocalyptic films are becoming increasingly popular among audiences as seen with movies such as the Hunger Games. However, Leggatt (2012) describes another variation in the post-apocalyptic genre, one that has been dubbed post-9/11 after a string of patterns prevalent in some post-apocalyptic films. Leggatt’s definition of post-9/11 apocalyptic films are ones that have a pessimistic tone towards the future of a society. As the world evolves and progresses, many new issues overlap and outgrow previous issues that have plagued the world before - though this transgression, the film industry follows suit in order to invent stories and media that is thought-provoking and relevant to changing society. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) is a film that encapsulates many elements of Leggatt’s post 9/11 apocalypse film genre through the apocalyptic setting, derailment of redemption, and societal obsession with apocalypse over utopia.

The good thing about films is that we not only have the opportunity to choose from a wide selection of different genres, but also compare them and understand their purpose in the world. The Horror genre has used the basic principles throughout time, and as a result, films of this type have not proven to be as timeless as another genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy. At first, these two genres might at times seem similar as they have at several occasions been blended together, but their basic, common theme serves different meanings about humans. I shall compare and contrast these two genres and focus on both classic films and modern films. From the Horror genre perspective I shall discuss Psycho (1960) and The Mist (2007), while in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre I will examine 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), and Serenity (2005). Although the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre and the Horror Genre share some similarities, the differences lie in their focus on human progress.

The apocalypse is a common subject addressed in films and such Doomsday scenarios have become increasingly popular since the beginning of the Cold War. These films provide a different cause for the downfall of human kind and approach the subject with various degrees of despair and hope. Despite the obvious differences in approach that different directors take, these films all serve to highlight not only the negative qualities of human kind that led to and are represented by the agent of destruction but also to highlight the strength of the survivors who keep the will to fight for their lives despite the bleak circumstances. For the most part, The Mist, adapted from a Stephen King novella, sticks closely to the archetype. The Mist, a