Doomsday America: The Pessimistic Turn of Post-9/11 Apocalyptic Cinema

In this article we discuss the cycle of apocalypse films released in the aftermath of the attacks of 11 September 2001, examining the ways in which they conveyed a variety of post-9/11 fears and concerns around issues such as the War on Terror, American imperialism and the environment. In particular...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs: Walliss, John 1974- (Auteur) ; Aston, James (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: University of Saskatchewan [2011]
Dans: Journal of religion and popular culture
Année: 2011, Volume: 23, Numéro: 1, Pages: 53-64
Sujets non-standardisés:B Apocalypse
B Film
B 11 / 9
B contemporary cinema
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Description
Résumé:In this article we discuss the cycle of apocalypse films released in the aftermath of the attacks of 11 September 2001, examining the ways in which they conveyed a variety of post-9/11 fears and concerns around issues such as the War on Terror, American imperialism and the environment. In particular, we will trace the continuities and discontinuities with similar disaster/apocalyptic films released in the late 1990s, tracking the representations of four thematic elements that permeate through both pre-millennium and post-9/11 apocalyptic Hollywood cinema: the representation of the apocalypse; the role of human agency as saviour; the role of religion; and socio-political commentary made by the films. In doing so, we argue that cinematic representations of the apocalypse have been much more pessimistic post-9/11, thus demonstrating that Hollywood science fiction, or "sci-fi," can facilitate wider socio-political concerns while continuing to provide the expected spectacular, audio-visual displays.
ISSN:1703-289X
Contient:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and popular culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3138/jrpc.23.1.53