I have always been fascinated with apocalyptic stories. I’ve had dreams where I was the heroine. I got to save the world. I got to go on an adventure I would otherwise be unable to. There is something about the apocalyptic action/adventure movie sub-genre that makes it so popular; more popular than just plain action movies. Since the invention of film, movies have been a way of escaping reality. I propose that apocalyptic movies are the ultimate escapist film. Our society is rigid in structure- it places people into predetermined roles that they are expected to stay in for their entire life. Apocalyptic movies all feed on our common need of anarchism in this 21st century world. Almost all of the popular movies today are escapist in some way but apocalyptic movies are the pinnacle. Apocalyptic movies are an escapist construction, a societal subconscious dream of anarchy, an escape from society’s rigid atmosphere into an anarchistic world free of punishment for crimes and violence, free of government control and free of class systems.
No matter how hard we try to cover up our animalistic tendencies they emerge in cinema. Shaun of the Dead (2004) makes the satirical juxtaposition between zombies and us in our boring mundane lives. But all zombie movies reveal the human collective unconscious. We punish murderers in our society but on screen we idolize them. We all love gory movies for their shock value but gory zombie movies reflect our lust for murder. Zombie slaughtering is a perverse representation of our anger towards others and since a movie about a serial killer won’t be as popular as a zombie movie (since we don’t want to think of ourselves as evil), we create a cinematic reason, an allowance, and a even a moral obligation for a character to kill.
Donald Trump is probably the most interesting sociological phenomenon that I have witnessed. Trump represents the anarchy that our society craves. Any type of change is considered to be a good thing in politics today. The Purge (2013) presents a future society with no crime. A day of lawless mass anarchist hysteria serves as a once-a-year escape from their rigid laws. The Purge may not be an apocalyptic movie by definition but it’s a great representation of our North American anarchistic desires. Many apocalyptic movies have a bully, a villain, or a character who has been waiting their whole life to be free from the shackles of society and then is given the freedom to rape, pillage and steal without punishment. Heroes in apocalyptic movies do the same things which would have been considered illegal before, and are shown to do so for some greater good. They feel free from government rules and restrictions but desperately hold onto moral values which become twisted because violence is the new way of achieving justice.
Anarchy is also attractive for other reasons. Everyone wants to become rich, which is the reason why lottery thrives. In Last Man on Earth (2014), the protagonist finds himself in a world where he can do anything without punishment. He picks an expensive house, steals famous paintings and basically disregards his previous social place. In every apocalyptic movie there is an element of class-shedding. Apocalyptic movies give the audience a chance to imagine what their lives would be like beyond their current place in society. You can re-imagine yourself in any way you want and be reborn as a socially unrestricted person. Money becomes obsolete and survival is dependent on will to live and smarts- not on your wealth.
Apocalyptic movies show an underlying desire for an anarchistic society, a society where we can be ‘free’. The popular apocalyptic movies are popular because of the escapist dream they represent. Realistic apocalyptic movies are not as popular and are made less often. The Road (2009) is a good example of a realistic vision of a dystopian future in which a father and son struggle to survive without access to food and other amenities, but is less well-known than the more ‘hopeful’ apocalyptic movies. I can name plenty of movies that aren’t realistic that are much more popular: Zombieland (2009), I am Legend (2007), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), The Terminator (1984), and even World War Z (2013) my personal most-hated zombie film (because it doesn’t do justice to the book). The films that make a realistic point are usually the ones that are created to warn us about our environmental future: Wall-E (2008), Waterworld (1995), Snowpiercer (2013) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004). If they aren’t warning us, they have a plot where we are not the cause of the future disaster: Tomorrowland (2015), This is the End (2013), Independence Day (1996), The Matrix (1999) and every alien movie ever. Alien movies are a good way of avoiding the reality of a bleak self-created future like a World War III or a global climate-related catastrophe. Movies hint at the future disasters we may be facing but don’t feature the probable scenarios, since we prefer the escapist version. Till we accept our reality-based future demise and agree to do something about it, we will continue to seek escapism from our society’s rigid government, laws and class systems in the unrealistic constructions of apocalyptic movies.
Through The Eyes 