Climate Change: Our Current Apocalypse

Climate change has been an ever-escalating issue, becoming more and more prevalent over the last decade than ever before. As described by S. Brent Plate in, Apocalypse Now and Then: Four Rules for Watching the World End, global warming is something we collectively fear. Since this fear has been ignored and left to fester, every time it makes an appearance to the public consciousness, it is more harrowing than ever. From a certain point of view, this could be seen as positive since we must make a change at some point, and fear will force us to do exactly that.
Powered by this type of fear was the Climate Change march that happened in New York City, the largest of its kind. Backed by the exclamations of the scientific community, a collective prophet for the dangers of climate change,the goal of the march was to relay scientific findings that a possible end for humanity as we know it is within sight. In all too classical of an apocalyptic fashion, there is salvation being offered, and it's in the form of changing our over-consuming ways.
Unfortunately, however, as Dan Archer says in his comic, "the politics of the apocalypse have proved insidiously divisive and incendiary" (5th panel), and this fact is becoming apparent as humanity's hand is being forced into making a decision. 
Because apocalypse is always so divisive, and because the signs around us are more clearly than ever pointing towards destruction, those in favor of changing our ways have become the harbingers of doom. The marches, protests, and general outcry is something that has been seen in apocalypses' past.

The Hunger Games: A Step Beyond Apocalypse

Apocalyptic movies have been a important genre of film since the beginning of modern cinema and highlight the human fascination with our own destruction and the repercussions of it. In Dan Archer’s comic he describes apocalypse as myth that provides a “unifying ‘do good’ feel." As seen in movies like World War Z, Apocalypse unifies us in protection of humanity. Destruction causes people to give and work towards survival without bias and hatred. In World War Z, Brad Pitt's character and his family take refuge inside of the apartment of a immigrant family. Despite their differences and language barriers, both parties work cooperatively to survive. Countless examples like this arise is every apocalyptic movie from Apocalypse Now to World War Z. Despite the varying changes that may come to apocalyptic movies, humans always survive. Despite the conscious fear of our own impending destruction, humans always find a way to survive as a species. This facet of the "end of days" narrative has always exemplified a true hope in humanity. As Elaine Pagels writes, "the Book of Revelation appeals not only to fear and desires for vengeance but also to hope." 

This fascination with hope is shown is the evolution in the apocalyptic genre. Recent movies like The Hunger Games and the City of Ember highlight the post-apocalyptic society. More than simply show the apocalypses and how humanity survives; new movies have highlighted the societal repercussions of survival. The Hunger Games takes place in a nation known as Panem. Panem is established a after the destruction of the continent's civilization by an unknown apocalyptic event. In the aftermath, a state is created in which the capital suppresses the surrounding thirteen districts, resulting is a revolution. The Hunger Games especially, showcases the evils that still may exist after the end of days. Moreover, it fights against the common Christian notion that good permanently triumphs after the Armageddon. While, our conception of apocalypse will remain the same, it is interesting to see how that fascination has evolved into post-cataclysmic fear. 

Is the apocalypse still God's fault?

As modern day filmmakers and storytellers attempt to retell apocalyptic stories, I wonder: do modern-day adaptations of apocalypse stories remove the element of the super-natural or divine? 

            According to Pagels, “The Book of Revelation reads as if John had wrapped up all our worst fears—fears of violence, plague, wild animals, unimaginable horrors from the abyss below the earth, lightning, hail, earthquakes and the atrocities or torture and war—into one gigantic nightmare.” It can be interpreted that Pagels is claiming that the apocalypse is a reflection of society’s greatest fear at the time.  An example of this is the Cold War; people weren’t worried about locusts as much as they were worried about nuclear bombs being dropped on their cities.  Hollywood movie makers took advantage of this and produced movies like Dr. Strangelove and Red Dawn that spoke to people’s paranoia.  As of more recently, people have begun to worry about viral infections and this has also been reflected through modern day film; movies such as World War Z and Contagion show apocalyptic epidemics that come as a result of viral infections.

            By creating these movies that reflect society’s greatest fear, filmmakers have effectively removed a sense of the divine from the apocalypse.  Technically, in order to consider something an apocalypse, there has to be an element of the supernatural, but now people are much more concerned about nuclear bombs and viral infections as opposed to locusts.  A reason for this may be because it makes people feel they can control their own fate, such as coming to a peace resolution or developing a vaccine that can save civilization; as opposed to the alternative of God’s wrath raining down and effectively ending the world.          

The Night is Darkest Just Before the Dawn

           

In Apocalypse Left and Right, Dan Archer explores the nature of media, film, and our obsession with the apocalypse. In one panel he writes: “When viewed through a cinematic lens, the threat of apocalypse can galvanize worldwide solidarity/redemption” (1). There are many different aspects to apocalypse that are appealing to the viewer, but this idea of putting aside our differences to band together against a common threat seems particularly romantic. This is especially true considering we live in a world rife with conflict that is constantly being magnified and dissected by the media. A good example of this appeal can be seen in the 2013 apocalyptic film World War Z. Based off of a popular novel, the film tells the story of a global contagion that turns people into hostile zombies that push civilization, and humanity as a whole to the brink of destruction. Eventually humans are able to overcome the zombies, but what is particularly interesting are some of the aftereffects of the pandemic. The world unites during the catastrophe, and afterwards there are some positive outcomes that seemed impossible without an apocalyptic event. For example, China and Cuba turn into thriving democracies, and most notably the Israelis and Palestinians make peace and form a unified Palestinian state. The Palestinian conflict is probably one of the most highly covered and contentious issues in the world, and the idea that apocalypse can make it right is entrancing to many viewers. Another example of this comes in The Dark Knight. One of the most powerful lines in the film is “The night is darkest just before the dawn”, and represents Gotham's rejuvenation following disaster. This one line encapsulates this idea of new hope emerging from apocalypse and destroyed worlds.

 Elaine Pagels touches on this phenomenon in Christian writings: “Whether one sees in John's visions the destruction of the whole world… his final vision suggests that even after the worst we can imagine has happened, we may find the astonishing gift of new life” (3). This idea of post-catastrophe rebirth and revitalization is one of the most appealing aspects of apocalyptic stories, and is a large part as to why we as a society are so enthralled with apocalypse. 

The Fascinating Apocalypse

     Why are we fascinated by the end of the world? On the one hand,  Archer writes that the apocalypse has a unifying "do good" feel that instills a sense of community and solidarity that brings everyone together. This element can be seen in the popular video game series Fallout. Set in the future, the game's storyline is influenced by the post war culture of 1950s America, its combination of fear of nuclear combination and hope of the arrival of new technology. The people have moved to underground shelters owned by different communities or "factions". Unified by their hopes, fears and the struggle to survive, each community seeks its own ways of sustainability. 

     On the other hand, Pagels points out that the end of the world is succeeded by the birth of a new one as predicted by The Book of Revelation. In the same fashion,  Norse mythology foretells the emergence of a new world after ragnarok. Fallout is already set in the new world that combines some elements of the past (1950's cars and computers) and the future (directed-energy weapons, advanced cars). The familiar elements of the new world provide a sense of calmness and hope that part of our world will be preserved in the new one. Even though apocalyptic stories are centered on death and destruction, they always end in rebirth and preservation. It seems like the popularity of apocalyptic stories is not fueled by the content (death and destruction), but the ending (arrival of the glorious new world with some elements of the old one). What ultimately thrills the human mind is the hope of seeing the amazing gift of new life along with the survival of some old elements of it.

Apocalypse as an individual event

“The end of the world is not once and for all, but recurring,” (Plate). The apocalypse is something that has shown up for years in pop culture. For decades, directors have built entire stories around an apocalypse. We’ve seen it in movies like Godzilla, Independence Day, After Earth, and even in satirical films like This is the End. The common theme that runs through all of these movies is that there is a grand ending of the world. This is a concept that people have considered as a real possibility for years. “Prophets” are people who have been in contact with the divine in order to receive and relay messages to the general population. These prophets, often times, are the ones who relay the ideas of the apocalypse and when it is going to happen. However, all of the speculation thus far has been wrong since the world has yet to end. Why is it, though, there is only one apocalypse and one world in these situations?

On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center collapsed and it looked a little too familiar because scenes like that had been portrayed in movies in the past. Even though this wasn’t the end of “the” world, it was the end of many individual worlds. One of the issues that I have with the pop culture portrayal of apocalypses is that they are seen as a singular event that will kill off the entire population of earth. However, I think that apocalypses happen every day on a smaller scale. Each day, people are dying and people are losing loved ones. These individual devastations are apocalypses in themselves because they mark the end of an era for that individual. This resembles the typical idea of an apocalypse because even though it isn’t mass destruction, it is the end of something for someone. Therefore, I think it is important for us to realize that an apocalypse does not only mean the end of “the” world, because in reality there are infinitely many worlds. Each person has so many of their own worlds, and when one of those comes to an end, that represents that person’s own, individual apocalypse. Also, an apocalypse doesn’t have to occur because of aliens or monsters. Instead, it can be happening from disease or global warming or natural disasters, which are things that affect society every day. For example, every day more than 1,500 Americans die of cancer. Sickness is one example of a real life apocalypse that is happening each day, and as Plate stated, is recurring.

(This photograph looks just like cities in apocalypse movies, however it is actually a real photo from a city that was affected by an earthquake.)

America's Obsession with the Apocalypse: Nostradamus

Why is America so obsessed with the apocalypse?

The apocalypse is one of the central myths that Americans have been fixated on. 59% of Americans believe the predictions in the Book of Revelations will come true (Archer, p. 2). Evangelical Christians are one of the main groups who believe in these apocalyptic stories. They believe that the Book of Revelations predicts many of the world’s events, with 25% of Americans believing the Book predicted the 9/11 attacks (Archer, p.2). In addition to the Book of Revelations, Nostradamus, a 15th century French doctor, is one of the people Americans look to for predictions about the end of the world. Nostradamus’s Quatrains have been cited by some people as predicting September 11^th and other disasters. On the other hand, doubters have said that his Quatrains are so vague that a single Quatrain could be used to “predict” many events. Like other myths, Nostradamus’s predictions are vague enough to be interpreted in many ways. Is It Real?, a television show on the National Geographic Channel, looks at the veracity of his predictions and comes to the conclusion that Nostradamus’s predictions, especially the “ones” on the apocalypse, are too vague to actually be predicting anything (using the example of his "prediction" of 9/11 being also potentially interpreted as predicting to Holocaust).                                     

So why do Americans believe in these prophesies?



 Elaine Pagels looks at what themes prophecies attempt to tackle and why people believe stories about the apocalypse. She states that apocalyptic stories" appeal not only to fear and desires for vengeance but also to hope.” (p.3) Most apocalypse stories do appeal to some sense of hope, and people are attracted to that feeling. In fact, most apocalypse stories do not end with the end of the world “but in a glorious new world.” (p.3) Nostradamus’s apocalypse prediction starts with “a fire from the North,” a prediction that can be construed in many different ways, but also has the survivors building a new world. Apocalypse stories allow people to hope that even in the end, we can find “the astonishing gift of new life.” (p. 3) This sense of hope in his apocalyptic stories, along with supposed accuracy of his prophecies, has made Nostradamus a household name in the United States.

Apocalypse Vs. Reality

            As Elaine Pagel writes people read their own “social, political, and religious conflicts” into apocalyptic myths. Filmmakers love to create disaster movies showing wide scale societal devastation based on cultural and societal fears.

The Day After Tomorrow is an archetypical apocalyptic myth. It shows a total societal rearrangement caused by a large-scale catastrophe. Like all apocalyptic myths, the date it occurs is not specified, but still immediate enough to create a sense of concern. That allows it to take a slightly prophetic tone. The science behind the film is absolutely nonsensical, but the filmmakers clearly see climate change as an issue of concern. They just don’t want to let facts get in the way of a good story.

Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth film serves as a much more direct, prophetic, apocalyptic statement. Rather than allowing getting carried away with the spectacle, Al Gore relies on facts to show the realities of climate change. His predictions are nowhere near as drastic as the ones in The Day After Tomorrow. But they allow the audience no illusions. His message is climate change is happening, and there is nothing you can do about it.

These films base themselves around a similar cultural fear: global warming. But The Day After Tomorrow made $652 million dollars, while An Inconvenient Truth made about $50 million. That shows that in our society, we are more comfortable with myth than fact. The Day After Tomorrow takes society’s fears about global warming and exaggerates them to a point where they look like something out of The Book of Revelations. An Inconvenient Truth is much more jarring and uncomfortable, because it shows global warming as a fact, rather than a myth. Both films warn of an apocalypse by similar means, but audiences are more comfortable with that warning when it’s wrapped in a layer of myth, rather than fact.