Making Disaster Movies - Essay Example

Order 413572 Topic: Disaster Movies Making movies is a business, like any other profit-making business in this competitive world deeply impacted by materialistic civilization. Making disaster movies involves great risk from the point of view of the producer—the one who invests the money. Most of the disaster movies are violence-related. Whatever is the theme, the objective of these movies is neither to depict the worst in human nature or show redeeming qualities of human nature—the prime objective of the movie is success from the commercial point of view. One point incidentally. Such movies mostly appeal to the combustible younger generation and children. The plot of most of the disaster related movies is to depict the achievement of the impossible. Some are colored versions of the historical events. Destruction of the world is a theme that attracts the attention of the producers of disaster moves. The famous Director Roland Emmerich has nearly destroyed the world three times already by his movies and he appears to be a glutton as for destruction. In the movie “2012” he tries the same trick again, this time with the backgrounder information provided by the prophets. The earth will rip apart, in tune with the ancient prophecy. In his earlier movie “Independence Day”(1966) he had shown the civilization on Planet Earth being attacked by aliens, next was Godzilla followed by “The Day After Tomorrow” that showed a climate disaster (2004). The themes of all these movies is concerning the life of humankind on this Planet Earth-- to show how insecure it has turned out to be due to the folly of human beings. The problem according to E. F. Schumacher is “Modern man does not experience himself as a part of nature but as an outside force destined to dominate and conquer it.”(11) It is not adventured alone with some of the storytellers of disaster movies. Some are reacting to anxiety of humankind over real threats. The times are highly uncertain due to politics of violence, call it terrorist attacks. Those who are not involved in any controversies, those who have nothing to do with the politics, and the innocents are being targeted and this is something about which the common man is worried. The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 is the case in point. That ultimately resulted in two U.SD. Wars, a global financial crisis, and environmental perils. This is the theme of the movie “The Road” by Jazmin Bropohy-Warren. A disaster movie but highly educative and thought-provoking. In any disaster movie the story-line, apart from the consideration of economics of the movie(any movie must make profit), human concerns show up. The story-writers depict genuine concern about major problems facing humanity and show awareness of the time-value of the subject matter of the story. For example, if a movie is made on the disease of Typhoid Fever, people may not be interested, even though the disease is very much prevalent today. But the movie on AIDS will interest and its ill-effects on the society is a topic that has time-value. The “Outbreak” by Warner Brothers in 1995 showed how the greatest medical crisis in the world is about to happen by the animal carrying a deadly virus. As indicated earlier “The Day After Tomorrow” is a disaster movie in the real sense. If one asks, what is the moral of the story the answer is simple and straightforward. Live peacefully, always remember that the world is one family, This movie shows how Nature is a great leveler, and human beings should not take too much pride in the achievements of science. As Schumacher rightly points out, “ Th exclusion of wisdom from economics, science, and technology was something which we could perhaps get away with for a little while, as long as we were relatively unsuccessful, but now that we have become very successful, the problem of spiritual and moral truth moves into the central position.”(28) The script writer shows the moral concern, brings out the human touch in the movie “even if it means having Dennis Quaid walking from Washington DC to New York in a subzero snowstorm to be with his estranged son.”(Best disaster....) This the area where the spirit of good human relationship triumphs over the conflicts of living. The movie otherwise, shows how Nature takes revenge on the erring humanity like the series of freak storms that wipe out half the world, the tornado sequence in Los Angels for the adventure seeker, the Russian tanker floating through Manhattan etc. The viewers know that these are impossibilities, but some such results can not be ruled out in the event of a Nuclear War. Movies like Titanic(20th Century Fox,1997) are the real disaster movies. The story is authentic and it brings out the best of the human values in the times of crisis. It was collision of thousands of people with their destiny and it is believable at every shot of the movie. It is a love story, an adventurous story, a story of camaraderie, the story of scientific achievement, and a philosophical story that shows how destiny scores over human efforts, when it has to do so! The movie has an all-time message for humanity and people of all age-groups have liked it. It netted $600 million in the United States alone. Disaster movies with negative viewpoint that show mind-less destruction are not suitable for viewing by the children whose minds are impressionable. They believe which in reality, is not meant for believing. Tan Fei, a viewer of the movie 2012 writes, “When I finished watching the movie I regretted it, particularly for the additional mistake of bringing a child with me.... Lets speak only of its social influence: it really is far too shocking. Ive read reports over the past few days saying that the movie caused a panic — and even suicides — in some places it was shown. ... ever since 9:30 last night when I finished watching the film, I havent been able to get to sleep. Ill nod off for a few moments but then Im startled awake by my dreams, which consist entirely of horrifying scenes.”(2012: a disaster....) Those who have knowledge of making about the disaster movies know that once the writer creates the basics of a story, most of the things that are shown on the screen are created on a computer. But the make-believe scenes hit the strongest of the hearts. For those with weak hearts, and those who have suffered heart-attacks already, such disaster movies are harmful. Conclusion: Disasters have been the subject matter of movie-goers fascination and the interest remains unabated. Man-made and natural catastrophes are the subjects that interest the viewers. They may relate to the past, present or the future. They can be local incidents or global events.“Along with showing the spectacular disaster, these films concentrate on the chaotic events surrounding the disaster, including efforts for survival, the effects upon individuals and families, and what-if scenarios. The best disaster films comment upon the negative effects of advancing technology, demonstrate the hubris of scientists and other individuals, deliver uplifting moral lessons of sacrifice, and provide a how-to in terms of survival skills.”(Disaster....) Good disaster movies provide lessons on the daunting spirit of the man, the never-say-die approach to the challenges and therefore the audience loves such themes with lofty messages. They highlight the consequences of negative tendencies of humankind. ************* Works Cited: Best disaster movies, best disaster films.... www.bullz-eye.com/mguide/features/.../disaster_movies.htm - Cached -Retrieved on February 21,2010. Disaster Films As in any sub-genre, the move to capitalize on the disaster film... www.filmsite.org/disasterfilms.html - Cached – Retrieved on February 21,2010 Schumacher, E.F. Small is Beautiful, Bond & Briggs,London:1973 2012: a disaster movie not suitable for children.... www.danwei.org/front_page.../disaster_movies_not_suitable_f.php – Cached-Retrieved on February 21,2010. Read More