2012. Book launch: Sci-fi sublime and watching ourselves be annihilated in movies

Sci-Fi Sublime

Watching Ourselves Be Annihilated in Media and Movies

Barry Vacker Associate Professor Temple University

Sci-Fi Sublime

Based on my new book.

Publication date: December 21, 2012

There are three possibilities 1. The end of the world

will happen. •  “prophecy” 2. The end of the world

will not happen •  science 3. The end of the world

has already happened! • philosophy, cosmology


will happen. •  “prophecy” 2. The end of the world

will not happen. •  science 3. The end of the world



will happen. •  “prophecy”

Mayan “Prophecy”

% of Americans who believe this likely to happen on December 21

•  Mayan prophecy: 27% •  85 million people

Survey: National Geographic, 2012.

% of humans who believe this will happen on December 21

•  China: •  America: •  Russia: •  Canada: •  Great Britain: •  Germany: •  Global total:

Different survey: Reuters-Ipsos, 2012.

% of humans who believe this will happen on December 21

•  China: 20% •  America: 12% •  Russia: 13% •  Canada: 9% •  Great Britain: 7% •  Germany: 4% •  Global total: 10% •  700 million people total

Different survey: Reuters-Ipsos, 2012.

% of Americans who believe this could happen in 25 years

•  Oceans cover land: 9% •  28 million


•  Oceans cover land: 9% •  Biological wipe out: 15% •  47 million people


•  Oceans cover land: 9% •  Biological wipe out: 15% •  Extraterrest. attack: 19% •  60 million


•  Oceans cover land: 9% •  Biological wipe out: 15% •  Extraterrest. attack: 19% •  Mayan prophecy: 30% •  94 million


•  Oceans cover land: 9% •  Biological wipe out: 15% •  Extraterrest. attack: 19% •  Mayan prophecy: 30% •  Weather apocalypse and

instant ice age: 37% •  116 million

Source: 2012 National Geographic survey.


•  Oceans cover land: 9% •  Biological wipe out: 15% •  Extraterrest. attack: 19% •  Mayan prophecy: 30% •  Weather apocalypse: 37% •  Meteor wipe out: 31% •  97 million

Barringer Meteor Crater, Arizona

http://www.meteorcrater.com/


Almost one mile wide … 550 feet deep … 50,000 years old.


For entertainment purposes only.

Near Earth Objects (NEOs)

•  Earth has been hit and will be hit again.

•  Only a matter of time. •  When?


•  Evidence suggests a meteor wiped out the dinosaurs.

•  65 million years ago.


•  First decade of the new millennium, humans spent

•  $4 million per year on finding NEOs.



•  $4 million per year on finding NEOs.

•  $1.5 trillion per year on waging war.



•  Fraction of 1 cent per person on finding NEOs.

•  $2100 per person on waging war.

Think of it this way

•  Humans spent:

•  $4 million on finding NEOs in 2009.

Think of it this way

•  Humans spent:

•  $4 million on finding NEOs in 2009.

•  $550 million watching Armageddon in 1998.


will not happen. •  science 3.

Mayan “Prophecy” = Nonsense

Believe world will end ��in their lifetime

•  Americans:

•  Citizens from 20 other nations:

•  Reuters/Ipsos, 2012

Believe world will end ��in their lifetime

•  Americans: 22%

•  Citizens from 20 other nations: 14%

•  Reuters/Ipsos, 2012

“End of the World” Memes

Reach far back in human history.

Earlier “End of the World” Meme

360 B.C.E.

Earlier “End of the World” Meme

•  Famine had been overcome

•  Indictment of: •  War •  Conquest •  Arrogance/Hubris

Earliest “End of the World” Meme?

•  Epic of Gilgamesh –  From Babylonia –  2000-1500 B.C.E

•  Myth of “Great Flood” •  Might be related to

melting of glaciers 10,000 years ago…

The year 2000

•  In latter half of the 20th century, “2000” was: –  symbol for age of

science, technology, cultural, and human improvement.

Times Square, 2000

The year 2000

•  In latter half of the 20th century, “2000” was: –  symbol for age of

technology & cultural-human improvement

–  a sign of the future

2000s: ��the first decade of new millennium

•  Memes of “doom and gloom” fill our media environments.

•  TIME •  November 24, 2009

The History Channel

•  Countless end-of-the- world scenarios …

The History Channel

•  “Armageddon week”

The History Channel

•  “Armageddon week” •  Doomsday 2012

The History Channel

•  “Armageddon week” •  Doomsday 2012 •  Nostradamus Effect

The History Channel

•  “Armageddon week” •  Doomsday 2012 •  Nostradamus Effect •  7 Signs of Apocalypse

The Weather Channel

•  It Could Happen Tomorrow –  Hurricane floods New

Orleans (filmed the summer before Hurricane Katrina)

The Weather Channel

•  It Could Happen Tomorrow –  Hurricane floods New

Orleans (filmed the summer before Katrina)

–  Tornado does in Dallas –  Hurricane floods NYC –  and other scenarios

National Geographic Channel

Economics

•  Taxpayer bailout … or else

Theologies

•  “Left Behind” series •  60 million books sold •  End times are coming

very soon …

•  Also: movies, video games, graphic novels

•  Repent … or else.

Cultural/Media Theory

Science and Ecological Theory

Technology and Science

The End in the “Future”

History and “the End”

Hollywood and the media

Meme: ��Extraterrestrial apocalypse

1953 1951

Meme: ��Extraterrestrials?

•  2010-2012 •  Documentary science

series hosted by Morgan Freeman.

•  Episode: “Are We Alone”

Meme: ��Nuclear apocalypse

1964 1962

Meme: ��Nuclear apocalypse

•  2012 •  Documentary about

the danger of nuclear weapons today. –  What can be done to

eliminate atomic bombs?

Meme: ��Technological apocalypse

1967 1981


1971 1999


•  2009 •  Mind-bending

documentary about what would happen if humans disappeared

Meme: ��Zombie apocalypse

1956 1968

Meme: ��Biological apocalypse

2006 2007

Meme: ��Resource apocalypse

1973 2008

Meme: ��Ecological apocalypse

2004 2009

Meme: ��Ecological apocalypse

•  2006 •  Documentary about

global warming: –  its potential effects –  what we can do.

Meme: ��Cultural apocalypse

2012 2012

Meme: ��Virtual apocalypse

2010 1999

Meme: ��Virtual apocalypse

•  2009 •  Mind-bending

documentary about whether we could merge our minds with computers.

•  Could The Matrix come true?

Meme: ��Cosmic apocalypse

2011 2011

Meme: ��Cultural-cosmic apocalypse

2011 2009

Meme: ��Cultural-cosmic apocalypse

2011 1951

pp. 50-51 Hollywood Science


will happen •  “prophecy” 2. The end of the world

will not happen.

Why so many doomsday memes in our culture? •  science 3. The end of the world

Why do apocalypse memes replicate?

1951 1951

Taps into two human needs/drives:

1. Cosmic apocalypse heralds the end of the world.

2. Transformation of consciousness and the new beginning.

“Prophecy” is nonsense.

“What If” Scenarios:��Ends and Beginnings

1951 1951

“What If” Scenarios

•  The Warning. •  These events could

happen if:

•  We do not protect our planet.

•  We do not change our behavior.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXeT-yHNcFI

What do astronomers discover?

Media tech: telescope and the first computer in a movie.

Meme: Cosmic Apocalypse

•  Rogue star to obliterate Earth.

Meme:��Cosmic Apocalypse

ENDS 1. Warning

2. Fear of the Future

Leave Earth via rocket

Journey to new planet

Journey to new planet: Possible?

Meme: a new beginning …

The “What If” Scenario 2

BEGINNINGS 1. Transformation of

consciousness

2. Clean Slate

A do-over for society or the human species

Why apocalypse memes replicate

ENDS 1. Warning



consciousness

2. Clean Slate


Ends: ��Warning About Nuclear Apocalypse

1964 1962 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9R3w8wDrmM

Ends ��Fear of the Future

Perhaps the first apocalyptic film about consumerism run amok. 1967

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14y1zsqBKEY

Warnings: Ends

1968 1970 1972 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ghzomm15yE

Warnings

•  The disease of adapting to technologies and the future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ghzomm15yE

1970s: Ends and Beginnings

1972 1973 1976


1981 1983 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeOHEU7Ykyg


1999 1999


2004 2007 2009

The End: cosmic apocalypse

2011 2012

Why apocalypse memes replicate ENDS 1. Warning



consciousness

2. Clean Slate


The End: cosmic apocalypse ENDS 1. Warning


3. Cosmic murder/suicide

4. Awe and terror of the sublime

BEGINNINGS No new beginning No “do-over”

The End: atomic apocalypse ENDS 1. Warning



4. Awe and terror of the sublime

The End: ET apocalypse ENDS 1. Warning



4. Awe and terror of the sublime.

The End: Eco apocalypse ENDS 1. Warning




The End: Bio apocalypse ENDS 1. Warning





2011 2012


1951 2009

The End: philosophical apocalypse

questions about the meaning of human existence

The film, The Known Universe, was shown here.

The final possibility 3. The end of the world

has already happened!

• the end of “the known world” …

• the world with humans at the center of the universe.

“Earthrise”

Modified to make us feel good Original

“Earthrise”

Modified to make us feel good Original

•  Until we learn to accept that world >>>

Until we learn to accept that world >>>

We will face the end of the world, again and again.

That’s why this book explores:

•  Ends •  A New Beginning

2012. Book launch: Sci-fi sublime and watching ourselves be annihilated in movies

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