When most people hear Apocalypse they think fire and brimstone… demons and angels… molten lava running in the streets… and most definitely everyone you know becoming a zombie. These are the images we see in film and television. These are the stories that speak to our population. Consider the contrast to ancient legend or myth. The first stories ever told, and many stories for centuries to follow, were stories of a heroes journey (Joseph Campbell reference intended). When the hero and his village/city/country are threatened from without he battles gods, monsters, and villains to secure peace and safety for him and his people. Clearly there are variations, but these basic elements are a fairly common repeating theme.
Contrast this to the stories we tell today. Our world is threatened from every source imaginable that could destroy a planet or a life form. Zombie films are more popular than ever- where every stranger becomes a monster that you need to kill before he kills you. The monster movie has had several revivals as of late. The 5th Element frames an evil that even science cannot comprehend hell bent on destroying life on earth. Out of all the planets in the universe, evil chooses earth to attack, only to be defeated by love. Armageddon, Deep Impact, 2012, Day After Tomorrow, Sunshine, Outbreak, The Happening… The list practically populates itself. All of these films predict a seemingly plausible event that would end life on earth. Then we have the alien civilization films: Independence Day, Signs, any Star Trek film with the borg, District 9, War of The Worlds, Avatar, Predator, Aliens, Transformers, Men in Black, Cloverfield… I could do this all day! All films with aliens from other worlds hell bent on destroying us, and/or our lovely planet. (Interestingly enough Avatar sets us as the aliens out to destroy… Discuss on your own…)
It is like we are aware that our very existence hangs in the balance. Nobody quite has the words to express the feeling, but it does kind of feel like the world might actually end any day now. Unable to discuss this deep feeling we all feel, we are drawn to the stories that speak to our mutual dread… and we clamour for a hero- Spiderman, Batman, Iron Man, X-men, Incredible Hulk, Hancock, Fantastic Four. After all, the hero always saves us in our most desperate hour, right?
But that's just the problem isn't it? This ‘savior theory’ holds that one person has to rise up and defeat this great evil that plagues us all. There aren't many alternative scenarios offered all that often... What if in reality, we are all the heroes of our story? People have already begun to come together in ways not possible before. Communities are joining all over the Internet- and one of the largest growing communities is the one talking about this feeling of impending doom- the community coming up with solutions for it. There are people trying to rethink the foundations of society all the way to normal people that just agree that something needs to change for the better. There are organizations forming like: The Zeit Geist Movement, Or The Venus Project. All the way to events seen in films like Budrus- where Palestinians and Israelis have simply stopped fighting. Up to the recent “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” At which people of all political alignments gathered together to acknowledge that our situation is quickly growing dire. There’s strength in numbers, and hope is more contagious than any zombie bite…
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