The disaster genre

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THE DISASTER GENRE What themes do disaster movies typically

address?

The themes of any film are the issues and subjects that it deals with aside from the disaster itself. Sometimes these may be more important to the film-maker than the disaster. For mainstream Hollywood genre, the disaster movie is very rich in themes. It’s important that you have knowledge of the themes that are in Disaster Movies, your exam may ask you to recognize the themes with a short sequence.

THE DISASTER MOVIE AND THE INDIVIDUAL Relationships: The relationship theme in the disaster movie is almost as important as the disaster itself and gives the audience its most common form of emotional 'hook’ into the story. These are a vital component in the disaster movie because they extend it beyond the confines of the’ big bang’ special effect. As in any film, all kinds of relationships feature -friendship, hate, love - in fact any kind you can name. The love theme is the most typical - both romantic and family. Love can be complicated and can even seem to be the whole point of the story, almost excluding the disaster itself, as in Titanic, where Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) carry the bulk of the film's interest. Family is important too and many films see parents and siblings trying to rescue one another.

TASK 1: Cut out a stick the poster for The Day After Tomorrow and The Core in your books, what themes do you think these two films will address?

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Self-sacrifice: The theme of self-sacrifice is unavoidable in disaster movies and provides us with some of the most memorable and emotional individual scenes of any genre. In some ways it is more crucial to the genre's success than the theme of relationships. It is a disaster that allows this theme of self-sacrifice to surface. Heroes are created in many ways in films. The most common is the character that ‘saves the day’. Unfortunately, in a disaster film, the day is almost always beyond saving. This is where acts of self-sacrifice become important for the genre. The human condition is elevated by these deeds throughout almost all disaster movies. Redemption: Redemption, or making amends for sins committed, is a theme closely linked to self-sacrifice. Some characters need so much redemption that only an act of self-sacrifice will do. An example of this would be Stanley Tucci's character, Dr Conrad Zimsky, in The Core. He is a vain, arrogant and scheming scientist who has jeopardised the planet in the pursuit of career and self. In the end he makes the ultimate sacrifice to try to right the wrongs he has done and manages to laugh at himself as he enjoys his last cigarette. There are more subtle and smaller examples of redemption. These can be acts of forgiveness that are brought into focus by the looming disaster.

TASK 2: Explain how the theme of Relationships is communicated in one of the following films:

• The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

• Poseidon (2006)

• The Towering Inferno (1974)

• Armageddon (1998)

• The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

TASK 3: How is the theme of self sacrifice shown in the two films listed below? (Refer to audience in your answer)



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Teamwork: There are two main kinds of groups or teams that feature in disaster movies: those that are chosen 'by the disaster' and those that are chosen 'for the disaster'. Those that are chosen by the disaster are the group of strangers thrown together accidentally in their struggle to survive. Their make-up, as discussed previously, is often an attempt by the film-maker to represent as much of the potential audience on screen as possible. Those that are chosen for the disaster are usually the experts that are sent to deal with the impending disaster. A typical example of this is the range of experts sent to restart the rotation of the earth's core in The Core. The roster includes NASA pilots, a weapons expert, a physicist, a university professor and a computer hacker, all highly trained experts in their field. In both types of team the theme remains the same: humanity as a group is larger than the sum of its parts. The films explore how each person can contribute to, and learn from, the process of working together in the face of a disaster. The question is 'Why does it need the end of the world to promote such cooperation?' The role of people in a group or team provides us with a bridge between the individual and general themes in the disaster movie. This is because the largest group we all belong to is a society and this is the area where the general themes raise questions.

TASK 4: How does Harlee Claiborne find redemption in The Towering Inferno (1974)?

Provide another example of redemption from a disaster movie of your choice

TASK 5: Explain how the two films below are good examples for the theme of teamwork



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THE DISASTER MOVIE AND SOCIETY

Common themes that affect society are subject to change. Some ideas are constant, like corporate greed; others have arisen in more recent times, like the potential for environmental disaster.

• corporate greed

• science and technology

• the power of nature of 'nature's revenge'

• human complacency - societal and individual

Corporate greed: Corporate greed is one of the more specific themes that crops up from time to time and in some ways it is the trigger for some of the other general themes. The pursuit of profit by cutting costs and ignoring safety considerations is the 'accident waiting to happen' in many disaster movies. Unlike the real world, where the source of this blame often remains faceless, disaster movies conveniently focus this on the individual. Such individuals are one of, if not the, most obvious kind of human villain that appear in the disaster movie. For most of these characters, except some of those who redeem themselves, justice is meted out by death in the disaster they helped to create.

TASK 6: Provide an example of corporate greed from the film The Towering Inferno (1974), refer to audience in your answer Can you think of examples from other disaster movies?

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Science and technology: Whether it is in a positive, or more commonly a negative, way, science and technology as a theme has a key role to play in many disaster movies. Our relationship with science and technology has risen in importance in general culture since we potentially authored our own doom by inventing the nuclear weapon. Since then, we have entertained, and been entertained by, many suspect applications of science and technology. Nevertheless, science and technology is often what we turn to in order to avert disaster. On the negative side, technology may just simply fail - sinking ships, crashing aeroplanes, bursting dams etc. Sometimes it is just not up to the job as society breaks down through its absence, often proving the saying that we are 'two meals and 24 hours away from complete anarchy'. More recently, our scientific and technological impact on the globe has become a more significant concern. Both The Core and in particular The Day After Tomorrow find the cause of the disaster in science and technology. It is highly likely that there will be more global warming movies to add to this genre over the next few years.

TASK 7: How is science and technology represented in disaster movies? Refer to a movie of your choice (pictures are to help but you don’t have to use them)

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The power of nature or 'nature's revenge': In any form designed for the big screen the real sweeping scope and destructive energy of nature is a must. Hollywood enlists them all in the name of spectacle - giant waves, volcanoes, earthquakes, storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, heat, cold, even swarms of killer bees and more. The main reason to put these on film may be to showcase the latest special effects technology and tempt the audience back into the cinemas en masse, but this is not the only reason for this theme.

It also allows the film maker to utilise one of the basic responses to any disaster - the fear - and how we are individually reduced in size in the 'face of it all! Discussing our fragility and who is really in charge of planet Earth leads us into our last theme of complacency.

Human complacency - societal and individual: The business of doing nothing and ignoring what appears to be the obvious is a very important theme in the disaster movie. On one level it serves to increase and drive the drama of the situation. On the Titanic nobody is worried when they are on an unsinkable ship; in Earthquake the junior seismologist is just overreacting, nobody expected aliens to come from Mars - but they still did. In all disaster films this complacency serves to underline normality and what is about to be turned upside down (literally in some movies). As people continue to ignore the signs, the tension builds for we, the audience, knows what is imminent - excellent examples can be found of this in most volcano/earthquake movies. The eventual special effects explosion is almost a release of relief for the audience that barely gives us a chance to think 'they told you so'.

TASK 8: How is the theme of the power of nature or ‘natures revenge’ communicated in two of the following films. Refer to micro and macro features and the audience in your answer

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This complacency is also part of a wider observation for both the audience as a whole and as individuals. It is the movie as 'warning', like a stern parent wagging their finger and telling us not to leave things until it is too late. Whether it is a visit to the dentist or sorting out global warming now, our main enemy is complacency.

What we have learned

In looking for themes in the disaster movie we find many different ones with differing levels of meaning for different audiences. They continue to operate on the contrasting levels of 'the big' and 'the small' which we can find in most Hollywood big budget genres. Perhaps the huge size of a disaster compared to the small size of an individual makes the contrast sharper. One thing is almost certain, at least one of these themes will have an impact on even the most unconcerned spectator (audience member). Even the thrill seeker who may only have gone to 'watch the fireworks' that a 'big bang' of a disaster offers cannot escape their effect.

EXAMINER’S TIP In dealing with the theme(s) of any film do not forget that what the audience brings to

the film is as important as the filmmaker's intention. Often the best theme to talk about is the one you feel is most important. Think about how the themes are used by

the film-makers - are they serious statements or just easy ways to get a response from the audience?

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The disaster genre