The Last Midnight: Essays on Apocalyptic Narratives in Millennial Media

by Leisa A. Clark, Amanda Firestone, Mary F. Pharr

Overview

Do you find yourself contemplating the imminent end of the world? Do you wonder how society might reorganize itself to cope with global cataclysm? (Have you begun hoarding canned goods and ammunition...?)

Visions of an apocalypse began to dominate mass media well before the year 2000. Yet narratives since then present decidedly different spins on cultural anxieties about terrorism, disease, environmental collapse, worldwide conflict and millennial technologies.

Many of these concerns have been made metaphorical: zombie hordes embody fear of out-of-control appetites and encroaching disorder. Other fears, like the prospect of human technology's turning on its creators, seem more reality based. This collection of new essays explores apocalyptic themes in a variety of post-millennial media, including film, television, video games, webisodes and smartphone apps.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476663234
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	10/12/2016
Series:	Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy , #53
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Leisa A. Clark is a professor of arts and humanities, teaching diverse class subjects such as art history, media studies, and film history. She is the author of a variety of books, ranging from fictional comedic space opera to critical edited collections. She lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. Amanda Firestone is an assistant professor at the University of Tampa in the Department of Communication, teaching media studies and digital identity. Mary F. Pharr is a professor emeritus of English at Florida Southern College. She lives in Lakeland, Florida.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xii

Preface Amanda Firestone 1

Introduction Mary F. Pharr Leisa A. Clark Amanda Firestone 4

Prelude-We Don't Want to Miss a Thing: Millennial Technologies of Participation and Intimacy Andrew McAlister 25

I Culture, Values and Anxiety

The South Will Rise Again: Contagion, War and Reconstruction in The Walking Dead, Seasons One Through Five Angela Tenga 37

The Recuperation of Wounded Hegemonic Masculinity on Doomsday Preppers Tiffany A. Christian 48

The Last Non-Judgment: Postmodern Apocalypse in Battlestar Galactica Stephen Joyce 60

The Emergence of the Lost Apocalypse from 28 Days Later to Snowpiercer Mark McCarthy 69

II Globalization, Corporate Power and Class Struggles

Going Viral in a World Gone Global: How Contagion Reinvents the Outbreak Narrative Dahlia Schweitzer 79

The Second Coming of Left Behind and the Deglobalization of Christian Apocalypse Tim Bryant 90

Corporate Abuse and Social Inequality in RoboCop and Fido Bill Clemente 101

We Go Forward: An Inquiry into The Hunger Games and Other Class-Based Dystopias in Millennial Cinema Lennart Sobbron 112

III Memory and Identity

Determined About Determinism: Genetic Manipulation, Memory and Identity in Shaping the Postapocalyptic Self in Dark Angel and Divergent Max Despain 123

The Apocalyptic Mental Time Travel Film: Erasing Disaster in Edge of Tomorrow and X-Men: Days of Future Past Ryan Lizardi 134

In the Flesh: The Politics of Apocalyptic Memory Frances Auld 144

In Search of a New Paradise and the Construction of Hell in The 100 Ceren Mert Amanda Firestone 154

IV Simulation, Psychology and Inevitability

The Apocalypse Will Not Take Place: Megamonster Films (Cloverfield, Pacific Rim, Godzilla) in the Postmodern Age Sharon Diane King 165

Psychological Significance Within Postapocalyptic Film: Two Unique Approaches to Adaptation Patrick L. Smith 174

"To Err Is Human": The Human Species and the Inevitable Apocalypse in The World's End Mary F. Pharr 185

V Being Human in a Techno-Universe

More Man Than Machine: The Construction of Body and Identity in Battlestar Galactica and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Leisa A. Clark 195

Techno-Apocalypse: Technology Religion and Ideology in Bryan Singer's H+ Eddie Brennan 206

Technoscience as Alien Invasion in XCOM: Enemy Within Bjarke Liboriussen 216

Running for My Life: Convergence Culture, Transmedia Storytelling and Community Building in the Smartphone Application Zombies, Run! Amanda Firestone 226

Appendix: Apocalyptic Criticism, Films, Television Series and Video Games Leisa A. Clark Mary F. Pharr Amanda Firestone 237

About the Contributors 247

Index 251