Nation's Anxiety Causes Sci-Fi Movies!

If you've read many of Michael Crichton's books (he is the author of Jurassic Park) you'd see that he very much writes on sci-fi topics that resonate with current anxieties. Books like The Terminal Man, The Andromeda Strain, etc. all reflect anxieties about modern life.

Jim
 
The first statement in the article: "Tales of a nation under attack, which recur when public anxiety rises, multiply at theaters and on TV."

I don't believe this statement at all. Throw in Juassic Park, and some others 'they' left out, and show a "timeline" with national anxieties in a "hightened state", then, I might believe it.

Here's another point...
How long does it take to make and produce a major movie?
By then, our national anxieties should have lessened some!

National anxiety = Science Fiction Movies ?

Hokum....

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Definition #1 applies ...

Link: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=hokum

....
 
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so- jeweled turban wearing cult leader claims to call UFOs to las vegas from outerspace = totally possible
pop culture reflects the values and concerns of the society from which it issues = whacky far -out theory
 
ash said:
so- jeweled turban wearing cult leader claims to call UFOs to las vegas from outerspace = totally possible
pop culture reflects the values and concerns of the society from which it issues = whacky far -out theory
Click to expand...

What did you see on the 'so called prophet's' news video?

Pop culture relflecting values is not the Topic, but that's ok..

I find it humorous that an article can mislead with words that are "left out" - as in this case, movies left out. On top of that, the article goes 'off topic' ...

Strange, yet interesting and funny! :D

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This is from the same publication - but another article!! :D

"Publicity for the film quotes a grandson of H.G. Wells, who wrote the original "War of the Worlds" novel in 1898, as saying the plot's premise seems especially relevant "each time there is a fear of an invasion" that shakes our sense of security."

Whoever thinks this up needs a good check-up!

----OR - ARE we about to be INVADED!!??

:joe:

:laugh:
 
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I still don't understand what is so misleading or biased in this article- it's just a human interest, casual obervation piece. Articles like this are a dime a dozen. It's not meant to be a comprehensive history of science fiction- it's just giving examples of movies that illustrate this borderline interesting phenomena. And movies are pop culture- the article is about how movies reflect what is going on in society.
I'm sure he is not talking about alien invasion. People, as a whole, do not fear alien invasion.
 
ash said:
I still don't understand.... ...
I'm sure he is not talking about alien invasion. People, as a whole, do not fear alien invasion.
Click to expand...
I'm not getting my point across, but that's ok...

The "invasion" was meant as sarcasm...
 
I know you meant it as sarcasm- but no. I have no idea what your point is about this article being objectionable.
 
Ok..
"To me", the article is slanted and very biased.

To pick and choose Sci-Fi movies, and say it's a nations' anxiety that causes these movies to pop up, is a 'mis-truth' - therefore it's biased.

Hmm? Godzilla (1998)...

(sarcasm)
NO! We had anxiety then too!
Pres Clinton and his 'private life'!!! High anxiety for sure!
"January 5, 1998
Clinton returns a call from Lewinsky, who is worried about questions in the Jones case about the circumstances of her transfer from the White House. Clinton suggests that she could say that persons in Legislative Affairs had helped her obtain the Pentagon job. In what would be their last conversation, they also talk about what Lewinsky called "an embarrassing mushy note" that Lewinsky had sent Clinton. He says she shouldn't send notes that suggest they were intimate. The same day Lewinsky turns down the U.N. job."

So, national anxiety from Clinton and Lewinski caused Godzilla the movie!?

.. :D
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To find the same theory on a totally different article (previous post) was hilarious...

I like a good Sci-Fi movie. They need to write some! Their writers are good!
 
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This is a totally interesting topic. We can take Star Trek as a tale about cold war anxiety. It actually was Roddenberry's explicit motive to make a show about the cold war, trying to show a peaceful nation's approach (Federation=the U.S.) as opposed to an authoritarian one (Klingons=U.S.S.R. Later on it was the Borg).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/st/original/commies.shtml

Star Wars is even more interesting. The evil empire in Star Wars is the legal republic. Lucas himself made the direct connection between the Republic and the U.S.A. in the Vietnam era. In other words, the U.S.A. is the evil imperialist empire as opposed to the Vietnamese rebel alliance. Lucas did not shy away from making the connection to the present, either. Check it out:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/16/cannes.starwars/

''In terms of evil, one of the original concepts was how does a democracy turn itself into a dictatorship''

-G. Lucas
 
but that's not what the article was even saying- it's not saying that anxiety causes science fiction- it is saying that a certain manner of science fiction movie surfaces in times of strife, and they do. In times of calm, they are not as popular. In those times, other types of science fiction are popular. Besides, Godzilla was a remake of a post WWII mutant monster movie. It wasn't an original thought at that time it was released it was just a mindless summer special effects moneymaker- so it's not really a relevant example here.
 
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