Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has roused the apocalyptic fear that was foreseen in religious prophecies. This research will focus on the post-9/11 and pre-COVID-19 disaster films, in an attempt to understand the representation and pre-presentation of the collective disaster psychology. Aligned with Jungian film studies, this essay regards films as a convergence of generations’ collective unconscious. Apocalypse may as well be considered the psychic archetypes that emerge in our civilization in the name of religion. This essay aims to construe the ways that apocalyptic archetypes appear and are elaborated in contemporary films, in hope of recognizing the new apocalyptic aesthetics formed in the interval between the two disastrous events. Consistent with the meaning in classic doomsday narratives, the archetypal symbols in these films are found to have carried a dual connotation of destruction and rebirth. Through empirical cinematographic style, these archetypal images are revealed in an immersive way. Disaster films from this time place emphasis on death itself, fiercely protesting against the stagnation of life, and in turn triggering a transcendental transformation of the psyche. Unlike those in the late 1990s, viewing the doomsday crisis through the lens of spectacularity, disaster in these films is seen as a state of body and mind, and death a thought-provoking life experience.
Highlights
Since the end of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more than 152 million cases of the virus, causing over 3.2 million deaths (Dong et al 2020)
The apocalyptic fear foretold in religion and ancient prophecies has become manifest in the midst of the pandemic
Based on the Jungian theory of the archetypes, this research looks into the disaster films released up to the present from the beginning of this century, in an attempt to understand how apocalyptic archetypes were elaborated in the contemporary films, aiming to figure out whether a new apocalyptic aesthetics were formed in this post-9/11 and pre-COVID-19 period, and within and underneath the period what collective values are at work globally
Summary
Since the end of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more than 152 million cases of the virus, causing over 3.2 million deaths (Dong et al 2020). This essay looks at the disaster films released so far in this century to understand what kind of worldview is gaining popularity These films, created in the interval between the attacks of 11 September 2001, and the COVID-19 pandemic, are referred to as post-9/11 films since they are produced after that attack. Based on the Jungian theory of the archetypes, this research looks into the disaster films released up to the present from the beginning of this century, in an attempt to understand how apocalyptic archetypes were elaborated in the contemporary films, aiming to figure out whether a new apocalyptic aesthetics were formed in this post-9/11 and pre-COVID-19 period, and within and underneath the period what collective values are at work globally. Based upon arguments established through the essay, in the final section, the psychological and psychical meanings of the disaster films will be summarized in the hope to reflect on the current pandemic
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