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The Allure of Apocalypse
The end of the world is too prevalent in our politics
How many times have I seen the world as I know it end on my TV?
I watched a parasitic fungus invade the bodies of humanity in The Last of Us. I saw a band of artists cope with the aftermath of a pandemic in Station Eleven. I saw theocrats take over America after an unexplained disaster in The Handmaid’s Tale. In Battlestar Galactica, robots turned against their human masters, while The Leftovers just made a bunch of people disappear without explanation.
These are just the shows that are set after a catastrophic event. If I added in the movies and TV shows in which the protagonists are trying to prevent a possible apocalypse, I’d have many more to list. The end of the world is an increasingly common subject for our entertainment, if Wikipedia’s “List of Apocalyptic Films” entry is to be believed,
The apocalypse is a tempting subject for storytellers. It clarifies characters’ choices, heightens the stakes of every decision, and amplifies the emotions that characters feel. In good hands, it can inspire a meaningful exploration of humanity and society. In the hands of a hack, it’s a cheap and easy way to make viewers care about wooden characters and a messy plot.
