Hmm, yeees, I think part of that is the different attitude towards govt and so forth. *ponders*
There's a sort of embarrassment in the commonwealth (from what I've experienced of it) at the idea of heroicising a political leader.
What I'm getting at is that yeah, US apocalypse blockbusters at least are often about putting the heroicism of Saving The World in the hands of the president as well as the everyman (perhaps suggesting the the president *is* an everyman, yeah?). And omg! the horror of destroying the White House!
Whereas in the UK there's a cultural cringe inherent in the idea of a Gordon Brown (or even Queen Liz) figure turning out to be a secret ninja, so the heroicism is at the site of the british everyman. Whose cultural trappings are so very grounded in domesticity.
Though, I think in general there are more "society breaks down in the wake of disaster" stories these days, following on from the wave of giant explosive apocalypses in the early 2000s. I think it's the changing influence of the political (and societal) issues of terrorism. First it was about the 'aliens' blowing up our landmarks, then when in reality it became pretty obvious that landmark destruction wasn't actually *that* much of a serious/pervasive/constant threat, it became more about the 'alien' that looks just like you and can wreak just as much damage in its threat to ordinary folk minding their own business (for eg zombie virus!). The breakdown to society threat from 'the enemy within' has become such a vicious, insiduous campaign of fear - not really surprising that horror/thrillers/action movies are playing on the social consciousness that's been constantly fed anxiety and paranoia that their neighbours are out to get them and destroy their way of life.
See for example children turning intensely creepy in the 'safe' and 'ordinary' environment of family homes, schools, etc; rhetoric about "we have to fight the aliens... OR EACH OTHER" (cough 'you're either with us or you're against us' cough); etc etc etc.
Erm.
Okay, now I'm going to go back to frame-by-framing the snogging too. Wheee!
no subject
There's a sort of embarrassment in the commonwealth (from what I've experienced of it) at the idea of heroicising a political leader.
What I'm getting at is that yeah, US apocalypse blockbusters at least are often about putting the heroicism of Saving The World in the hands of the president as well as the everyman (perhaps suggesting the the president *is* an everyman, yeah?). And omg! the horror of destroying the White House!
Whereas in the UK there's a cultural cringe inherent in the idea of a Gordon Brown (or even Queen Liz) figure turning out to be a secret ninja, so the heroicism is at the site of the british everyman. Whose cultural trappings are so very grounded in domesticity.
Though, I think in general there are more "society breaks down in the wake of disaster" stories these days, following on from the wave of giant explosive apocalypses in the early 2000s. I think it's the changing influence of the political (and societal) issues of terrorism. First it was about the 'aliens' blowing up our landmarks, then when in reality it became pretty obvious that landmark destruction wasn't actually *that* much of a serious/pervasive/constant threat, it became more about the 'alien' that looks just like you and can wreak just as much damage in its threat to ordinary folk minding their own business (for eg zombie virus!). The breakdown to society threat from 'the enemy within' has become such a vicious, insiduous campaign of fear - not really surprising that horror/thrillers/action movies are playing on the social consciousness that's been constantly fed anxiety and paranoia that their neighbours are out to get them and destroy their way of life.
See for example children turning intensely creepy in the 'safe' and 'ordinary' environment of family homes, schools, etc; rhetoric about "we have to fight the aliens... OR EACH OTHER" (cough 'you're either with us or you're against us' cough); etc etc etc.
Erm.
Okay, now I'm going to go back to frame-by-framing the snogging too. Wheee!