It's Getting Hot in Here

Once upon a time Hollywood relied on scripts centred on Satan, aliens, monsters and gigantic engulfing slime as the staple catalyst for apocalypse. In the 21st century, however, the standard annihilation flick of yesteryear is lost on the new generation of film goers, brought up on a diet of violence and gore.

This desensitization of the viewer has conjured up a storm (excuse the intentional pun) of films depicting worldwide demise, as a result of ever more plausible scenarios.

Natural disaster movies have taken the stage as the definitive shock storylines aimed to entice and enthral the audience.

The increase in these high grossing ‘conceivable’ disaster movies has more than likely been born out of our nation’s monstrous appetite and obsession with reality TV; the reality in this case, being climate change.

The sheer fact that these chaos depicting films are now being conceived as reality is, in my mind, a lot more shocking than the actual events they portray, and undoubtedly the reason for their success. Because when a film fails to communicate with a person’s experience and understanding then it descends to the level – and can never be any better than – a fairytale.

With global warming finally hitting headlines and grabbing the attention of the average Joe, the film industry would be mad not to cash in on the hype.

Let’s just hope the money goes towards building an ark!

The top 5 highest grossing (in US$) disaster movies of all time.

1. Independence Day
2. War of the Worlds
3. Armageddon
4. The Day After Tomorrow
5. Deep Impact

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