Facing Our Fears in Science Fiction Essay -- Science Fiction Films Bo

Facing Our Fears in Science Fiction The dead are walking. They lumber and limp, feet scraping against the asphalt. Suddenly, they lunge and schism down into soft, warm, vulnerable flesh with startling speed. Not far behind, oozing inside-out hellhounds growl around razor fangs, stalking with murderous intent. All because of an gratis(p) little airborne chemical weaponThis cant be happening, this would never happen, right? It may sound far fetched, and it is. These horrifying creatures grace the cover song of current blockbuster hit, Resident Evil 2 Apocalypse. So youre safe. For now. But why are these images on screen so terrifying to us? Why do we cringe and gasp and sigh with giddy relief when its all over? Because weve just been given a brush with death. single of our greatest common fears came to life, and we stared it straight in the face and lived to tell about it. And thats why well keep coming back. After all, that is how science fiction films produce maintained their popularity and appeal for over fifty years now they take whatever common fears our current society possesses and reflect them back at us. cubic decimetre years ago, computers were as yet unheard of, and the world was still a very large place. Society was not so much concerned with trouble oneself within itself, but with assault from outside forces. According to film critic John Brosnan in Future Tense, the end of World War II sparked the author of the Golden Age of science fiction (73). The war was over, but the Communist threat was still out there, and with the unleashing of the atomic bomb fear of a full-of-the-moon scale nuclear war bordered on paranoia. Families built bomb shelters in their backyards and schools held air raid drills for their c... ...he dead walking. We love to ask ourselves, This cant be happening This would never happen Right? Wrong. Works Cited Brosnan, John . Future Tense. New York St. Martins P, Inc., 1978. Dirks, Tim. Science Fiction films. May 1996. 02 Oct. 2004 . Glass, Fred. Sign of the Times. Film quarterly 38 (1984) 16-27. Menville, Douglas . A Historical and Critical survey of the Science Fiction Film. Diss. U of Southern California, 1959. New York Arno P Inc., 1974. Senior, W.A.. Blade Runner and Cyberpunk Visions of Humanity. Film Criticism 21 (1996) 1-12. Telotte, J.P.. The Problem of the Real and THX 1138. Film Criticism 34 (2000) 45-57. Warwick, Kevin. The Matrix - Our Future? The Philosophy of the Matrix. 20 Nov.2002 14 Oct. 2004