Why We’re Obsessed With The Apocalypse.

Written By Buddy! Magazine
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Renee Kuo (ISB G10)

Renee loves apocalypse stories. Movies, TV shows, books, you name it - she finds them all to be entertaining, therapeutic, and surprisingly insightful.
In this article, she explores the reasons behind people's obsession with the end of the world and what that means for the COVID affected society.

I don't know about you, but I'm so tired of the phrase "these unprecedented times". I swear I've heard it in just about every single conversation about COVID-19. Not to downplay the severity of the pandemic, but you'd think that a phrase this dramatic would be used to describe the end of the world or something. You know, like the long-anticipated zombie apocalypse or the timeline apocalypse of The Umbrella Academy. Perhaps the AI takeover apocalypse or even the Earth-blows-up-and-we-all-move-to-Mars apocalypse. These are the stories that we've become increasingly interested in in the past year during COVID. For a world that's living through a version of the apocalypse right now, we sure are obsessed with the idea of the end of the world. But why are we so interested in exploring all of the possible (and less-possible) ways that humanity could end?

The zombie apocalypse from the Netflix show Kingdom.

The zombie apocalypse from the Netflix show Kingdom.

One possible explanation for our love of apocalypse tropes is that they allow us to explore all of the ridiculous what-ifs and near-impossible possibilities we could ever think of. Stories about the end of the world transport us elsewhere and let our imagination run free. Moreover, the chance to examine the dark side of humanity, the opportunity to rebuild the world and restart life, and the likelihood of multiple painful deaths all add to the appeal of apocalypse tropes. It essentially serves as a distraction from boring day-to-day life - or, more accurately, as a distraction from the current apocalypse. This is evident in the popular choose your own adventure stories where readers take on the role of the protagonist and make choices that determine the plot's outcome. The goal is to achieve a happy ending and avoid dying in the post-apocalyptic worlds that they are often set in. I've experienced being a monster-hunter battling eight-headed demons with shurikens in post-apocalyptic Okinawa just by reading iHorror: Demon Hunter. Although that was in the fourth grade, it was still extremely therapeutic. To quote YesMagazine, "these stories let us imagine being suddenly forced out of our comfort zone and into something far more heroic". In other words, its all just feeding our ego and playing into the "main character syndrome". After all, we've all wanted to be the protagonist that everyone admires. This is part of what makes apocalypse stories so addicting - we get to, for a few hours, be the hero and save a world that is so different yet so similar to our own.

“Providing a distraction, calming anxiety, and sending hopeful messages are likely part of what made the number of views for pandemic apocalypse movies skyrocket in the past few months.”

Speaking of the similarities and differences between the apocalyptic world and our own, this is another factor that plays into our love for these stories. The theory is that, since apocalypse stories give us a look at other individuals in dramatised but similar situations, they can help us to work out our worries. In the context of COVID-19 and pandemic films, University of Chicago psychology professor Coltan Scrivner explains it like this: "For the cost of a bad dream one night, you can learn what the world looks like when a pandemic hits...It’s not like you’re thinking, this is what I’ll do when [it happens], but you’re building the knowledge you can draw on later, even if it’s outside your conscious awareness”. Essentially, apocalypse stories "can help people prepare for scary situations in the same way that our imagination allows us to rehearse for dates and confrontations" (The Guardian). Pandemic apocalypse films also help us process changes that are happening in real life. For example, in a scene from 2011 pandemic film Contagion, a scientist is "horrified as he watches a woman in a restaurant cough and take a sip from her glass" (The Guardian). This new, strange, and scarily relatable fear is combatted by being viewed on the big screen because “You’ve seen it a hundred times in the movies, so it doesn’t catch you off-guard so much" (The Guardian). It's all a part of making unfamiliar things familiar and less scary. Films and books are far away enough for people to process, but still close enough to make a lasting impression and impact on viewers. It's basically a coping mechanism for us - a way for us to process our current situation. So it's no wonder that we're drawn to these stories - whether consciously or not, we all want to deal with anxiety and prepare ourselves for the uncertain future. Apocalypse stories do precisely that while providing entertainment, gruesome deaths, and good-looking characters, hence our obsession.

A scene from Contagion - weren’t we in this exact situation just a few months ago?

A scene from Contagion - weren’t we in this exact situation just a few months ago?

The way that apocalypse films or books are structured also contributes to why we love them so much. Most popular apocalypse stories are something along these lines:

  1. Someone makes a small mistake that kickstarts the process for the apocalypse.

  2. The end of the world starts spreading to different countries, causing chaos and killing people. Our main character(s) is greatly affected.

  3. The government sets extreme laws and deploys armies, terrifying people and creating a world of fear and terror. Anarchy ensues, more people die, etc.

  4. The main character works towards saving the world as the situation escalates and the worst of humanity comes out.

  5. Just as human beings are about to be wiped out forever, the main character discovers something and saves the day. Yay.

The thing about apocalypse stories is that the end never actually comes. No matter how close the zombies get to killing everyone, they don't. No matter how close the virus gets to infecting everyone, a cure is always found. So I guess we could say that apocalypse stories aren't really about the apocalypse. They're actually about hope. They're about the rebirth that comes after the apocalypse and about the resilience of humans. And, no matter how much of a pessimist you are, everyone likes a happy ending. So the apocalypse isn't really about the end of the world - it's about what comes after. This is yet another reason why we love apocalypse tropes: we use them to regain hope and faith in the world. Isn't that just the kind of motivational message you need on a Monday morning?

(Courtesy of Shuan Tayler McManus)

(Courtesy of Shuan Tayler McManus)

My family and I watched Contagion in March when COVID was hitting hardest in Asia. Speaking from personal experience, it wasn't relaxing at all, and it led to a few sleepless nights. However, it did help in terms of providing an outlet for all of the COVID-related anxiety. Seriously, though. Providing a distraction, calming anxiety, and sending hopeful messages are likely part of what made the number of views for pandemic apocalypse movies skyrocket in the past few months. The film Contagion has "recently become one of the most popular movies on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, and in the Warner Bros. library" (The Harvard Gazette), and the blockbuster Outbreak has "consistently made Netflix’s top 10 most-watched list in March" (The Harvard Gazette). Maybe it's a bit too much to be watching films about the end of the world caused by a super contagious virus with strangely similar characteristics to COVID-19 (someone go file a copyright complaint please), but I found it to be pretty therapeutic. So maybe our obsession with the apocalypse is a good thing; maybe it'll be what gets us all through the pandemic. Or perhaps not - I mean, if there's anything else 2020 has taught us, its that manifestation works.

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