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Mapping Contemporary Cinema , Capitalism, 9/11, and The Day After Tomorrow By Sophie Livesey keywords: disaster films, Bush administration, post-9/11 films, The Day After Tomorrow

Representations of large-scale calamity have long interested filmmakers, but the contemporary truly established itself in the 1970s when films such as Airport (Seaton 1970), The Poseidon Adventure (Neame 1972), and (Allen, Guillermin 1974) proved extremely popular (Sanders 11). Scenes of mayhem and destruction appealed less to audiences in the 1980s, but the disaster film returned in the mid-1990s on a scale never seen before. Here, the success of films such as Independence Day (Emmerich 1996), Twister (De Bont 1996), Dante’s Peak (Donaldson 1997), Volcano (Jackson 1997), Armageddon (Bay 1998), Deep Impact (Leder 1998), and Godzilla (Edwards 1998) can be attributed to their depiction of destruction using cutting-edge computer-generated imagery (CGI), leading Stephen Keane to claim that special effects are “one of the defining characteristics of the 1990s disaster cycle as a whole” (116). Dante’s Peak and Volcano. But The Day After Tomorrow’s eco-catastrophe The Day After Tomorrow (Emmerich, 2004) extends this trend and makes it undoubtedly the first film of its kind to cite humanity, although reviews were mixed, one aspect that all critics agreed on namely western humanity, as the central and sole problem for the was the outstanding quality of the film’s special effects with large- cause of apocalyptic events. The film is clear that carbon emissions scale set pieces constituting something of a “high-water mark, even have led to the melting of polar ice caps, sending the Northern in these CGI-saturated times” (Robey). While Airport and The Towering Hemisphere into a sudden . This began a trend in disaster Inferno showed passengers on a plane or occupants of a skyscraper films of the 2000s in which humanity is deemed responsible for in peril, the disasters featured in 1990s films were decidedly more catastrophe. Al Gore’s political documentary, apocalyptic, “their main rationale, it would seem, being to face up to followed in 2006 and provided a more fact-driven account of global nothing less, and little more, than the end of the world” (Keane 63). warming, while Wall-E (Stanton 2008) and The Day the Earth Stood The Day After Tomorrow follows this trend, plunging the entire Northern Still (Derrickson 2008) were released in 2008 and expressed similarly Hemisphere into an Ice Age, resulting in mass destruction and death. eco-conscious themes. The latter is a remake of the 1951 film of The disaster film is, as John Sanders notes, “able to tap into prevailing the same name, and while this earlier version identifies nuclear fears in any particular era,” and the worldwide catastrophe in The weapons as threatening the survival of the human race, in the latter Day After Tomorrow is something of a response to the global threat of environmental issues replace this threat. climate change (18). Another reason for disaster on a grand scale The Day After Tomorrow was the first major film to address is that the global focus this entails makes the film attractive to a global warming anxiety. Patrick Parenteau claims that there was lucrative international audience. This seems to have been a feature of “tremendous progress through the 60s, 70s and 80s on a host of Hollywood throughout the 1990s, with an increase in the amount of serious environmental problems” but, subsequent to the election of high-budget films relying on a global market. However, The Day After George W. Bush in 2000, this progress stagnated: “At a time when Tomorrow goes beyond this, interlocking its blockbuster aesthetic with global environmental challenges have never been more daunting, the pressing sociopolitical anxieties and issues. United States government has lost the mantle of leadership it once had on environmental issues” (405). Initially, the Bush administration Ice Age disaster got “off to a bad start by reneging on a campaign promise to address The disaster films of the 1990s cycle did not avoid depicting natural CO2 emissions” (Parenteau 365). The administration also repudiated calamities, for example the tornadoes in Twister or the volcanoes of the Kyoto Protocol, which “committed the developed nations to cut

71 Film Matters Spring 2014 ➜ Mapping Contemporary Cinema Sophie Livesey their emissions,” and that every major nation had signed, including the United States under Clinton (Lord 4). Despite the protests of the international scientific community, the Bush administration stated that the protocol was fundamentally flawed and insisted that there was still “a considerable uncertainty about the scientific causes of global warming” (Lord ix), believing that environmental friendly policies would be detrimental to the economy. The film’s depiction of catastrophic consequences due to global warming under an environmentally disinterested government, who a b ov e A building burning in John Guillermin’s film The Tower- ignore protagonist Jack Hall’s warnings, did not go unnoticed as ing Inferno a parallel to the Bush administration. Sidney Perkowitz notes that this “fictional situation is uncomfortably close to present attitudes, perish in the film both in New York – in which arrogant businessmen where, unlike other governments, the United States has for some attempt to pay off a bus driver to get to safety – and in , time rejected evidence for global warming” (208). Many journalists where a suited man attempts to protect himself from huge hailstones and commentators have furthermore noted the striking resemblance with his briefcase to no avail. A homeless man taking refuge in the of the fictional vice president, played by actor , to New York public library however is shown to be more resourceful, vice president, (Revkin, “When Freezes deploying techniques he has learnt from his desperate situation, Over”). The filmic vice president is presented as “ruthless and such as using paper as insulation in order to survive the cold. This aggressive,” standing against climatologist Jack Hall’s proposals, predates similar treatment of bankers and capitalist professionals in whilst the president is “shown to be rather impotent in the face of films made subsequent to the financial crises of several years later, in the catastrophe, relying on others to make decisions” and is killed which affluence is often identified as morally problematic. The Day off in a storm-induced plane crash (Sanders 75). This is certainly a After Tomorrow, borrowing from the 1970s disaster film convention of departure from the characterization of a strong, competent president punishing the guilty through acts of God, implies it takes a dim view in the Clinton-era 1990s disaster films Independence Day, Armageddon, of these corporate victims. Furthermore, the film turns global politics and Deep Impact, and highlights the clear reaction in The Day After on its head, as Americans illegally flee into and the Third Tomorrow to the Bush administration and its perceived mishandling of World ultimately saves western civilization from the frozen onslaught environmental issues. Read thus, the summer 2004 release of The Day in return for debt cancellation. Such situations are perhaps a reaction After Tomorrow is highly significant, with the film seemingly geared to to a government that seems to place capital accumulation above persuading voters not to appoint Bush to a second term of office in social, humanitarian, and international environmental issues. elections held in November of that year. It is important however to remember that the film’s main goal, like This strong ecological message and political impulse divided all Hollywood blockbusters, was financial. Director opinion. Many environmentalists “were split on whether to embrace and producer Gordon Smith have repeatedly “pointed out that their the movie for raising the climate issue or avoid it because of its primary goal was to create a ‘popcorn movie’ that would draw a distortions,” concerned that the film “so overstates the issue that it mass audience” and that raising public consciousness about global might cause people to simply laugh off the real questions” (Revkin, warming was a secondary goal (Leiserowitz 26). The exaggerations “When Manhattan Freezes Over”). Although few climate experts of climate change can be viewed, then, as first and foremost a desire felt that the film’s events, especially their extremely compressed to fit the formula, known to draw in large box office time frame, was likely, many felt it was a good opportunity to sales (Heumann and Murray 5). Monetary motivations become more raise awareness. Al Gore announced that he would give speeches transparent when considering that the film’s $125 million budget coinciding with the film’s release, stating that although fictional, the came from Twentieth Century Fox, a division of News Corporation, film publicizes a long ignored but extremely important issue (Bowles). a “conservative media empire” (Revkin, “When Manhattan Freezes In addition, Andrew Revkin reports that environmental volunteers Over”). Although contradictory, considering the liberal message handed out environmental leaflets at theaters on opening weekends, of the film and the conservative, capitalist aims of the company, and furthermore that the prospect that audiences would be “alarmed “the movie’s potential to make lots of money has trumped any enough to blame the Bush administration for inattention to climate major concerns News Corporation executives may have about its change” caused the government to demand that NASA ignore politics” (Revkin, “When Manhattan Freezes Over”). In the global questions raised by news media regarding the film and its depiction marketplace for big-budget action movies, the environmental message of climate change (Revkin, “NASA Curbs Comments”). The impact benefits the film’s financial gain internationally, potentially drawing of The Day After Tomorrow in this area has been studied in a report by greater audiences through its engagement with current events. As Anthony Leiserowitz (2004), using data collected from surveys with Revkin notes, the film was released at a time when global anger at those who had and had not seen the film. Leiserowitz categorically the Bush environmental policy “has rarely been as intense,” and “has states “individuals who saw The Day After Tomorrow were more likely been prepared with dubbing or subtitles in 70 languages” in order to to distrust the Bush administration” (31). As such, it appears that – capitalize on these feelings (“When Manhattan Freezes Over”). although exaggerated in the tradition of the disaster movie and in service of special effects – the subject matter of the film resonated Enduring disaster with contemporary political concerns, and even influenced viewers’ Throughout the 1990s disaster cycle, New York had been the views on this important issue. “apocalyptic city par excellence” (Shone). It seems this interest lies “in the fact that the diverse, active city contains recognizable symbols Disaster capitalism of US strength and power – including Wall Street, the Empire State In addition to representations of ineffectual government, The Day After Building and, until 2001, the Twin Towers” (Damico 180). The 9/11 Tomorrow also features scenes undermining the efficacy of corporate attacks seemed “to replicate the filmic destruction of New York” lifestyles and contemporary capitalism. Businessmen are shown to and many people had compared watching them fall to scenes from

72 Film Matters Spring 2014 Mapping Contemporary Cinema Climate Change, Capitalism, 9/11, and The Day After Tomorrow

appropriately the first to return post-9/11 with The Day After Tomorrow. Accordingly, Revkin notes that within the production there was “some nervousness about creating the first big-budget movie to devastate New York since the attacks” (“When Manhattan Freezes Over”). Keane describes critical reaction to this decision as mixed, some reviewers feeling that not enough time had passed since 9/11, others disagreeing, suggesting that, “handled in the right way, disaster need not necessarily mean an end to disaster movies” (96). Jeffrey Nachmanoff, one of the producers, stated that the film depicts New Yorkers as “enduring and indomitable” and it seemed important after 9/11 for Americans to be depicted showing unity in the face of crisis (quoted in Revkin, “When Manhattan Freezes Over”). This is evident throughout The Day After Tomorrow as the protagonists unite in order to survive. Sam attempts to a b ov e Kenneth Walsh playing the role of Vice President Becker go in search of medicine for Emmy’s infected leg alone but is joined in the film and seemingly resem- by friends who are concerned about his safety. Similarly, Jack prepares bling Vice President Dick Cheney to rescue his son on his own but his colleagues insist on joining him, one of them sacrificing himself in the process. Finally, a child cancer disaster movies (Damico 180). Film critic David Thomson agrees, stating that the “ghastly imagery of September 11 was stuff we had already made for ourselves as entertainment first” (quoted in Dixon 9–10). Filmmaker Robert Altman even blamed Hollywood, stating that “the movies set the pattern, and these people have copied the movies. Nobody would have thought to commit an atrocity like that unless they’d seen it in a movie” (quoted in Aslan xi). These sentiments presented problems for filmmakers who had previously been able to wreak havoc on New York without being troubled by calls of tastelessness. a b ov e Jack Hall () stands in After the attacks, filmmakers abandoned destroying New York front of an international summit presenting for some years. Veteran disaster director Emmerich had destroyed climate change findings and predictions the city in two previous films (Independence Day and Godzilla) and was

a b ov e Businessmen looking out the front of the New York bus, trapped, as the initial tidal wave rushes to cover them

a b ov e North Americans fleeing from the freezing weather into Mexico

a b ov e Dick Cheney, Vice a b ov e Jack Hall (Quaid) joined by his President of the United States, friends to face the deadly storm and attempt circa 2004 to save his son, Sam ()

73 Film Matters Spring 2014 ➜ Mapping Contemporary Cinema Sophie Livesey

Despite the parallels with the devastation visited on New York in 2001, Keane claims that The Day After Tomorrow worked in “simultaneously reflecting and distancing itself from the events and psychological after-effects of 9/11” (95). The film suggests 9/11 imagery during the tidal wave sequence, the wave evoking the accelerating cloud of smoke that moved through New York after the Twin Towers collapsed. In The Day After Tomorrow, pedestrians frantically run for safety into buildings including the public library to escape the approaching wave. Ultimately however, The Day After a b ov e Jack Hall (Quaid) and friends pressing through the storm Tomorrow makes efforts to distance itself from 9/11. Spectacular explosions, usually of American landmarks, were a common feature in disaster films before 9/11, but are here absent. Emmerich believed that after 9/11, a movie such as his last, Independence Day, with its multiple gratuitous explosions, was impossible: “blowing up buildings is an image you don’t want to see anymore” (quoted in Seiler). Keane notes that the scenes of destruction in New York were approached “with an appropriate degree of seriousness and sensitivity,” a seriousness notable by its absence in pre-9/11 disaster movies (96). Armageddon, for instance, shows the Twin Towers “shot to pieces” in a a b ov e Tidal wave enveloping New York, reminiscent of the wave of smoke and scene cut from the DVD after 2001 (Keane 92). debris when the towers fell on 9/11 In The Day After Tomorrow, whilst New York remains generally intact, it is that is subject to large-scale destruction, the and Capital Records headquarters are torn apart by tornadoes, for example. By opting to demolish Los Angeles’s famous landmarks instead of New York’s, the film still follows the disaster movie’s genre conventions and satisfies the appetite for fictional destruction but does so without using a New York setting. Keane notes that the contrast in the treatment of the two cities is “a particular indication of post-9/11 sensitivities” and states that the most noticeable aspect of the film is that “New York ultimately a b ov e Mass destruction to Los Angeles as tornadoes ravage the city and destroy the survives”: the city’s famous landmarks remain standing and most well-known Hollywood sign notably, the Statue of Liberty, so often destroyed in disaster movies, “stands as a beacon of hope” (Keane 96). This sense of hope is particularly palpable in the final New York scenes, with many survivors grouping together on building tops signaling for rescue. This optimism is surprising given the colossal scale of the irreversible catastrophe depicted by The Day After Tomorrow, but can be seen as symptomatic of a post-9/11 climate of resilience. The Day After Tomorrow was the seventh highest grossing domestic film of 2004 in a list dominated by family-oriented animation and a b ov e After the storm system has finally passed, Jack Hall and friend see “escapist cinema as characterized by comic book movies and fantasy the Statue of Liberty still standing, a film series” (Keane 95). The popularity of these genres after 9/11 survivor of the storm seems obvious given the need for lighthearted escapism distant from the tragedy of 9/11. The Day After Tomorrow was the first film patient, thought to be abandoned by all but one of the protagonists, is to evoke 9/11 and Keane believes that the film’s earnings can be rescued by an ambulance towards the end of the film. “partly ascribed to the post-9/11 imagination of disaster” (95). The This heroism takes on renewed meaning in post-9/11 cinema, Day After Tomorrow tested the waters and later into the decade, the mirroring the efforts of the many who sacrificed their lives to save disaster movie genre flourished, with I Am Legend (2007) and Cloverfield others. The arrival of the ambulance crew in particular reflects (2008) drawing even closer parallels with 9/11. Moreover, The Day increased respect for the rescue services following the attacks. Heroism After Tomorrow is indicative of the complex and often contradictory seemed to be a popular trend in Hollywood after 9/11 with an mechanisms of Hollywood cinema in its path towards a high increase in the popularity of superhero and action-hero films (Damino profit. The film enters controversial political territory associated 181). Therefore, it is no surprise that The Day After Tomorrow depicts with left-liberals and Green activists, criticizing the actions of the acts of heroism on multiple levels in order to appeal to a post-9/11 Bush administration and calling for action on climate change. audience. Robin Murray and Joseph Heumann note that the Hall Simultaneously, however, it presents a united America, able to family each display acts of similar heroism, and while Jack may be overcome even the greatest of catastrophes, an aspect of national “a true eco-hero, attempting to save the world from environmental identity necessary in a disaster film hoping to gross highly in the disaster, … his most heroic act is localized and less than self-sacrificial” uncertain but highly charged post-9/11 climate. (Heumann and Murray 10). The film’s message that the everyday man / e n d / can act heroically in crisis to protect their close family is important in post-9/11 cinema, emphasizing that Americans can act courageously in the face of adversity and that the family unit can survive disaster.

74 Film Matters Spring 2014 Mapping Contemporary Cinema Climate Change, Capitalism, 9/11, and The Day After Tomorrow

Works Cited Seiler, Andy. “‘Day After’ Promises New Kind of Fireworks.” USA Today. 15 January 2004. Web. 11 Aslan, Reza. “Foreword.” Reframing 9/11: Film, March 2013. Popular Culture and the “War on Terror.” Ed. Jeff \ Birkenstein, Anna Froula, and Karen Randell. Shone, Tom. “New York as Disaster Film: The Real New York: Continuum International Publishing Thing is So Much Worse than the Movies.” The Group, 2010. xi–xiii. Print. Guardian. 31 October 2012. Web. 11 March 2013. \ \ Bowles, Scott. “The Day After Tomorrow Heats Up a

Political Debate.” USA Today. 26 May 2004. Web. ➜ 11 March 2013. Author Biography \ Sophie Livesey recently graduated from Damico, Amy. “Chapter 5: Film.” September 11 Queen Mary, University of London with in Popular Culture: A Guide. Ed. Amy Damico and a BA in Film Studies. Although her future Sara Quay. California: ABC-CLIO, 2010. 173–87. plans are not yet fixed, she has worked as photographer and camera assistant Print. on a number of short independent films \ and is currently a camera intern in New Dixon, Wheeler. Film and Television After 9/11. York. Illinois: SIU Press, 2004. Print. \ Heumann, Joseph, and Robin Murray. Ecology and Popular Film: Cinema on the Edge. New York: State University of New York Press, 2009. Print. \ Keane, Stephen. Disaster Movies: The Cinema of Catastrophe. London: Wallflower, 2006 (2nd ed.). Print. \ Leiserowitz, Anthony. “Before and After The Day ➜ After Tomorrow: A U.S. Study of Climate Change Risk Perception.” Environment 46.9 (2004). Web. 11 Mentor Biography March 2013. Dr. Nick Jones recently completed his \ PhD on the contemporary Hollywood Lord, Donald. Dubya: The Toxic Texan: George action sequence at Queen Mary, W. Bush and Environmental Degradation. Indiana: University of London. His research into virtual cinematography and spatial theory iUniverse, 2005. Print. has been published in Animation: An \ Interdisciplinary Journal (2013). He is Parenteau, Patrick. “Anything Industry Wants: currently working on a project exploring Environmental Policy Under Bush II.” Duke the representational strategies of digital Environmental Law & Policy Forum issue 14 (2004). 3D cinema. Web. 11 March 2013. \ Perkowitz, Sidney. Hollywood Science: Movies, Science, and the End of the World. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. Print. \ Department Overview Redmond, Sean. Liquid Metal: The Film Studies at Queen Mary is an exciting Film Reader. London: Wallflower, 2004. Print. and vibrant department, which offers \ students the chance to study all aspects Revkin, Andrew. “NASA Curbs Comments on Ice of film history and theory, as well as the Age Disaster Movie.” The New York Times. 25 April opportunity to learn production skills. In 2004. Web. 11 March 2013. 2009, the department ranked first in the UK for overall quality out of 83 university \ departments offering media-related ———. “When Manhattan Freezes Over.” The subjects... New York Times. 23 May 2004. Web. 11 Mar 2013. \ Robey, Tim. “It’s a New Ice Age – Cool.” The Daily Telegraph. 28 May 2004. Web. 11 March 2013. \ Sanders, John. Studying Disaster Movies. Leighton Buzzard: Auteur, 2009. Print. \

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