The Role of the White Father in Contemporary Post-Apocalyptic Cinema
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--English English 2016 FATHER OF ALL DESTRUCTION: THE ROLE OF THE WHITE FATHER IN CONTEMPORARY POST-APOCALYPTIC CINEMA Felicia Cosey University of Kentucky, [email protected] Digital Object Identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2016.008 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Cosey, Felicia, "FATHER OF ALL DESTRUCTION: THE ROLE OF THE WHITE FATHER IN CONTEMPORARY POST-APOCALYPTIC CINEMA" (2016). Theses and Dissertations--English. 27. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/27 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the English at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--English by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. 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Blum, Major Professor Dr. Andrew Doolen, Director of Graduate Studies FATHER OF ALL DESTRUCTION: THE ROLE OF THE WHITE FATHER IN CONTEMPORARY POST-APOCALYPTIC CINEMA _______________________________________________ DISSERTATION _______________________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Felicia Cosey Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Virginia L. Blum, Professor of English Lexington, Kentucky Copyright © Felicia Cosey 2016 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION FATHER OF ALL DESTRUCTION: THE ROLE OF THE WHITE FATHER IN CONTEMPORARY POST-APOCALYPTIC CINEMA Since September 11, 2001 a substantial number of English-language, post- apocalyptic films have been released. This renewed interest in the genre has prompted scholars to examine the circumstances within western society that make post-apocalyptic films appealing to audiences. The popularity of these films derives from a narrative structure that reinforces conservative notions of good and bad and moral absolutism. The post-9/11, post-apocalyptic film typically features a white male hero who, in one way or another, reestablishes the pre-apocalyptic social order through proclamations of mandatory and prohibitive laws that must be adhered to by the survivors. The hero of post-apocalyptic film does not present any alternative to the pre-apocalyptic, white masculinist society, but instead appears motivated, if not ordained by narrative, to enforce the pre-apocalyptic rules and mores in a way that disregards the events and circumstances of the apocalypse itself. This dissertation uses psychoanalytic theory, starting with Sigmund Freud and continuing to theorists such as Slavoj Zizek, to investigate the motivations for survivors in post-apocalyptic films to form communities that return to early patriarchy, where prohibitive laws reinforce patriarchal authority through the mandates of the white male father figure. KEYWORDS: Post-Apocalypse, Post-Apocalyptic, End of the World, Destruction, Cinema, Gender, Gender Studies, Race, Critical Race Theory, Psychoanalysis, Lacan, Freud, Zizek, Marxism Felicia Cosey Student’s Signature January 15, 2016 Date FATHER OF ALL DESTRUCTION: THE ROLE OF THE WHITE FATHER IN CONTEMPORARY POST-APOCALYPTIC CINEMA By Felicia Cosey Virginia L. Blum, Director of Dissertation Andrew Doolen, Director of Graduate Studies January 15, 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I deeply appreciate the many people who supported my work and encouraged me while I wrote my dissertation. It is without reservation that I gratefully acknowledge and thank Dr. Virginia Blum, my committee chairwoman, who offered me unwavering support, guidance, insight, and kindness when I lost confidence in myself. Special thanks to my committee member Dr. Pearl James for giving me such great feedback in my drafts. To Dr. Jeffory Clymer, thank you for sitting on my committee and recommending beneficial critical race theory readings. Dr. Francie Chassen-Lopez, thank you for introducing me to the world of Latin-American cinema and offering your time, energy, and expertise as my outside committee member. Dr. Paul Kingsbury, thank you for agreeing to sit on my committee on such short notice and for your perspective in psychoanalysis, which proved invaluable near the end of my dissertation. I would like to acknowledge faculty members from my Master’s program who were particularly instrumental in me advancing my studies. Thank you, Dr. Dickie Heaberlin, for encouraging me to pursue my doctoral degree. Dr. Todd McGowan sparked my interest in critical theory and still has a lasting influence on my writing sixteen years later. Thanks, Todd, for helping me get into graduate school and for your continued support. My gratitude extends to my family and best friend. They were my loyal advocates and their love made it possible for me to complete this long journey. Thanks to Phil Foster (my big brother) for digging me out of the many rabbit holes I found myself lost in. Frankie Baker and Viola Thornton formed a protective cocoon around me during my most trying times. Thank you for your prayers Auntie Vi and Auntie Frankie. iii Finally, thank you to my mom, Lydia Cosey, for encouraging my curiosity and creativity as a child and for keeping me focused during my studies and, most importantly, for being my biggest supporter. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments..............................................................................................................iii List of Tables.....................................................................................................................vii List of Figures...................................................................................................................viii Chapter One: Post-apocalyptic Cinema and the Victim Hero……….………………........1 1 Postapocalypse—The Beginning of the End……………………………...6 2 Apocalyptic Versus Post-Apocalyptic Films……………………....…......9 3 Annihilation Sells…………………………………………………….......16 4 Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy……………………………………...………...19 5 Oedipal Complex in Relation to the Postapocalypse………….……...….25 6 Recuperating Lost Masculinity…………………………………………..27 7 The Shackles of Ideology……………………………….………………..37 8 The Perils of Masculinity………………….……………………………..42 9 Mimcking Nigga………………………………………………….……...47 10 Enjoying the Anal Father’s Enjoyment……………………………….…54 Chapter Two: Why Can’t the Father Die?.........................................................................65 1 Returning to the Past…………………………….………………….……66 2 Womb Envy Leads to Misogyny……………………….………….…….71 3 A Brief History of Cinematic Fatherhood………………………….……82 4 Father As Reluctant, Victim Hero in the Postapocalypse…………..……84 5 Patriarchy Engenders All the “ISM’s”……………………………..…….90 6 Woman’s Relationship to the Phallus………………………..…………..93 7 Women As Castrators and Failed Leaders……………………...………..97 8 Crashing Western Hegemony in a Post-Apocalyptic Narrative………..103 Chapter Three: The Four Incarnations of the Contemporary Black Male in Post- Apocalyptic Cinema.........................................................................................................116 1 Remus—Robert Neville in I Am Legend……………….………………128 2 Reverend—Briggs in The Colony…………………………..…………..141 v 3 Rapscallion—Andre in Dawn of the Dead……………………………..155 4 Ragamuffin—Cinna in The Hunger Games……………………………162 5 And the Radical?......................................................................................169 Chapter Four: What WALL-E Can Teach Us about Fantasy in the Age of the Anal Father…………...............................................................................................................176 1 The (Anal) Father Lives! Maybe............................................................181 2 Life Is Just a Fantasy………...………………………….………...……183 3 Mastery of the Lost Object………………………………………..……188 4 Traversing the Fantasy………………………………….………………195 5 Shop (Consume/Enjoy) ‘Till You Drop…………………………..……200 6 Don’t Tread on Me………………………………..…………………….207