Essay from the year 2010 in the subject Sociology - Media, Art, Music, grade: A, University of Derby, course: BA in Sociology and Film and Television Studies, language: English, abstract: The definition of apocalypse described by Burgess and Nur (2008) is “The battle at the end of the world, as described in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Sometimes also used to describe any religiously charged major societal upheaval” (Burgess and Nur, 2008). This essay will investigate this definition and see if it fits contemporary beliefs. Ideas of the apocalypse have fascinated the public throughout history. Every society has different ideas or predictions about a global cataclysm that will end the world. The end was once interpreted as a supernatural event in which the Earth would be purified by a Deity or divine God. Scientific beliefs about a natural cataclysmic event that will end the world compete with religious theories. During the investigation of Roland Emmerich’s film of 2009, 2012, Solar flares, pole shifts, Earth crust displacement, the Rapture, the Mayan Calendar, the Hopis all give detailed accounts of how the Earth will be destroyed. 2012 shows the conflicting ideas of contemporary society; and this essay will show the various theories and how they act as a guide for surviving the end of the world. The theme of conspiracy theory is also extremely evident throughout society today and these theories are exposed in 2012.

Unravelling the genealogies and permutations of conspiracist worldviews, this work shows how this web of urban legends has spread among sub-cultures on the Internet and through mass media, and how this phenomenon relates to larger changes in American culture.

It is well known that some Americans are obsessed with conspiracies. Films, best-selling books, and television shows talk about plots by the Illuminati or sightings of black helicopters. But American society has changed dramatically since A Culture of Conspiracy was first published in 2001. In this revised and expanded edition, leading expert Michael Barkun delves deeper into America's conspiracy subculture, exploring the rise of 9/11 conspiracy theories, the "birther" controversy surrounding Barack Obama's American citizenship, and how the conspiracy landscape has changed with the rise of the Internet and other new media. Unraveling the extraordinary genealogies and permutations of these increasingly widespread conspiracies, Barkun shows how the web of urban legends has spread among subcultures on the Internet and through mass media, how a new style of conspiracy thinking has recently arisen, and how this phenomenon relates to larger changes in American culture. By looking closely at the manifestations of these ideas in a wide range of literature and source material, Barkun finds that America is in the throes of an unrivaled period of millenarian activity and underscores the importance of understanding why this phenomenon is permeating segments of mainstream American culture. Book jacket.

The Handbook of Conspiracy Theories and Contemporary Religion is the first collection to offer a comprehensive overview of conspiracy theories and their relationship with religion(s), taking a global and interdisciplinary perspective.

Visions of the Apocalypse examines the cinema's fascination with the prospect of nuclear and/or natural annihilation, as seen in such films as Saving Private Ryan, Bowling for Columbine, We Were Soldiers, Invasion U.S.A., The Last War, Tidal Wave, The Bed Sitting Room, The Last Days of Man on Earth and numerous others. It also considers the ways in which contemporary cinema has become increasingly hyper-conglomerised, leading to films with ever-higher budgets and fewer creative risks. Along the way, the author discusses such topics as the death of film itself, to be replaced by digital video; the political and social tensions that have made these visions of infinite destruction so appealing to the public; and the new wave of Hollywood war films, coupled with escapist comedies, in the post-9/11 era. Encompassing both questions of physical and filmic mortality Visions of the Apocalypse is a meditation on the questions of time, memory and the cinema's seemingly unending appetite for spectacles of destruction.

Vivid images of the apocalypse proliferate throughout contemporary cinema, which pictures the death of civilization in wildly different ways. Some films imagine a future where humanity is wiped out entirely, while others envision humans as an endangered species, enslaved by alien invaders or hunted by zombie hordes. This book provides a lively overview of apocalypse cinema, including alien invasions, nuclear annihilation, asteroid collisions, climate change, and terrifying plagues. Covering pivotal films from the silent era to the present day, including Metropolis, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dr. Strangelove, Contagion, and Avengers: Endgame, Stephen Prince explores how these dark visions are rooted in religious and prophetic traditions, and he considers how our love for apocalypse cinema is tied to fundamental existential questions and anxieties that never go out of fashion.