So, watching the news makes me think weird things sometimes..
There is currently a man rambling on about how pop culture should show more about terrorists and such to reflect what is going on in today's society. That fear is running rampant and we are thinking too much about the end of the world and, therefore, are just being our end that much closer.
How nice of him.
Okay, in all seriousness, we do have a tendency to think that way now, but look around us. I mean, it's been five years since September 11th and we're [America] at war, not to even mention the whole North Korea nuclear weapons scandal.. Even when I was watching the news earlier and they were talking about that plane that crashed into a New York high-rise building—the first thing that everyone thought of was 9/11.
Today we live in fear. Yes, it is true. No one may want to admit to it, but we do. As Americans, we had not been attacked by anyone on our own soil since Pearl Harbor, save the Americans that have attacked our own. Being the world superpower that we are, we tend to live and think that nothing could possibly touch us, and then—BOOM—five years ago that all changed.
I know my first thoughts about 9/11 were pretty basic and instinctive: I had expected another American to have done it. Like the Oklahoma City Building, that sort of thing. When they first started talking about it being an outside party, a third-world country, I was outraged. At least if it was some of our own, it made more sense to me.
That's when it first struck me, I believe. I was upset; I had been taking tests all day in school and did not find out about anything until sometime past eleven o'clock. My teacher and classmates had to break the news to me, and they were trying to get me to sit down. I refused. I wanted to know now, and I did not need them to sugar coat it for me.
I do recall storming out of the room. I left, walked right out the door and into the hallway, without bothering to ask. I was just too flustered, perplexed, and just generally goddamn confused. As I walked up the hallway, I remember hearing an airplane. I have never been so afraid of that noise in my entire life. Every time that day I heard that familiar noise that I was so sure was a plane, I think I ducked and looked around. I had never been afraid to just walk around like I was then.
Recalling something I said later that day, I know my grandfather probably thought the same thing when Pearl Harbor occurred, as he was about the same age as I then. "I never thought this would happen in my lifetime." That, I realize now, was me just being generally ignorant. There is no place in the world that is completely safe, though I surely thought so since I was a teenager born and raised in America.
Another thing that scared me like nothing else before it was about a month later. Planes were flying again and it was perfectly fine. Well, as fine as everything could be after something like that. I live about five miles away from one of the largest power plants in this area. Sure, I had thought about it after 9/11; like what would happen if they started targeting smaller places like that.
Anyway, a little plane, a tiny crop duster, was flying really, really low and went over the house. I was outside in the yard when I saw it flying in the general direction of the power plant. I literally dropped to my knees and covered my head. My heart skipped more than one beat, I'm sure, because I was so scared. It absolutely terrified me.
Of course, it flew off and turned away, but it was just the mere thought that scared me to death.
Now, I'm not much one for America or the war in Iraq or anything of that sort, so I'll just stay out of that one. I'm not about to start rambling on and on about what I think is right or wrong, because I can do that anytime. Currently, I'm just going over my past thoughts of 9/11 since that little plane hitting that building today made me think about it again as well.
Why did I start on about this after mentioning apocalyptic scenarios? Well, if you haven't figured it out completely, then allow me to spell it out for you: With all the things that have happened in the course of five years, pop culture has become accustomed to the thoughts and fears of our ends.
That is, since we have dealt with so much, not just here in America but everywhere in the world, our fears are seeping into the movies and stories and everything else because they reflect what goes on in the real world.
People write out their nightmares and worst fears because it helps us all. Somehow, having it out were others can read it and see if they would know what to do or have even the faintest idea of what to do, keeps us sane and thinking about the future in the most positive way we can in times like this—planning ahead through media.
Who knows, maybe the wild and crazy ideas in the movies of how to save us from asteroids will actually make someone think and create an efficient way of doing so. If you think about it that way, maybe when pop culture acts out like this with all the "end of days" scenarios, we'll figure out a way to save ourselves when that time comes.