Media Diary Week 4 - Text That Changed My Life

A text that has changed my life is the disaster film 2012. This film is based on the controversy sparked when news spread that the Mayan calendar predicted the ending or transformation of the world would arise some time in the 21st century, although this 'doomsday' was predicted for other dates such as in 2003 - when nothing happened the date was moved to December 21st 2012. For pretty much the whole of 2011 and 2012, the end of the world was on peoples minds. Documentaries, books, articles, Facebook pages were all raving about this subject, of course a huge amount of consumers thought it to be completely ridiculous, but for the gullible minded like myself - i became obsessed with the idea.

  The film 2012 is set in different familiar locations around the world where normal families are getting on with their normal lives. Of course it wouldn't be a hollywood blockbuster without the heartbreaking story of a deadbeat dad who just wants to see his children again but that annoying new boyfriend is in the way. Although cheesy and predictable, this setting does reassure us that these are normal families and if the world ends, they expected it as much as we would. One thing i did like about this film which was a little different to your generic disaster film, was that it was playing on the problems that we genuinely do have in the world like the increase of global warming - giving us a look inside the government discussing plans to 'save humanity' it plays with the theorist in our heads.

  Throughout the film, events such as earthquakes due to crust displacement, Yellowstone exploding, volcanic eruptions and mega-tsunami's are all that more dramatic because they are events that were genuinely discussed and predicted to happen on December 21st. The film was released before the date because of course as soon as nothing happens in 2012 - it would be seen as almost comical. I'd always been interested in theories, illuminati, world disasters and was especially interested in 2012. This film literally changed my whole view of the world before 2012. I became obsessed with trying to stop global warming, i'd be making sure i unplugged everything in my house, i'd be trying to walk places instead of using vehicles and i was thinking of escape plans, asking exactly how far away i was from the river so i could take into consideration the amount of time it would take me to flee. This film literally consumed my life and i'd be having nightmares, panic attacks as well as being constantly nervous.

 Of course i feel silly now when looking back, how could i be so naive to believe something so outrageous. But that's exactly what they wanted audiences to feel with films like 2012, The Day After Tomorrow and Flood. Even though many people see these films as ridiculous and poorly acted - for audience members like me, they produce a thrill and a fear just because of the theories i already had in my head. I think films like this are great because so many people in the world don't have a clue of the threats around us and what we're doing to our planet. Yes, 'doomsday' was a hoax. But global warming is very much real and is a growing threat. Although this text didn't make me feel any better about natural disasters - it definitely changed my life in the way that it taught me to appreciate the world we have and try my hardest to conserve it.