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Jack Myers is author of Hooked Up: A New Generation’s Surprising Take on Sex,
Violence and Saving the World, the International Book Award winner for youth issues and
women’s issues. Ever notice just how many movies, books, video games, TV
series and songs there are about a post-apocalyptic age? Among
those who have grown up in the last two decades, stories about the apocalypse
have been a constant presence. Some of the Gen-Z cohort, born post-1995,
view this doomsday negatively, others celebrate it, and still others talk about it like any other event in human
history. The apocalypse has dominated pop culture and to understand how
this generation views the world and their own future it’s important to
understand how formative and influential post-apocalyptic films, television,
games and books have been in the young lives of “the
Post-Apocalyptic Generation." Those born after 1990 have grown up with the end
of the world as a constant presence. Films, TV series, games and books
have warned about destroying the planet, have asked hard questions about
sexual ethics and the environment, have shown a divide between cities and rural
areas, and have brought up many issues that the next generation will be
confronting and resolving for decades ahead. Are they learning to build a
fair and just society or being guided on a self-fulfilling path that leads to
destruction? In my interviews among current and recent college graduates
who are part of the emerging Gen-Z cohort born post-1995 and the last of the
Millennials born 1990-1994, conducted for my books Hooked Up and The Future of Men, I discovered a clear and present understanding of the dangers
they face as they enter their adult years and gain responsibility for the
global crises they are inheriting. Much of their understanding and many
of their perceptions have been defined by post-apocalyptic media they’ve been
exposed to throughout their young lives. Below, I share their perspectives,
with several direct quotes from interviews and submitted responses to
questions, combined with my overview.
War, Pestilence, or
Robot Revolution: How the World Ends
“Whenever we're told about a new
post-apocalyptic movie or book, our first question is always, ‘So how does the
world end?’ We’re fascinated by each end-of-the-world scenario, and
that's probably because those scenarios are based on real problems.”
Most of these stories blame the end of the world on:
·
Disease. A deadly illness breaks out and
spreads faster than public health authorities can respond, eventually killing
most of the population. Survivors, who are either immune or just
haven't gotten sick, must now live without the society they relied on.
You can see this in stories like I Am Legend, Dawn of
the Planet of the Apes, 28 Days Later, the comic series The
Walking Dead, and the television version of that comic.
·
War. Humans either start killing each other
or are attacked by an outside enemy. Nuclear, biological or
other powerful weapons kill most of the population, leaving a handful of
suffering survivors. Recent examples of this scenario include the
re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series and its
spinoffs; The Hunger Games book and movie franchise; The
Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and its award-winning television
adaptation on Hulu; the film Mad Max: Fury Road, and the cartoon
series Adventure Time. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
and the movie based on it also seem to take place after a nuclear apocalypse,
though no one says this directly.
·
AI/Robot
Uprising. Another common
enemy of human civilization is the computer. At some point in the near
future, artificial intelligence becomes so advanced that computers replace
human minds. The machines then decide to turn on humans, whether because
they worry we will eliminate them or simply because they do not need us.
Stories like this include the Matrix trilogy, the Terminator franchise,
the comic and film Days of Future Past, and I, Robot.
Battlestar Galactica also fits into this genre. Stories
that involve genetically engineered humans killing off their predecessors, such
as the novel “Oryx and Crake” by Margaret Atwood, have a lot in common with AI
stories.
·
Environmental
Disaster. Climate change,
peak oil or some other environmental catastrophe either makes the earth
uninhabitable or denies human civilization the resources to survive.
Examples of this include the Mad Max franchise
and The Day After Tomorrow. There is often an overlap between
stories that show environmental disasters and those that have an
apocalyptic plague. World War Zand the Resident Evil game
and film franchise fit into both categories.
·
Additional
Apocalypses. Other sources
of doomsday include overpopulation, natural disaster, government
stupidity and the fulfillment of religious prophecies.
“Even without looking at these stories in
detail, we can learn a lot about the problems our society has just by
noticing the cause of the apocalypse. Stories that focus on environmental
disaster, for example, come from worries about climate change, ocean
acidification, peak oil and other crises that threaten are already harming
our planet. An environmental apocalypse is the worst way one of these
problems could end. If we don't get the ecology of the planet under
control, many of the people alive today will either die or suffer. This
is the most important challenge our generation has to face, because if we
aren't able to solve it, it will be too late.”
Though Gen-Z is not the first to deal with
war-related apocalypses, they remain a major threat. Nuclear and
biological warfare are still possible and could happen with
no warning. The current conflict between the U.S. and North Korean
governments are just the latest nuclear threat Gen-Z has dealt with in their
short lives. “Post-apocalyptic films show us what could happen if we
don't effectively control weapons of mass destruction.”
“Stories that focus on
artificial intelligence show the dangers of the IT revolution happening before
our eyes. Computer programs are already able to do many things that we used to think
only humans could do, such as writing short stories or composing music.
AI apocalypse stories show just how bad things could get if we aren't
able to remain relevant as a species. As with environmental issues, our
generation is especially likely to deal with rogue AI.”
“While the modern IT
industry might be too advanced for its own good, we could say the opposite
for public health agencies. Our generation has grown up learning
about the opioid epidemic in the United States, the ebola outbreak in
West Africa, the global HIV/AIDS crisis and many other health crises that authorities didn't deal
with quickly enough. Disease apocalypse stories ask what would happen if
an even more dangerous disease were to spread.”
Having grown up with these threats, the Gen-Z
cohort is worried about them all. Post-apocalyptic games, shows and
books keep reminding them that these problems aren't going away. “While
reading and watching such stories might make us feel helpless, they could also
encourage us to deal with these problems,” writes one recent grad. “If we
want civilization to survive, we will have to make civilization more
sustainable. Does post-apocalyptic fiction push us to solve the same
problems that we love watching and reading about?” Post-apocalyptic
stories also teach them about different aspects of society, including some that
are not necessarily good.
Our Bodies, Ourselves?
End-of-the-World Sexual Ethics
“Given that they begin with most humans dying,
many post-apocalyptic stories evolve around reproductive rights. Having
grown up in the middle of a culture war, we know just how controversial
abortion and birth control can be, even in a world where there are plenty of
humans. If our species were reduced to a few thousand people, and the
survivors could die off simply by not having enough children, how much control
do you think women would have over our bodies? These stories make us ask
hard questions about what we might do if most of our species were dead.”
One of the most famous
examples of this is in Margaret
Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, a novel that has gained even more public awareness and acclaim
from the recent highly acclaimed Hulu original series with Elisabeth Moss.
Due to radiation exposure, large numbers of women are infertile, and
those who can still get pregnant become sex slaves. While this is an
extreme idea, in the current political climate it is eerily realistic and shows
how important it is to protect women’s ownership of their reproductive rights.
“The less power women have over their bodies, the fewer freedoms we will
have in any part of our lives.”
The issue of reproductive
freedom also comes up in Battlestar
Galactica, where most of humanity has been murdered in an
attack by artificially intelligent machines. The president of the
surviving government then decides to ban abortion. While she is
influenced in part by a religious movement, her ban is also based on a
report by her science advisor showing that the survivors are not having enough
children. In other words, there is a conflict between women’s
reproductive freedom and humanity’s right to exist as a species.
Post-apocalyptic
stories love to raise the stakes, so it’s no surprise that some go far beyond
the question of banning abortion. Sexual assault after the apocalypse is
also a common topic, and sexual predators often use the excuse that their
crimes are necessary to keep humanity alive. The film 28 Days
Later provides one of the clearest examples of this, showing a group
of male soldiers who survive a zombie apocalypse and offer to protect refugees.
But the refugees don't know that the soldiers plan to rape them and get
them pregnant, believing that this is necessary to preserve humanity.
28 Days Later condemns these soldiers' actions, and rightfully so.
Nonetheless, the film does raise the question of how fragile protections
against sexual violence are. “Our generation has grown up in a society
where sexual assault is often condemned but rarely punished. Many of us have either been assaulted or have a loved
one who was, and understand just how hard it is to get justice. If even
this flimsy structure were to break down, how much protection would we have
against sexual assault, especially if perpetrators had the convenient
excuse that they were protecting humanity? By showing this possibility, 28
Days Laterreminds us that we have find a more effective way to stop sexual
violence.”
“Stopping sexual
violence is not easy, and part of the reason is that many people define ‘rape’ too narrowly to prevent it. We see this problem in
both the comic and movie versions of The Walking Dead. Negan,
a character who creates an empire after the zombie apocalypse, tells his
followers that they aren't allowed to rape anyone. At the same time,
hekeeps a harem of women in his capitol, who have to have sex
with him whenever he wants. His definition of rape appears to mean only
sexual violence that involves the direct use of physical force.
Blackmailing or threatening someone to have sex with him apparently
doesn’t count, even though it isn't any better.”
In each of these examples, post-apocalyptic
storytelling allows us to see the contradictions in how our society thinks
about sex. “We say we believe in freedom, yet we routinely limit women’s
rights to control their bodies. We condemn sexual assault in theory, but
let countless rapists off the hook because they ‘didn't rape anyone.’
These stories raise the stakes, motivating our generation to solve these
problems by showing just how bad they could get if we don’t.”
The Countryside
Triumphant: Exploring the Rural-Urban Divide
Movies about the apocalypse almost always talk
about the difference between city and country living. In general, rural
areas do much better during the end of the world, and people who live
there survive in large numbers. If city folk survive at all, it's only
because they run away to the country. “No matter how the apocalypse
happens, we know not to be in a city.”
“The idea that the
country is better is surprising given that in the real world, rural areas are
in bad shape. In the United States, for example, rural communities are suffering while even many of the poorest and most
dangerous cities are experiencing
a revival. People who
live in the country are more likely to be addicted to opioids, make less
money and have trouble using the Internet and other important resources. The
same thing is true in other countries. China and India, for example, have been doing better economically in recent
years, but it's only really getting better in cities. The last place any of us
should want to live is the rural parts of the country.”
If you enjoy the
television version of The Walking Dead, and especially the
character Daryl Dixon, you understand the triumph of the countryside. Daryl
grew up in rural Georgia, where he and his family were completely broke.
Because he lived here, he had to learn how to track, hunt and use a
crossbow. When the apocalypse breaks out, these skills make him a
powerful and respected member of the group he joins. Former lawyers,
veterinarians, landowners and others who would never have given him the
time of day before the apocalypse now have to take orders from him. If
there is one lesson that our generation should learn from this, it is empathy
and human understanding.”
All Equal in the End?
Racial, Ethnic and Class Prejudice in the Apocalypse
“Besides the
difference between cities and the countryside, our generation grew up with lots
of other inequalities, especially based on race and class. Some of the earliest post-apocalyptic books and movies talked about racism and
classism. For example, Night of the Living Dead,a 1968 film
that many consider to be the first zombie movie, shows a black man taking
charge in the middle of the apocalypse. The white people who are with him
often don't want to follow his (generally good) instructions. Even
when dealing with a deadly crisis, racism makes it hard for good leaders to do
their jobs.”
Movies and TV series
of today still incorporate race and class narratives. In one of the first
episodes of The Walking Dead, the main character, Rick Grimes, has
to fight with a member of his group who is a white supremacist and is
threatening characters of color. Rick defeats him and says that there are
no races anymore, “only dark meat and light meat.” Similarly, in Battlestar
Galactica a doctor provides low-quality medical care to survivors who
are a certain race, leaving many of them to die. The film Land of
the Dead is about a very unequal society of survivors who live in
heavily-fortified Pittsburgh. The rich live in the same way that they did
before the apocalypse, while the poor have to live in slums. In Mad
Max: Fury Road, the rich are those who control water and gasoline, the two
most scarce resources after a nuclear war.
“While
post-apocalyptic stories do claim that racism and classism will still be
problems after the apocalypse, they give us hope that these issues will improve
over time. Though humanity struggles with bias, we do condemn it more
consistently and our generation has the least ethnic, race, religious and
sexual bias of any in history. In The Walking Dead, for
example, almost every group that the main characters meet is racially
integrated, with black and Latino characters often holding
important positions. In Land of the Dead, inequality
proves unsustainable and the poor end up taking over the city. Similarly,
the prejudiced doctor in Battlestar Galactica is quickly
stopped and punished for his crime.”
Probably the most
hopeful post-apocalyptic story in terms of overcoming racism and
classism is the Matrix trilogy. Not only do these
films portray people of all races living and working together in the war for
survival, but we do not see any significant inequalities in power.
Most of the military and political leaders we see in the films are people
of color, both female and male, and they have the full respect of their
followers. We also don't see any class inequality in the Matrix films.
All survivors seem to have a similar standard of living, each suffering
just as much from the apocalypse.
“These stories teach us to have a cautious
optimism about racial and economic progress. While inequality still
exists, and probably still will for the foreseeable future, we have the ability
to overcome our prejudices, at least enough to work together. This should
inspire us to start working on a more equal society today, rather than
waiting for the apocalypse to force us into it.”
Conclusion: The
Fragility of Modern Society
“Of all the lessons we can learn from
post-apocalyptic fiction, the most important is that a crisis could destroy or
radically change our civilization. Both the good parts of our society, such as
(incomplete) protection against sexual violence, and the bad parts, such as
racial, class and regional disparities, could be eliminated. We know
to not take anything for granted and that we need to be overly protective of
our rights and privileges, including protection of our planet.”
“What we don't know is how we will evolve as a
generation and if our exposure to apocalyptic films and TV have strengthened
our resolve to be positive, moral and ethical stewards of society or if we will
lose hope and follow the path of generations that have proceeded us and who
have been defined by economic greed, political opportunism, adversarial social
bias and environmental waste.”
