Dead phones, chaos in hospitals, looming nuclear meltdowns: For years, experts all over the world have been warning of a widespread power blackout―and the devastating consequences for society as a whole. However, just as before the COVID-19 pandemic, politicians and the public are hardly aware of the far-reaching risks: A blackout would catch us almost completely unprepared.
As for other (supposedly improbable) disruptive events, disaster movies and sci-fi series have long shown what would happen if modern society were to lose its lifeblood. Denis Newiak looks into those filmic fictions for answers to pressing questions:
How can we prepare ourselves for the dramatic consequences of such a crisis? And can the collapse of modernity still be stopped?
Author(s): Denis Newiak
Publisher: ibidem Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 304
City: Stuttgart
THIS TIME, WE KNOW BETTER: LEARNING FROM CINEMATIC DISASTERS
1. BLACKOUT EVERYWHERE: ON THE OMNIPRESENCE OF A FRAGILE MODERNITY
2. ELECTRICITY CRISIS SCENARIOS AND THEIR CAUSES
3. THEY GROPE IN THE DARK: POWER FAILURES AND THEIR HEROINES
4. ATTACK ON MODERNITY: BLACKOUT TERRORISM AND CRIMINALITY
5. NOW EVERYTHING WILL BE DIFFERENT: ON THE ROAD TO POST-MODERNITY
6. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE BLACKOUT: HOW CHARACTERS REACT TO THE CRISIS
7. TERROR WAITS IN THE DARK: BLACKOUTS IN THRILLER AND HORROR
8. BLACKOUT AS APOCALYPSE: LIFE IN THE DE-ELECTRIFIED WORLD
9. MODERNITY MUST GO ON: THE COMEDY OF THE BLACKOUT
THE CHECKLIST: WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE AT HOME
LITERATURE
DISCUSSED FILMS AND TV SHOWS
