Post-9/11 Culture

After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, which lead to the “War on Terror” and increased instability in the Middle East, western society became more paranoid about terrorism and, in some cases, more xenophobic of Muslins. This attitude worsened after the 7/7 in 2005.

The fear of terrorism can be in Post-9/11 media, especially in mainstream American news channel who appeal to people’s fear to garner support. This is more noticeable when compared to British news programmes:

However, most western news outlets often overexpose certain shocking events such as mass shootings or a manhunt to the point of making it seem like a movie:

On non-news platforms, terrorism is a major theme for many modern works ranging from TV shows like Homeland to video games like Call of Duty. The plot of Homeland is a CIA officer investigating a US soldier who may have deflective to al-Qaeda, the touches on the topic of terrorists hiding among the populist.

In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which is the first in the series to be set in a “modern conflict” though specific details are left purposefully vague. Halfway through the game, the player, in the role of an America Soldier, witnesses a nuclear detonation and is caught in the blast radius. The player doesn't immediately die but is instead give time to see the destruction caused by the blast before dying.

Destruction Obsession

There is a current trend among big budget movies that there has to be scenes of destruction. Much of these destruction scenes often take place in cities or other urban environments, the reasons for the destruction depend on the genre of movie; in a disaster movie, it’s caused by an act of nature such as earthquake or tornado. In a superhero, it’s usually the result of a fight between the hero and the villain. For whatever reason, the results are similar: destruction that frequently includes explosions, property damage, wrecked cars and in some cases civilian casualties. All of which would add up to a high financial cost and an immeasurable human cost.

Why is it then that these destruction scenes are used as a form entertainment? Most people are aware of how bad this kind of destruction would be in real life. The main reason may be whenever we witness such destruction, or any sort of danger, our body’s natural instinct is to release adrenaline into our system as part of an evolutionally survival tactic. Perhaps it’s this rush that makes scenes of destruction and danger entertaining for people.

However, scenes of destruction, especially in cities, can often invoke 9/11 imagery which can create cognitive dissonance (having thoughts or beliefs that oppose each other) in the audience who would adrenaline rush from the destruction but are also reminded of the horrors of 9/11. An example of this would be in Man of Steel when the city of Metropolis is being destructed, we see buildings collapsing and creating dust clouds and we see panicked people running with the camera shaking:

This creates further cognitive dissonance when the film is about Superman is supposed to be an idealise symbol of hope but in the film, he gets into fights that cause even more destruction and possible deaths: