Hollywood And Its Fascination With Armageddon

Whether you believe in it or not, Armageddon and the end of the world is a subject that always comes up. Hollywood itself brings it up so often, that it is hard to ignore it. There are some who believe the last days are to come, and there are some who don't believe. Some who think that that time is a judgement from God, and others who say it is simply a matter of the earth running its course.Whatever the belief, the end of the world is one of the most debated topics ever.

As with any topic up for debate, Hollywood has its say, however twisted it may be. The popular theme of Armageddon in Hollywood's point of view, is definite perdition, not certainly from God, but a perdition where man, by his will and strength, can overcome or escape a fate which was meant to happen.

No doubt that Hollywood has much of an influence over how people think and what they believe. Case in point, one of the most popular movies, stating that Armageddon was predicted by the Mayan calendar or the fact that it ceased to record time after the year 2012. The year 2012 is a very popular search topic on the internet today, and people seriously want to know if this date foretold by the calendar and movie, truly is the date for the end of all things as we know it. There are millions of questions littered all over the internet begging for some confirmation that the 21st of December, 2012, really is indeed D-Day for planet Earth.

If I may seem to be exaggerating, here is a list of movies, songs and video games, that all deal with the end times. There are two fairly constant themes. One is that the end is indeed coming, and the other is that man will somehow save himself.

As stated above, the theme seems to be man, and his ability to save himself. Take the movie Independence Day. Starring Will Smith as one of the heroes of mankind, it is about an alien invasion on earth and just what man did to stop it. This final battle for survival takes place on July 4th, Independence Day for The United States of America. In his speech to the people of the earth, the American President says:

"We're fighting for our right to live, to exist. And should we win the day, the Fourth of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world stood up and declared in one voice that we will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today we celebrate our Independence Day!"

No doubt, this speech's purpose was to make goosebumps appear on the skin. To make viewers' skin tingle with the magnificence of such strength and determination. The show won an Oscar for Best Effects, as well as a Saturn award for Best Director, Best Science Fiction and Best Special Effects, it even won a Grammy and The People's Choice Award. Goosebumps must have been raised.

Or What about Armageddon? That movie where the soundtrack hit number one. Didn't it win a Grammy as well? Anyway it centers around an asteroid on its way to crash into the earth. Nobody knows how to stop the thing and they decide the best way is to blow it up. Even though they know what they have to do, they don't know how to do it, so they call in some oil rig workers, among them Bruce Willis, and they go up in the space ship and blow the thing up.

Here's a line explaining why an asteroid hitting earth would be detrimental to life as we know it:

"So, when the rogue comet hit the asteroid belt, it sent shrapnel right for us. For the next 15 days, the Earth's in a shooting gallery. Even if the asteroid itself hits the water, it's still hitting land. It'll flash boil millions of galleons of sea water and slam into the ocean bedrock. Now if it's a Pacific Ocean impact, which we think it will be, it'll create a tidal wave 3 miles high, travel at a thousand miles an hour, covering California, and washing up in Denver. Japan's gone, Australia's wiped out. Half the world's population will be incinerated by the heat blast, and the rest will freeze to death from nuclear winter."

These guys, with a good bit of trouble I'll grant, and some deaths of some very important characters, manage to blow up an asteroid so big, that it could wipe out every piece of human life. Again, at the end, when the sacrifices were made and earth was saved, there was probably not a dry eye in the cinema.

Worldwide, Armageddon has grossed over five hundred and fifty- three million dollars. ($553,000,000) and Independence Day has grossed over eight hundred and seventeen million dollars (817,000,000). The Transformers movies have grossed, so far around seven hundred and nine million ($709,000,000), eight hundred and thirty- six million ($836,000,000), and six hundred and sixty-two million ($662,000,000) respectively. Combined, that totals over two billion, two hundred and seven million dollars (2,207,000,000) and rising.

Apparently, when Hollywood talks about the end of days, and how man will win in the end and become ultimately his own hero, the world listens and pays to listen. No wonder they seem to be so fascinated with the topic.

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