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ACF Critic Series #22: War of the Worlds
Paul Cantor and I give you a long discussion on War of the Worlds. We start with H.G. Wells, his imaginations of great power, which were impressively prescient, and his fascination with scientific tyranny. We then move on to Orson Welles, the radio broadcast, and the myth of the great panic. Lastly, we discuss the movies from the ’50s to now: the George Pall and Steven Spielberg versions, the flying saucers variation, culminating with the great Mars Attacks! by Tim Burton.
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Published in Podcasts
Afternoon Titus,
Another wonderful conversation. The discussion about the media’s and elite’s mistaken belief concerning how readily a populous will/would panic, was super. I wonder is this is a type of projection, or just another evidence seeking behavior where the elite view themselves as not easily fooled, cool cats and by imagining panic in others build themselves up. Concerning the enhanced stories of panic after the radio version of the Martian invasion, I think the media has made an idol of sensational occurrences, the media seems to be like a gossip whose popularity is a function of the juiciness the news. In this one could think that the media is the enemy of the people, in that the media thrives on spreading panic stories, one after the other and on and on. If one compared the media in the West to the media in the USSR, would it be roughly fair the say that in the West that the media is always hyping disaster, friction, flaws, and in closed societies the media is doing the opposite? One might then compare the effectiveness of negative propaganda vs positive propaganda.
Now & then I read a bit of history. Once, I read about the social diary project in Britain in May ’40. Normal people seemed kinda ok, rather determined, reconciled to the fact that there would be are, it would be ugly, & it would have to be won. Elites, so far as I’ve seen diaries, were not confident in the people or the future.
Propaganda depends on controlling sources of information in a way not possible in a democracy. But it is the case that the press justified its importance & privilege by essentially telling people they would be unable to fend for themselves–that they needed someone to tell them the truth, protect them from bad guys, &c. That the news was essential to survival in America. This was a lie; is now, too, but it’s hardly believed anymore.
A phrase that has become common now, but that still jars every time I hear it is people saying the government has to “protect us” and “keep us safe”. Even among conservatives, it’s become the norm to hear that since 9/11.
Yes, very good point. Hobbesian thinking returned. People have put up with almost anything that’s been done so far in the name of security…
I can talk a lot more about this… I love Mars Attacks and realized what Burton was doing as soon as the first saucer appeared. It was going to be a spoof, an homage or as it turned out, both. I love all those old ’50s sci-fi movies, with their crappy special effects. In fact, I’d have to check, but I think I have Earth vs the Flying Saucers in a collection on DVD. Although let’s be honest… Burton’s crappy special effects were way better than most of the ’50s crappy special effects. In a lot of the movies I have the ship is two pie plates glued together and you can hardly even see the string from which it dangles.
And then there is Pal’s masterpiece, made in a time when men were men, and women made coffee. And breakfast. ‘Nuff said.
The less said about the Tom cruise abortion the better. Not only the nuclear family aspect that you discussed, but also Tim Robbins as the avatar for the insanity of gun ownership and an individual’s ability to make a difference. The crazy man was essentially describing the resistance from The Terminator, which not so long ago was considered heroic. It’s only saving grace is that it wasn’t quite as bad as the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Yeah, how bad the entertainment reactions to 9/11 were & how quickly they were swallowed up into oblivion suggests a good tale about what it is that our industries cannot do when it comes to storytelling…
Even if you get stomped by a giant robot, heroically protecting the family TV is noble; noble in a way that goes back to the earliest origins of storytelling. The classic themes are classics for a reason. That would be a decent place for them to start.
They would complain that to do so would stifle their creativity.
To which one responds “What creativity?”
Of course, they say this while looking up from their planning for the next iteration of the Bruce Wayne origin story.