Abstract:

Movies depicting disaster and catastrophes have been much talked about, but little studied.  To fill in this lacuna we systematically examined three dozen English language films - most of recent vintage - with substantial footage on disaster phenomena.  Basically we compared movie depictions of the physical and social aspects of pre-, trans-, and post-impact characteristics of disasters and what has been found by the recently burgeoning social and behavioral science research on such mass emergencies.  While our focus is on the American scene, it is probable the findings are as applicable elsewhere to the extent that the cinema industry elsewhere is similar to Hollywood.

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