The Atomic Kid (Dir. Martinsons, 1954) and The Hangover (Dir. Phillips, 2009) both set in Las Vegas.The Atomic Kid is a sci-fi comedy about a uranium exploiter, Blix Waterberry (Mickey Rooney), becomes radioactive after surviving an Atomic explosion, and The Hangover centers on the journey of three men trying to find their best friend after a wild bachelor party in Las Vegas. The two films center on the fantasy of Las Vegas being a place without consequences. One fixates on the Las Vegas in the Cold War, while the other one highlights on the otherworldly fantasized Las Vegas in a hedonist society. In The Atomic Kid, Las Vegas is the only place where ordinary people can see atomic explosions As a desert city, Las Vegas lacks the natural resources
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As a child star, Rooney is known for playing boyish characters. In the 1950s, Rooney’s career hit a slump. The Atomic Kid, which was produced by Rooney himself, was an attempt to regain popularity by reselling Rooney past successful model, the adventure of a overeating kid. Boyhood emphasize on innocence. Like Blix, most American at the time were naive about the nuclear power. Using the innocence of the main character, the film attempts to normalize the Atomic bombs. The Atomic Kid shows American people’s lack of knowledge about nuclear power and overall supportive attitude towards the nuclear testings going on in the Las Vegas desert in the 1950s. In the films, many civilians are sitting a few mile away from the testing site and enjoying the view of a mushroom cloud with protective glasses as if they were watching fireworks. The film romanticizes the bomb and completely ignores the bombing in Japan. The public attention focuses on the destructive power of the bomb, rather than the danger of the radiations (Hendershot, 115). The ignorance about radiation allows Martinsons to portray a survivor of an atomic explosion in a playful way. The over-exaggerating physical comedy adds to Blix’s boyish quality, and the film uses slapstick humor to create a fantasy particalr to that time period when fun and nuclear weapons coexist in Las Vegas. As Blix uses his radioactive superpower to hack slot …show more content…
It plays on the common stereotypical notion that people can abandon their morals and do whatever they want without consequences as if Las Vegas is its own world. We can see the idea of Vegas being its own universe when the main characters are approaching the city. The camera follows the car on the highway, and we see the city surrounded by desert. The desert city gives Las Vegas a utopia like quality. The city is further established by a series of montage consisting of the iconic images like casinos, resorts and strip clubs. The montage sequence helps to establish the carefree and wild image of Las Vegas, foreshadowing the crazy journey awaits. Unlike The Atomic kid, many of the scenes in The Hangover are outdoor scenes, and characters are in a car most of the time. The moving vehicle allows the film to explore more locations and expand the fantasy of the city outside of the strip, like the desert, A motel, A hospital, etc. The inclusion of these not so iconic locations adds to the complexity of the fantasy of the
As a child star, Rooney is known for playing boyish characters. In the 1950s, Rooney’s career hit a slump. The Atomic Kid, which was produced by Rooney himself, was an attempt to regain popularity by reselling Rooney past successful model, the adventure of a overeating kid. Boyhood emphasize on innocence. Like Blix, most American at the time were naive about the nuclear power. Using the innocence of the main character, the film attempts to normalize the Atomic bombs. The Atomic Kid shows American people’s lack of knowledge about nuclear power and overall supportive attitude towards the nuclear testings going on in the Las Vegas desert in the 1950s. In the films, many civilians are sitting a few mile away from the testing site and enjoying the view of a mushroom cloud with protective glasses as if they were watching fireworks. The film romanticizes the bomb and completely ignores the bombing in Japan. The public attention focuses on the destructive power of the bomb, rather than the danger of the radiations (Hendershot, 115). The ignorance about radiation allows Martinsons to portray a survivor of an atomic explosion in a playful way. The over-exaggerating physical comedy adds to Blix’s boyish quality, and the film uses slapstick humor to create a fantasy particalr to that time period when fun and nuclear weapons coexist in Las Vegas. As Blix uses his radioactive superpower to hack slot …show more content…
It plays on the common stereotypical notion that people can abandon their morals and do whatever they want without consequences as if Las Vegas is its own world. We can see the idea of Vegas being its own universe when the main characters are approaching the city. The camera follows the car on the highway, and we see the city surrounded by desert. The desert city gives Las Vegas a utopia like quality. The city is further established by a series of montage consisting of the iconic images like casinos, resorts and strip clubs. The montage sequence helps to establish the carefree and wild image of Las Vegas, foreshadowing the crazy journey awaits. Unlike The Atomic kid, many of the scenes in The Hangover are outdoor scenes, and characters are in a car most of the time. The moving vehicle allows the film to explore more locations and expand the fantasy of the city outside of the strip, like the desert, A motel, A hospital, etc. The inclusion of these not so iconic locations adds to the complexity of the fantasy of the