“From a psychological point of view, the imagination of disaster does not greatly differ from one period in history to another. – from a political and moral point of view it does.”
– Susan Sontag The Imagination of Disaster (1965)
For the subjective good or bad of society, the science fiction genre has the ability to target specific societal problems and use social psychology to attempt to appeal an audience’s response or change. Neill Blomkamp District 9 (2009) and Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) both have a clear dialogue in response to Susan Sontag’s The Imagination of Disaster. It is crucial to look at the history behind both of these films prior to analyzing their ideology and interactions with The Imagination of Disaster. …show more content…
What she explains as the balance between the hunger for a good war a yearning for peace have different treatments in these films. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial lacks a strong enough antagonist to propagate the hunger for a good war. However, the alien-human friendship is an analogy for how real-world adversaries can learn to overcome their differences and in this sense, is yearning for unification and peace. District 9 by contrast is overflowing with humans who have considered their situation a morally justifiable cause for extermination, there is little drive for unity which is a reflection on current social situations where a yearning for peace is almost inconceivable. Both films address this with Sontag calls the ‘threat to humanity’, which is ultimately mankind’s availability to dehumanization. The concept of man as a machine can be seen by the M.N.U. enforcing an amoral emotionless regime, and by the way Elliot’s and E.T.’s interactions with adults (or lack thereof) was often