What Are You REALLY Scared Of When It Comes To Disaster Films?
From Titanic to Sharknado, we look back at some classic disaster films and work out the real fears they capitalised on.
World War Z (2013)
Ostensible fear: Global epidemic.
Actual fear: Diplomacy.
For the entire movie, Brad Pitt runs around the world as a representative of the United Nations trying to figure out where the hell this zombie-inducing virus originated. And where does his gentle conversation and constant hair flipping get him? NOWHERE! Did the Indian government think to warn the rest of the world about their zombie soldiers? Did Israel take the time between building their giant zombie-repelling wall to call the UN and say, “Um guys, there’s a zombie plague coming so maybe lock the front door”? Nope, not one international body had the decency to warn the planet that a damn virus was ripping people to shreds, so Brad is forced to go to South Korea and try to coax the answer out of a few American soldiers. Even when he ends up at a World Health Organisation research centre and says, “A DAMN VIRUS IS RIPPING PEOPLE TO SHREDS!” they kind of shrug and make Taylor Swift “oh!” faces.
It seems like you just can’t put your faith in bureaucracy.