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.
The Road (2009)
Ostensible fear: A manmade catastrophe that kills most of the planet’s animal and plant life.
Actual fear: Veganism.
In The Road, Viggo Mortensen and his son roam a post-apocalyptic America in search of shelter and warmth, but are constantly thwarted by people who don’t share their worldview: that eating humans is probably not okay. Viggo’s reluctance to chomp down on a man meat sandwich means that he and his son are constantly threatened and their life choices challenged. Just like a vegan at a dinner party who must tirelessly face the “so you can’t even eat CHEESE?” question, Viggo must continue to justify his non-cannibalism policy to himself. Sure it may make him a pariah! Sure it makes his social circle kind of small! But at the end of the day he is safe in the satisfaction that he is a better person than most everyone he meets.
That smug, bearded bastard.