Kevin Taylor

The social phenomenon of Doomsday, or the end of the world has been extremely popular in the past few years and was especially popular leading up to the speculated date of the world coming to an end on December 21, 2012. Most theories of the world coming to an end revolve around an asteroid or some type of object impacting earth and causing the end of civilization. There are also theories of the Zombie apocalypse ending civilization on the planet. Several films have been released over the years depicting these types of events. The film "2012" was based on the idea of the Mayan calendar coming to an end on 12/21/2012 and the earth's magnetic fields switching resulting in the cataclysmic destruction of earth. The film "I Am Legend" depicted the human race becoming sick with a virus that caused them to basically turn into zombies and they slowly took over the earth. Will Smith played a character who was searching for a cure to the disease and trying to find any other survivors like himself. Many film companies took this idea of the world ending and used it to make films, television series, and documentaries that would make them millions of dollars and also spread the fear of the possibility that the world would come to an end either on 12/21/2012 or sometime in the near future. Companies that produce gun ammunition, coolers, and even construction companies also profited off of this phenomenon by marketing to those who believed this idea and were fearful of the world ending. Some people even started companies that would build shelters for people who were fearful of the world ending that would help them survive. This demonstrates the critical approach to popular culture because it reflected and reinforced the economic and cultural power of the mass media industry. Social networks were also able to help in spreading the idea of doomsday due to the fact that people were able to share different websites, videos, and various other links that people shared with their friends and anyone else who might have been able to view it. Even though the speculated date of 12/21/2012 as the end of the world has passed, many people still fear an Armageddon-like ending to the world coming soon or even the zombie apocalypse coming. This continues to keep various forms of media focused on it and keeps television shows such as "The Walking Dead" to remain popular in today's world of popular culture.

 

Film poster for the movie "2012"

AMC's "The Walking Dead"

Hornady's "Zombie Max" ammo

Will Smith in "I Am Legend"