Fantasy Film Post 9/11

Source

Title: Fantasy Film Post 9/11

Author: Frances Pheasant-Kelly

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Year: 2013

Useful Quotations

1. "The terrorist acts of September 11, 2001 caused profound destruction in Manhattan and a loss of life to terrorism unprecedented on American soil, the scale of 9/11 prompting some commentators to declare it as a defining historical moment" - (Pg, 1)

2. "The media attention that had been afforded to 9/11 has intensified its persistence in public memory" - (Pg, 1)

3. "The term 9/11 immediately conjures images of the destruction of the Twin Towers, images that are branded indelibly on the memories of those who witnessed the unfolding of events in 2001" - (Pg, 1)

4. "In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the sense of loss created by the destruction of the World Trade Center was replaced with repeated showings of the footage of its collapse, while potentially distressing cinematic releases were postponed or edited" - (Pg, 1)

5. "The defining moment of the twenty-first century for many was, and likely will remain for the near future, the destruction of the Twin Towers, a number of related political and sociocultural changes ensued in the intervening period that further influenced films of the new millennium" - (Pg, 2)

6. "Cinema, as in previous times of collective anxiety, began to reflect this prevailing tone of pessimism, with allusions to 9/11, environmental catastrophe, and economic recession becoming discernible across a range of genres" - (Pg, 2)

7. "The dramatic events of 9/11 elicited comparisons with mainstream disaster films that preceded, and, indeed, seemed to anticipate, the Twin Towers' attacks" - (Pg, 2)

8. "Film creators tap into the events, fears, fantasies and hopes of an era and give cinematic expression to social experiences and realities" - (Pg, 6)

9. "As the story begins, the hero is is projected into serve dangers, indicating an element of threat to the protagonist. In a similar vein, one might suggest that post-9/11 fantasies also offer viewers safe ways to subconsciously re-enact, or work through anxieties and traumatic memories" - (Pg, 7-8)

10. "After the fall of the Towers, the superhero became a figure of some focus for those seeking to express their grief, anger and fear in the wake of the attacks" - (Pg, 144)

11. "The Iron Man films draw on the war on terror for their contexts and imagery. The first film is set in Afghanistan and references themes of wounding, torture, and corruption in connection to the war on terror" - (Pg, 144)

12. "9/11 set the stage for the current superhero craze" - (Pg, 144)

13. "As deceptively simple and provocative as those films were in their iconography, they still featured tortured heroes wrestling with issues of power and responsibility that helped audiences work out their own feelings about the current state of the world without directly speaking to those fears" - (Pg, 144)