Post apocalyptic movies? What does this teach us about today?

Well one fantastic post-apocalyptic film that I believe teaches a great lesson is The Road.

It does a fantastic job of showing us how selfish we are as humans, and how much we take for granted. Sure, all post-apocalyptic films show people not having much, but in this film it really emphasizes that point. The father and son have a single cart with stuff inside it. Food, water, clothes, equipment, etc. Halfway through the movie they find a bomb shelter and it's filled with food and water. The father, who was alive before the apocalypse began, is eager to take everything they can whereas the son is wondering if it's ok, saying it could belong to someone else and so they'd be stealing it. The boy was born after the apocalypse began, so it's all he's ever known. It really shows how selfless he is. Here he has all the food in the world basically, and he is wary to take it.

Also, later on when they meet an old man he asks his father to let the man eat with them, even though they don't have much. The father says no at first, saying they need the food for themselves, but the boy persists, saying they should share. It really makes the viewer think. Many people have more than they know what to do with, but they still want more and are unwilling to help others. Sure, not EVERYONE is this way, but many people are. We complain about not having this or not having that, but we don't realize how lucky we truly are.

The film is also about never giving up and always keep fighting and trying to get to something better, and no matter how bad things get, to never become the "bad guys." The father and son are living in a world where it's very difficult to be a "good guy" and survive, but they do it, especially the son. Even after they are robbed by a man, the son begs the dad to help the robber. Even after the robber took everything they owned, the boy doesn't want revenge, he wants to help the robber whereas the father couldn't care less about what happens to him.

The film does a great job of relaying these messages to the audience. It's an extremely bleak and depressing story, and makes you kind of feel ashamed for all the times you've complained about what you don't have, instead of being grateful for what you DO have.

I don't think these are meant to be educational, but are appealing because they give people a safe way to face their fears. Every generation has had thriller movies about what they were most deeply afraid of. It used to be nuclear war. Before that it was monsters created by nuclear testing. Before that it was the government oppressing all the ordinary citizens so that there was no privacy or freedom left. Extra terrestrial invasion is a recurring theme. etc. etc.

So now we have movies about what happens after 99 % of the people on Earth die off from some environmental disaster or superbug. The point of "face your fears" fantasies is for the viewer to reassure himself/herself that human ingenuity and courage will be sufficient to enable mankind to cope and possibly survive, no matter what happens.

Well for one thing learn to stay in a group. Another is to consider having a safety supply for if something happens, also know where things are. I mean know where stores and such would be so you know where to go to get supplies. Oh and just to be clear plenty of these movies are things that could happen in real life. I mean some of them seem to happen faster then you'd expect, but a lot of times it could happen in time.

No one can give you "real" answers considering movies are works of fiction and any answer on the subject would be either hypothetical or based on fictional movies.

Anyway, I think widespread disease, violent weather changes, natural disasters are common topics of end-of-the world movies. I like one in particular, that leaves aside the typical Hollywood trickery and concentrates on the human drama of survival: The Road. Looking for shelter, looking for food, ransacking vacant homes, trading etc.etc.

An another movie that it was surprising given that it is a comedy-sartorial movie about an alien invasion: This is the end, a James Franco film. It depicts how people can turn against each other, go nuts and think of doing strange things. I think the movie was perfect because instead of showing a bunch of heroic characters wining it all for humanity, it shows cowardice, backstabbing and trying to maintain relationships even though each person is out to save him/herself.