On Wednesday 5/8/96, Brian D. Mudd wrote: >Question: > >Is it any coincidence that -- in an election year -- we are being >greeted with trailers and other images for a summer movie release featuring >the White House being zapped by an alien invasion ? (Note the front page >of today's USA Today). > >Is this an attempt by the filmmakers to tap into the country's perceived >dissatisfaction with the political process, lengthy negative campaigns, etc.? > >If I recall, 10-second trailers with only this scene began appearing >in theatres in December and January before the primaries, and every >trailer for the film I've seen features this image somewhere. Perhaps it's >just the standard, blockbuster summer-movie hype, but I'd be interested >in the reactions of others to these seemingly repetitive images. > >It seems intriguing, at the very least, that such a film is chosen >for release in an election year......just a thought. > I don't recall seeing that teaser, just the one with cars being blown through New York streets. In any case, from what I've heard about the storyline, it seems that the President, an ex-fighter pilot actually gets back in harness to fight the aliens himself. That would seem to posit an almost primitive notion of a political leader as personal hero defending his people--the very antithesis of the hypothesized significance of the exploding White House. Of course, the people who put together the trailers are generally not the people who make the film, and their motives and intentions can be very different. Or is it a matter of appealing to audience dissatisfaction with government and then showing them a strong president overcoming overwhelming odds? The question of what it all means remains an intriguing one. --Richard J. Leskosky Richard J. Leskosky office phone: (217) 244-2704 Assistant Director FAX: (217) 244-2223 Unit for Cinema Studies University of Illinois ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]