Reading Cultures from the Monsters they Engender: Cloverfield and Post-9/11 Paranoia.

Abstract

Whether through the spoken or written word, film or the visual arts, the question of how to sincerely and accurately depict realities of suffering and shock has always been there. As our technologies become more sophisticated and world communities become better connected, however, the proliferation and scope of these images takes on a new, more global significance. Reactions to 9/11 constitute a significant example of this current debate about representations of trauma.

This paper examines the role of popular culture, science fiction in particular, in negotiating this highly mediated traumatic event. Through a definition of trauma and an analysis of the same in the film Cloverfield, the lack of resolution and resultant paranoia since the attacks are demonstrated, and the relevancy of popular culture in socio-political debates and representational discourse is also interrogated.