Doomsday

In Chapter 7, “The Problem of Endism,” Strozier concludes, “Social crisis, or a big war, or a disaster like nuclear terrorism could transform the [fundamentalist] movement overnight into a  potent and active apocalyptic force, and so transform the American political and social landscape” (Strozier 166).

America, as a Christian nation, and more importantly, as the most religious industrial nation in the world, provided a perfect example of this “pull towards totalism” both in the 1950’s and in the aftermath of September 11th (Strozier 164).

In the 1950’s, apocalyptic visions of nuclear war, as illustrated for children in the film “Duck and Cover,” (1951) were supplemented with McCarthyism in response to the Red Scare. The American people, afraid of Soviet espionage infiltrating all arenas of American life,  supported Senator McCarthy’s program of accusing, investigating, blacklisting, and generally persecuting suspected Communists. Accused Communists were always guilty until proven innocent.

The terrorism on September 11th, 2001, was the worst in recent American history. As a direct result of the attacks, Congress drafted and passed the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act). The Act was supported by members of both political parties, and was passed in both houses of Congress with ease. Only one Senator voted against it.

Written with the goal of protecting the country against foreign and domestic terrorists, it greatly expanded the government’s law enforcement power. After the initial shock of the attacks subsided, however, some Americans began to question whether the Act unreasonably curtailed civil liberties in granting permission for such a zealous pursuit of security. After all, as Ben Franklin said, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Strozier’s conclusion about fundamentalism (that its tendency to be totalistic stems from the fact that its ideological basis is so apocalyptic ) is equally applicable to America. America, as a Christian nation, is also steeped in apocalyptic values. According to Strozier, then, it was only natural for the apocalyptic scares of the 1950’s and 9/11 to give rise to expressions of totalism in America.

One of my guiltiest pleasures is Supernatural, a TV show featuring two brothers who fight demons and other supernatural monsters in the name of good every week. I can’t even say it’s better than it sounds, but it’s fast-paced, the actors are eye candy, and the good guys usually win. Most of the plot of Supernatural is taken directly from traditional apocalyptic canon – i.e., the Book of Revelations. Last season featured seals breaking, a war between the angels, and the Devil-figure escaping from a bottomless pit to wreak havoc on the Earth (Revelations 5:1, 9:11, and 12:7-12:9).

Supernatural also plays in to the “apocalyptic gender panic” described in Chapter 6 of Millennial Seduction. The show’s two strongest female characters were “calculating and murderous [women] whose defeat” literally carried “apocalyptic urgency” within the context of the show (Quinby 105). Both of these modern reincarnations of Jezebel were highly sexualized, used as outlets for the boys’ lust, but never pure enough to be legitimate love interests. Both women refused to submit to the brothers’ authority, were self-serving, and ultimately violently killed off in ways that suggested they got what they deserved.

The millennium may have passed, but textbook apocalypticism is still alive and well in pop culture today. Last season, the Supernatural premiere drew 3.96 million viewers. Supernatural is on The CW, a TV network whose target demographic is women 18-34 years old. Why are all of these young women buying in to such a graphic depiction of “the fulfillment of masculinist desire” (Quinby 112)? Guilty as charged, as a representative of this demographic, I can offer no real defense. I can only say that while I wish Buffy and Xena were still around to serve as role-models, on Thursday nights at 9PM, my better judgment loses out to my desire to feed my “insatiable…apocalyptic appetite” (Quinby 9).

As I start to recognize the pervasive apocalyptic Jezebel stereotypes in this show and others like it, and the accompanying negative consequences for women and their self-image, I also begin to see the link between millennialism as a cultural fascination and millennialism that “interfere[s] with the goals of democratic societies” (Quinby 5).