The War of the Worlds - Postcolonialism, Americanism, and Terrorism in Modern Science Fiction Film.
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2015-06-15
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en
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H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds has been adapted many times into different media. Film adaptations of the book have seen a resurgence in the past decades, which coincides with new astrophysical discoveries and continued (perceived) threats to America. While the renewed fascination with space began well before the new millennium, thanks to exploration of Mars and the discovery of extrasolar planets, fuelling new adaptations of Wells’ work, the heightened fear of terrorism after 9/11 has coloured these adaptations, projecting renewed fears of the Other onto these later films. The aim of my research is to answer the following question: how do Independence Day (1996) and Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds (2005) react to and expand on H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, and how do these adaptations explore fears of epidemics, terrorism and invasion? I will attempt to answer these questions by comparing and contrasting two recent films with the book, and finding parallels with current-day events in America.
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