In Oh No, There Goes Tokyo, William discussed the relationship between Japan’s history and its disaster fictional movies. The geography of Japan has shaped its conditions for frequent natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis etc. Besides, the war brought disaster and trauma to Japan. Both conditions have shaped Japan into another disaster capital in the movie world. This chapter also discusses the effect or purpose of this kind of movie. On one side, movie makers claimed replacing those events in movies could release citizens’ deep anxieties and psychological stress in the postwar. On the other hand, some people consider those movies to normalize the power of war which cannot describe lightly. As an audience, I agree with Sontag’s idea. Movie as a recreation, disaster movies probably can help people escape from the stress and trauma of reality; at the same time, they should not generalize those traumas that happened. It should be balanced and take care of both sides’ concerns.
Tsz Ham Cheung, 3035779674
Good summary. In your thought what is a balanced way of handling national trauma? Are there any film examples that you think have handled the traumatic experience well?