Volcano (1997)

Magma is a me-
taphor for race relations.
No, I'm serious.

This week's film is Volcano starring Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Heche.

Besides discussing the plausibility of volcanoes popping up in Los Angeles, we're going to explore aspects of the disaster genre. What aspects are appealing to moviegoers? What makes one version of a disaster movie more successful than a different version? Specifically, why did Volcano bomb at the box office while Dante's Peak (next week's film) fared better? Also, does problem science have implications once movie-goers leave the theater?

Below are some links to articles that you might find helpful for the discussion. The articles are also part of the "Reading Response" portion of the class. Students will need to do seven reading responses over the course of the semester. Choose a scientific aspect mentioned in one of the articles and write about how the film portrays it (or in some cases, ignores it completely). Responses only need to be a page or so and can either be e-mailed or turned in at the following film screening. All reading responses for Volcano will be due by September 21.

Anyway, here are some links:

Review from Slate.com
How Volcanoes Work
Some of the conventions of the Disaster Genre

Remember: Add/Drop ends on Wednesday, so if you are taking this class for credit (or you want to have the option to do so later) you will need to register by then.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot us an e-mail or use the comments section. Feel free to chat via the comments, too!

See you Thursday at 7pm in Severance 108!