The Last Midnight: Essays on Apocalyptic Narratives in Millennial Media

278 Pages·2016·2.64 MB·English

by  Leisa A. Clark

The Last Midnight
CRITICALEXPLORATIONSINSCIENCEFICTIONANDFANTASY
(aseries edited by Donald E. Palumbo and C.W. Sullivan III)
1Worlds Apart? Dualism and Transgression
in Contemporary Female Dystopias(Dunja M. Mohr, 2005)
2Tolkien and Shakespeare: Essays on Shared Themes and Language
(ed. Janet Brennan Croft, 2007)
3Culture, Identities and Technology in the Star WarsFilms: Essays on
the Two Trilogies(ed. Carl Silvio, Tony M. Vinci, 2007)
4The Influence of Star Trekon Television, Film and Culture(ed. Lincoln Geraghty, 2008)
5Hugo Gernsback and the Century of Science Fiction(Gary Westfahl, 2007)
6One Earth, One People: The Mythopoeic Fantasy Series of Ursula K. Le Guin,
Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L’Engle and Orson Scott Card(Marek Oziewicz, 2008)
7The Evolution of Tolkien’s Mythology: A Study
of the History of Middle-earth(Elizabeth A. Whittingham, 2008)
8H. Beam Piper: A Biography(John F. Carr, 2008)
9Dreams and Nightmares: Science and Technology in Myth and Fiction
(Mordecai Roshwald, 2008)
10Lilithin a New Light: Essays on the George MacDonald Fantasy Novel
(ed. Lucas H. Harriman, 2008)
11Feminist Narrative and the Supernatural: The Function of
Fantastic Devices in Seven Recent Novels(Katherine J. Weese, 2008)
12The Science of Fiction and the Fiction of Science: Collected Essays on SF Storytelling
and the Gnostic Imagination(Frank McConnell, ed. Gary Westfahl, 2009)
13Kim Stanley Robinson Maps the Unimaginable: Critical Essays(ed. William J. Burling, 2009)
14The Inter-Galactic Playground: A Critical Study
of Children’s and Teens’ Science Fiction(Farah Mendlesohn, 2009)
15Science Fiction from Québec: A Postcolonial Study(Amy J. Ransom, 2009)
16Science Fiction and the Two Cultures: Essays on Bridging the Gap Between
the Sciences and the Humanities(ed. Gary Westfahl, George Slusser, 2009)
17Stephen R. Donaldson and the Modern Epic Vision: A Critical Study
of the “Chronicles of Thomas Covenant” Novels(Christine Barkley, 2009)
18Ursula K. Le Guin’s Journey to Post-Feminism (Amy M. Clarke, 2010)
19Portals of Power: Magical Agency and Transformation in Literary Fantasy
(Lori M. Campbell, 2010)
20The Animal Fable in Science Fiction and Fantasy(Bruce Shaw, 2010)
21Illuminating Torchwood: Essays on Narrative, Character and Sexuality
in the BBC Series(ed. Andrew Ireland, 2010)
22Comics as a Nexus of Cultures: Essays on the Interplay of Media, Disciplines
and International Perspectives(ed. Mark Berninger, Jochen Ecke, Gideon Haberkorn, 2010)
23The Anatomy of Utopia: Narration, Estrangement and Ambiguity in
More, Wells, Huxley and Clarke(Károly Pintér, 2010)
24The Anticipation Novelists of 1950s French Science Fiction:
Stepchildren of Voltaire(Bradford Lyau, 2010)
25The TwilightMystique: Critical Essays
on the Novels and Films(ed. Amy M. Clarke, Marijane Osborn, 2010)
26The Mythic Fantasy of Robert Holdstock: Critical Essays
on the Fiction(ed. Donald E. Morse, Kálmán Matolcsy, 2011)
27Science Fiction and the Prediction of the Future: Essays on Foresight
and Fallacy(ed. Gary Westfahl, Wong Kin Yuen, Amy Kit-sze Chan, 2011)
28Apocalypse in Australian Fiction and Film: A Critical Study(Roslyn Weaver, 2011)
29British Science Fiction Film and Television: Critical Essays
(ed. Tobias Hochscherf, James Leggott, 2011)
30Cult Telefantasy Series: A Critical Analysis of The Prisoner, Twin Peaks, The X-Files,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, Heroes, Doctor Whoand Star Trek (Sue Short, 2011)
31The Postnational Fantasy: Essays on Postcolonialism, Cosmopolitics and Science Fiction
(ed. Masood Ashraf Raja, Jason W. Ellis and Swaralipi Nandi, 2011)
32Heinlein’s Juvenile Novels: A Cultural Dictionary(C.W. Sullivan III, 2011)
33Welsh Mythology and Folklore in Popular Culture: Essays on Adaptations in Literature,
Film, Television and Digital Media(ed. Audrey L. Becker and Kristin Noone, 2011)
34I See You: The Shifting Paradigms of James Cameron’s Avatar (Ellen Grabiner, 2012)
35Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the
Suzanne Collins Trilogy(ed. Mary F. Pharr and Leisa A. Clark, 2012)
36The Sex Is Out of This World: Essays on the Carnal Side of
Science Fiction(ed. Sherry Ginn and Michael G. Cornelius, 2012)
37Lois McMaster Bujold: Essays on a Modern Master of
Science Fiction and Fantasy(ed. Janet Brennan Croft, 2013)
38Girls Transforming: Invisibility and Age-Shifting in
Children’s Fantasy Fiction Since the 1970s(Sanna Lehtonen, 2013)
39Doctor Who in Time and Space: Essays on Themes, Characters,
History and Fandom, 1963–2012(ed. Gillian I. Leitch, 2013)
40The Worlds ofFarscape: Essays on the Groundbreaking Television Series
(ed. Sherry Ginn, 2013)
41Orbiting Ray Bradbury’s Mars: Biographical, Anthropological,
Literary, Scientific and Other Perspectives(ed. Gloria McMillan, 2013)
42The Heritage of Heinlein: A Critical Reading of the Fiction
Television Series(Thomas D. Clareson and Joe Sanders, 2014)
43The Past That Might Have Been, the Future That May Come:
Women Writing Fantastic Fiction, 1960s to the Present (Lauren J. Lacey, 2014)
44Environments in Science Fiction: Essays on Alternative Spaces
(ed. Susan M. Bernardo, 2014)
45Discworld and the Disciplines: Critical Approaches to the Terry Pratchett Works
(ed. Anne Hiebert Alton and William C. Spruiell, 2014)
46 Nature and the Numinous in Mythopoeic Fantasy Literature
(Christopher Straw Brawley, 2014)
47 J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard and the Birth of Modern Fantasy (Deke Parsons, 2014)
48 The Monomyth in American Science Fiction Films: 28 Visions of the Hero’s Journey
(Donald E. Palumbo, 2014)
49 The Fantastic in Holocaust Literature and Film: Critical Perspectives
(ed. Judith B. Kerman and John Edgar Browning,2014)
50 Star Wars in the Public Square: The Clone Wars as Political Dialogue
(Derek R. Sweet, 2016)
51 An Asimov Companion: Characters, Places and Terms
in the Robot/Empire/Foundation Metaseries (Donald E. Palumbo, 2016)
52 Michael Moorcock: Fiction, Fantasy and the World’s Pain (Mark Scroggins, 2016)
53The Last Midnight: Essays on Apocalyptic Narratives in Millennial Media
(ed. Leisa A. Clark, Amanda Firestone and Mary F. Pharr, 2016)
54The Science Fiction Mythmakers: Religion, Science and Philosophy in Wells, Clarke,
Dick and Herbert (Jennifer Simkins, 2016)
55Gender and the Quest in British Science Fiction Television: An Analysis of Doctor Who,
Blake’s 7, Red Dwarfand Torchwood (Tom Powers, 2016)
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The Last Midnight
Essays on Apocalyptic Narratives
in Millennial Media
Edited by LEISA A. CLARK,
AMANDA FIRESTONE and MARY F. PHARR
CRITICALEXPLORATIONSIN
SCIENCEFICTIONANDFANTASY, 53
Series EditorsDonald E. Palumbo andC.W. Sullivan III
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina
ISBN (print) 978-1-4766-6323-4
ISBN (ebook) 978-1-4766-2526-3
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2016 Leisa A. Clark, Amanda Firestone and Mary F. Pharr.
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Front cover image of Apocalypse © 2016 cyano66/iStock
Printed in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
To Sally Gage, for your amazing love, encouragement,
coffee, stories, and werewolves.
L.A.C.
To Brenda L. Firestone, Ed.D., and Timothy Firestone,
for offering me the universe of possibilities.
A.F.
To Tom and Joe Brouillet, Ethan and Noah McKibben,
and Emmelin Dechert, who give me hope
that there are midnights and dawns still to come.
M.F.P.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xii
Preface
AMANDA FIRESTONE 1
Introduction
MARY F. PHARR, LEISA A. CLARK and AMANDA FIRESTONE 4
Prelude—We Don’t Want to Miss a Thing: Millennial
Technologies of Participation and Intimacy
ANDREW MCALISTER 25
I: Culture, Values and Anxiety
The South Will Rise Again: Contagion, War
and Reconstruction in The Walking Dead, Seasons One
Through Five
ANGELA TENGA 37
The Recuperation of Wounded Hegemonic Masculinity
on Doomsday Preppers
TIFFANY A. CHRISTIAN 48
The Last N on- Judgment: Postmodern Apocalypse
in Battlestar Galactica
STEPHEN JOYCE 60
The Emergence of the Lost Apocalypse from 28 Days Later
to Snowpiercer
MARK MCCARTHY 69
ix