the role of the white father in contemporary post-apocalyptic cinema

260 Pages·2017·1.84 MB·English

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Theses and Dissertations--English English
2016
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Felicia Cosey
University of Kentucky, [email protected]
Digital Object Identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2016.008
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Cosey, Felicia, "FATHER OF ALL DESTRUCTION: THE ROLE OF THE WHITE FATHER IN CONTEMPORARY
POST-APOCALYPTIC CINEMA" (2016). Theses and Dissertations--English. 27.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/english_etds/27
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Felicia Cosey, Student
Dr. Virginia L. Blum, Major Professor
Dr. Andrew Doolen, Director of Graduate Studies
FATHER OF ALL DESTRUCTION: THE ROLE OF THE WHITE FATHER IN
CONTEMPORARY POST-APOCALYPTIC CINEMA

_______________________________________________

DISSERTATION
_______________________________________________

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the
College of Arts and Sciences
at the University of Kentucky

By

Felicia Cosey

Lexington, Kentucky

Director: Dr. Virginia L. Blum, Professor of English

Lexington, Kentucky

Copyright © Felicia Cosey 2016
ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION

FATHER OF ALL DESTRUCTION: THE ROLE OF THE WHITE FATHER IN
CONTEMPORARY POST-APOCALYPTIC CINEMA

Since September 11, 2001 a substantial number of English-language, post-
apocalyptic films have been released. This renewed interest in the genre has prompted
scholars to examine the circumstances within western society that make post-apocalyptic
films appealing to audiences. The popularity of these films derives from a narrative
structure that reinforces conservative notions of good and bad and moral absolutism. The
post-9/11, post-apocalyptic film typically features a white male hero who, in one way or
another, reestablishes the pre-apocalyptic social order through proclamations of
mandatory and prohibitive laws that must be adhered to by the survivors. The hero of
post-apocalyptic film does not present any alternative to the pre-apocalyptic, white
masculinist society, but instead appears motivated, if not ordained by narrative, to
enforce the pre-apocalyptic rules and mores in a way that disregards the events and
circumstances of the apocalypse itself. This dissertation uses psychoanalytic theory,
starting with Sigmund Freud and continuing to theorists such as Slavoj Zizek, to
investigate the motivations for survivors in post-apocalyptic films to form communities
that return to early patriarchy, where prohibitive laws reinforce patriarchal authority
through the mandates of the white male father figure.
KEYWORDS: Post-Apocalypse, Post-Apocalyptic, End of the World, Destruction,
Cinema, Gender, Gender Studies, Race, Critical Race Theory, Psychoanalysis, Lacan,
Freud, Zizek, Marxism
Felicia Cosey
Student’s Signature

January 15, 2016
Date
FATHER OF ALL DESTRUCTION: THE ROLE OF THE WHITE FATHER IN
CONTEMPORARY POST-APOCALYPTIC CINEMA

By

Felicia Cosey

Virginia L. Blum,
Director of Dissertation

Andrew Doolen,
Director of Graduate Studies

January 15, 2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I deeply appreciate the many people who supported my work and encouraged me
while I wrote my dissertation. It is without reservation that I gratefully acknowledge and
thank Dr. Virginia Blum, my committee chairwoman, who offered me unwavering
support, guidance, insight, and kindness when I lost confidence in myself. Special thanks
to my committee member Dr. Pearl James for giving me such great feedback in my
drafts. To Dr. Jeffory Clymer, thank you for sitting on my committee and recommending
beneficial critical race theory readings. Dr. Francie Chassen-Lopez, thank you for
introducing me to the world of Latin-American cinema and offering your time, energy,
and expertise as my outside committee member. Dr. Paul Kingsbury, thank you for
agreeing to sit on my committee on such short notice and for your perspective in
psychoanalysis, which proved invaluable near the end of my dissertation.
I would like to acknowledge faculty members from my Master’s program who
were particularly instrumental in me advancing my studies. Thank you, Dr. Dickie
Heaberlin, for encouraging me to pursue my doctoral degree. Dr. Todd McGowan
sparked my interest in critical theory and still has a lasting influence on my writing
sixteen years later. Thanks, Todd, for helping me get into graduate school and for your
continued support.
My gratitude extends to my family and best friend. They were my loyal
advocates and their love made it possible for me to complete this long journey. Thanks to
Phil Foster (my big brother) for digging me out of the many rabbit holes I found myself
lost in. Frankie Baker and Viola Thornton formed a protective cocoon around me during
my most trying times. Thank you for your prayers Auntie Vi and Auntie Frankie.
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Finally, thank you to my mom, Lydia Cosey, for encouraging my curiosity and creativity
as a child and for keeping me focused during my studies and, most importantly, for being
my biggest supporter.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments..............................................................................................................iii
List of Tables.....................................................................................................................vii
List of Figures...................................................................................................................viii
Chapter One: Post-apocalyptic Cinema and the Victim Hero……….………………........1
1 Postapocalypse—The Beginning of the End……………………………...6
2 Apocalyptic Versus Post-Apocalyptic Films……………………....…......9
3 Annihilation Sells…………………………………………………….......16
4 Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy……………………………………...………...19
5 Oedipal Complex in Relation to the Postapocalypse………….……...….25
6 Recuperating Lost Masculinity…………………………………………..27
7 The Shackles of Ideology……………………………….………………..37
8 The Perils of Masculinity………………….……………………………..42
9 Mimcking Nigga………………………………………………….……...47
10 Enjoying the Anal Father’s Enjoyment……………………………….…54
Chapter Two: Why Can’t the Father Die?.........................................................................65
1 Returning to the Past…………………………….………………….……66
2 Womb Envy Leads to Misogyny……………………….………….…….71
3 A Brief History of Cinematic Fatherhood………………………….……82
4 Father As Reluctant, Victim Hero in the Postapocalypse…………..……84
5 Patriarchy Engenders All the “ISM’s”……………………………..…….90
6 Woman’s Relationship to the Phallus………………………..…………..93
7 Women As Castrators and Failed Leaders……………………...………..97
8 Crashing Western Hegemony in a Post-Apocalyptic Narrative………..103
Chapter Three: The Four Incarnations of the Contemporary Black Male in Post-
Apocalyptic Cinema.........................................................................................................116
1 Remus—Robert Neville in I Am Legend……………….………………128
2 Reverend—Briggs in The Colony…………………………..…………..141
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3 Rapscallion—Andre in Dawn of the Dead……………………………..155
4 Ragamuffin—Cinna in The Hunger Games……………………………162
5 And the Radical?......................................................................................169
Chapter Four: What WALL-E Can Teach Us about Fantasy in the Age of the Anal
Father…………...............................................................................................................176
1 The (Anal) Father Lives! Maybe............................................................181
2 Life Is Just a Fantasy………...………………………….………...……183
3 Mastery of the Lost Object………………………………………..……188
4 Traversing the Fantasy………………………………….………………195
5 Shop (Consume/Enjoy) ‘Till You Drop…………………………..……200
6 Don’t Tread on Me………………………………..…………………….207
7 Post-Apocalyptic Film As a Means of Escape from the Anal Father......214
Chapter Five: Conclusion………………………………….……..……………………216
Filmography.....................................................................................................................221
Works Cited….................................................................................................................231
Vita…………...................................................................................................................248

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