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Natalie Gibbons
Ms. Petcher
ENG 102
2-5-16
Pop Culture in American Films

Popular Culture in America is a very obvious thing sometimes. Almost everyone has a
cell phone in their hands and most likely reading an article on Facebook. Now other times, the
pop culture is less obvious in such things as films and literature. Film today has a much broader
spectrum of genres and stories but it is all centered around the popular culture. In the newer
movies, there are always happy endings but there is so much violence physically and verbally. In
the article called, Left Behind or Left Below? Parodies of Christian End-Times Fiction in
American Pop Culture, by Andrew Crome. In this article, he discusses how American Pop
Culture has put a twist on the Christian End-Times belief and portrays it through an apocalyptic
story for Americans of all religions.
In Cromes article, he discusses the concept of eschatology which is, by definition, a part
of theology concerned with the final events of history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity.
Crome uses this definition to compare it to the Christian belief of the End-Times of its humanity.
He refers to some films that were made in the 1970s but uses the 2014 film Left Behind that was
depicted from a novel series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Like quite a few films today,
Left Behind had a main character who was the only survivor after a disaster of some sort and
goes on a journey, which includes many obstacles, and some how the main character lives to
begin a new community. Crome uses this movie as an example because it is a well known movie
and can relate to all audiences regardless of the religion.

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Crome also uses the word dispensationalism, which is defined as an evangelical futurist
interpretive system for the Bible which considers Biblical history as divided deliberately by God
into defined periods or ages to each of which God has allotted distinctive administrative
principles. Crome refers to this definition many times throughout the article which allows the
audience to gather that Crome sees a Christian value within the films in America. Crome uses
this religious connection to the Left Behind movie so it is clear to his audience that there is
religious redemption being portrayed.
Cromes individual beliefs are somewhat clear in the beginning of the article but not
really until he describes the true reason for the films and their importance. Crome believes that
the novel series portrays a very Christian-like idea that many of Americans will follow/
understand. Crome believes that there is a good message being sent and that the Christian
reference is subtler for big audiences. Crome also states that this Christian reference is portrayed
through an apocalyptic setting with zombies and vampires. These movies have become more
popular because they appeal to all audiences. The specific audiences that these types of movies
appeal to range from little children to old men and women.
The new genre of this apocalyptic scene has sold most lately because of the general
appeal. The Christian view of dispensationalism is represented only through some of these
movies and not all of them involve zombies and slayers. Some of these movies, such as Left
Behind, portray the revival through the main character and their act of leadership in a time of
disaster or downfall. This appeal attracts a lot of audiences because there is a given protagonist
who is going to win in the end. Because of this easy to read story line, most movies are very
predictable and follow very similar journeys. In Cromes title of this article, he includes the part

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saying, or Left Below? which gives the audience another reason. There is always a connection
between what the author is saying to his audience with a small bit of their opinion in it.
There has always been a sort of pity party for those who feel as if there is a prejudice
against them or their creations such as Christians for the dispensational view. As Crome
represents a majority of Christian believers, there is an upset for the revival stories like Left
Behind that are based on the Christian religion. Though there are not many credits given to this
idea from all of the zombie movies, a new genre of movies was created. There has been a new
part added to what the popular culture consists of. This newer view of zombies taking over the
world instead of just an expression of being tired.
One well known TV show that is based off of this zombie/ apocalypse is the 2012
Walking Dead starring revolutionized characters. In this hit series there are two clear sides of
good and bad characters. The protagonist characters are the ones who represent the
revolutionized and new founders of the civilization they are left to. Like all stories, there is a rise
and fall around the climax in this TV series. The familiarity of this show for viewers is that they
know there will be some kind of rise and there will some conflict within each episode shown.
The Walking Dead is a little different than a movie only in the fact that it is a continuous amount
of events happening to get across an entire story. There are always the protagonist characters in
the new apocalyptic films that are trying to make what they believe to be right in their new
world.
Another hit film series that portrays the poplar culture view on the End-Times ideology is
The Hunger Games series. This relatively new series was followed off of the novel series written
by Suzanne Collins. As always, the movies and the novels do not have every detail identical to
each other. In popular culture, there is an idea that movie producers follow. They leave out the

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information from the novel or article that may not be as exciting as the rest of the story. For
films, it is very helpful to have continuous scenes where there is a problem being solved or a
conflict arising between the protagonists and themselves or between the antagonists. The Hunger
Games specifically relates to the new genre that has come from the Christian ideology of the
End-Times occurring. There main story is the few chosen characters are the ones who will
eventually start a new phase of revolution against the community they are living in. This relates
to the revolution of the one survivor (or few in this case) are the ones to lead their followers into
a new realm of what their world should be like. There is a sense of modeling through this film
series in popular culture by the main character as a woman who is in poverty but becomes a
leader of all the pover-ish and above them.
For my final research paper, I would like to make my argument a bit stronger by adding
in sources that follow a very similar path relating to popular culture. I am going to research more
about maybe specific age groups that certain films attract. I will also be able to compare and
contrast more films from before the 21st century and how things have changed. I could also talk
about the main roles for specific characters in movies and how that has changed due to pop
culture. The main idea will be that the popular culture changes the way that films are made to
appeal to the different audiences based on their changing interests.
Overall, I think that Cromes article was a good start to my final research paper. The
article had a very relevant main idea and was supported by many examples. The strongest
argument of this article was the Biblical references and how it is sneakily portrayed through all
of the zombie movies now. It is a very relatable article and is very relevant to many big ideas
circling throughout the heads of people today. Considering this article was not very pushy with
Cromes opinion, it is hidden through the text perfectly.

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Works Cited
Crome, A. (2015). Left Behind or Left Below? Parodies of Christian End-Times Fiction in
American Popular Culture. Journal Of American Culture, 38(4), 386-400.
doi:10.1111/jacc.12441