Cabuco, Michelle Carla M.

ENG10 THV-4

Abstract (232)

18 May 2017

Effect of Natural Disaster Films in Disaster Management and Risk Reduction of

Societies

Natural disasters are one of the most devastating events affecting

communities worldwide. Regardless of an individuals geographic location, the
possibility of such life-changing events exists and more often than not, their
occurrence cannot be controlled. Over decades and lifetimes, these catastrophes
have severely damaged property and infrastructure, drastically altered
environments, and took countless victims lives. Their dramatic effects in peoples
personal histories have encouraged filmmakers to create reenactments of past
natural disasters or envision fictional ones with an almost-unrealistically massive
scale or bizarre cause, through movies. However, films with these themes, such as
Roland Emmerichs Day After Tomorrow (2004), influence viewers understanding
about and perception on these destructive natural phenomena. This paper aims to
discuss natural disasters and disaster management, mainly through David
Alexanders Natural Disasters and Maxx Dilleys Natural Disaster Hotspots: A
Global Risk Analysis. It will focus on their portrayal in films with help from several
journal articles such as Sayanthani and Smiths Understanding the Impact of
Disaster Movies on the Social Construction of Risk Perception and E.L. Quarantellis
commonly referenced Realities and Mythologies of Disaster Films. It will also
analyze the accuracy of the depiction of these movies compared to scientific
knowledge and history. Ultimately, this paper wishes to explore the effects of these
films on their viewers on their perception of natural disasters and how they
influence disaster risk management and reduction as societies all over the world.

Keywords: Natural disaster, disaster films, risk management