Nuculer. It's pronounced Nu-cu-ler.
December 27, 2011 9:59 AM Subscribe
I'm interested in compiling a list of portrayals of both atomic energy and nuclear warfare in pop culture from around the world -- specifically the effects of radiation and mutation.
Interested in seeing how the effects of both nuclear war and nuclear power are portrayed in pop culture. I have compiled an incredibly short list, and I'm hoping others can expand upon it. I'm especially interested in the portrayal of radiation and nuclear war in non-American media.
Here's my list.
Godzilla
Them!
The Amazing Colossal Man (and War of the Colossal Beast)
The X-Men (reaching a bit here, but people did call them "Children of the Atom")
Incredible Hulk
Spider-Man
Fantastic Four
Silkwood
China Syndrome
The Day After
Barefoot Gen
The Simpsons
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Cherobyl
Interested in seeing how the effects of both nuclear war and nuclear power are portrayed in pop culture. I have compiled an incredibly short list, and I'm hoping others can expand upon it. I'm especially interested in the portrayal of radiation and nuclear war in non-American media.
Here's my list.
Godzilla
Them!
The Amazing Colossal Man (and War of the Colossal Beast)
The X-Men (reaching a bit here, but people did call them "Children of the Atom")
Incredible Hulk
Spider-Man
Fantastic Four
Silkwood
China Syndrome
The Day After
Barefoot Gen
The Simpsons
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Cherobyl
Fantastic Four is a bit of a reach as well -- their powers came from "cosmic rays," not radiation in the nuclear sense like Spider-Man or the Hulk.
Repo Man
posted by griphus at 10:05 AM on December 27, 2011
Repo Man
posted by griphus at 10:05 AM on December 27, 2011
The Watchmen.
posted by hermitosis at 10:09 AM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by hermitosis at 10:09 AM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
The Fallout series of video games, which look at Cold War-era tropes from a post-Cold War perspective.
posted by restless_nomad at 10:10 AM on December 27, 2011
posted by restless_nomad at 10:10 AM on December 27, 2011
M-O-O-N spells The Stand.
The Butcher Boy makes good use of Cold War, nuclear war imagery.
posted by Sticherbeast at 10:12 AM on December 27, 2011
The Butcher Boy makes good use of Cold War, nuclear war imagery.
posted by Sticherbeast at 10:12 AM on December 27, 2011
Both The Great and Secret Show by Cliver Barker and the TV series Carnivale build to similar-ish revelations about nuclear war. I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't read/seen them.
posted by Sticherbeast at 10:13 AM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Sticherbeast at 10:13 AM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Barefoot Gen (Hadashi no Gen) is a Japanese manga series that was made into several novels, a TV show, live action films, and animated films. It follows a boy and his family in Hiroshima and depicts the bomb's explosion as well as the effects of the nuclear fallout in horrifying detail.
posted by keep it under cover at 10:19 AM on December 27, 2011
posted by keep it under cover at 10:19 AM on December 27, 2011
Oh crap, I can't read. Sorry!!
posted by keep it under cover at 10:20 AM on December 27, 2011
posted by keep it under cover at 10:20 AM on December 27, 2011
On The Beach
The Mad Max sequels
to sir with millipedes: "The X-Men (reaching a bit here, but people did call them "Children of the Atom")"
This was used more as a tie to the cultural zeitgeist than an actual explanation- Marvel mutants aren't related to atomic energy at all.
posted by mkultra at 10:46 AM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
The Mad Max sequels
to sir with millipedes: "The X-Men (reaching a bit here, but people did call them "Children of the Atom")"
This was used more as a tie to the cultural zeitgeist than an actual explanation- Marvel mutants aren't related to atomic energy at all.
posted by mkultra at 10:46 AM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Warday, by James Kunetka and Whitley Streiber, is another Reagan-era attempt at serious treatment of post-limited nuclear war society in the vein of "The Day After."
Roadside Picnic, the model for STALKER, is itself more about general environmental stuff than radiation/nuclear power issues where it's about the natural world, but Prisoners of Power (a.k.a. The Inhabited Island) is a short adventure-y SF novel by the same authors set on a post-nuclear-war alien planet. One of the Strugatsky brothers also wrote the 1986 Soviet post-nuclear-holocaust film Letters from a Dead Man (yt, 3 parts).
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 12:19 PM on December 27, 2011
Roadside Picnic, the model for STALKER, is itself more about general environmental stuff than radiation/nuclear power issues where it's about the natural world, but Prisoners of Power (a.k.a. The Inhabited Island) is a short adventure-y SF novel by the same authors set on a post-nuclear-war alien planet. One of the Strugatsky brothers also wrote the 1986 Soviet post-nuclear-holocaust film Letters from a Dead Man (yt, 3 parts).
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 12:19 PM on December 27, 2011
Oh, forgot this: Woops! (WP has episode descriptions and airing dates), a tremendously unfunny 1992 Fox sitcom about the survivors of a nuclear holocaust living on a farm. There's even a Christmas special (yt, also 3 parts).
It's not related to the '80s British sitcom/movie Whoops Apocalypse, which also isn't as topical as the name might suggest. But Michael Richards is in the movie, at least?
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 12:37 PM on December 27, 2011
It's not related to the '80s British sitcom/movie Whoops Apocalypse, which also isn't as topical as the name might suggest. But Michael Richards is in the movie, at least?
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 12:37 PM on December 27, 2011
Plan
posted by Cocodrillo at 3:01 PM on December 27, 2011
posted by Cocodrillo at 3:01 PM on December 27, 2011
...et of the apes. Sorry.
posted by Cocodrillo at 3:02 PM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Cocodrillo at 3:02 PM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
A somewhat similar question was asked previously. In that previous thread I pointed to Dr. Seuss' The Butter Battle Book and Wikipedia's Nuclear weapons in popular culture article.
posted by RichardP at 3:10 PM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by RichardP at 3:10 PM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by marsha56 at 10:04 AM on December 27, 2011 [1 favorite]