Since World War II, the idea of an apocalyptic era lived within the minds of everyone involved. The practice returned in recent disasters such as the COVID-19 epidemic, with people constantly losing their life, hospitals overcrowded, and stores vacant. Citizens felt confined indoors, alone with only their thoughts. This overthinking brought upon the ideas of apocalypse in both positive and negative ways.

Feelings of desperation and unhappiness form a greater part of the appeal toward the apocalypse genre. The majority of the world’s problems relate to money with debt problems and not owning enough money and in an apocalypse, money lacks meaning. Those unhappy with their relationships would not need to deal with that anymore because they would experience less and less human contact. Those who feel truly dissatisfied with their life will become so preoccupied with survival that their troubles will no longer affect them. Also, negative attitudes including misogyny, racism and homophobia, would no longer matter. 

There exist numerous variations of an apocalypse. The variety includes zombies, aliens, robot uprising and an abandoned earth. But in reality, if one occurred, it would prove triggered by a natural disaster, a nuclear holocaust, or a quickly spreading illness such as COVID-19.

“The apocalypse came from the Greek word apokálypsis, which means ‘revelation’. And that’s the thing with apocalyptic movies, it always comes down to what happens after the world ends. Not only do they show the struggle when the crisis starts, but also the change it brings; society collapses, a small group of people controlling the entire population, change of state hierarchy, food crisis, and so on,” writer Anastasya Lavenia said.

In the event of the apocalypse, problems with the modern world would disappear. Overpopulation would no longer matter, meaning the earth would thrive with lush flora and the climate would finally receive a chance to restore itself. Other species would also receive a shot at life without the fear of extermination. 

“When it comes to apocalyptic scenarios, most people want to know more about their intelligence and if they would truly know how to survive on their own. People are curious to see if their ways of self-defense are enough to survive worse-case scenarios like the apocalypse, I know I do,” sophomore Joi Jenkins said.

Of course, there remains the question that fascinates millions: would humanity survive on its own? This refers to a hotly debated topic. A great deal of people believes mankind can endure this level of disaster. And numerous individuals believe that humanity would perish if they did not claim the luxury they currently own.