As you’re probably aware, I’m not a Christian. If I were, I’d be following much more in the footsetps of Jim Wallis and subscribing to Sojourners Magazine rather than Heeb. Having said all that, I’ve now spent enough time around Christians to know that the book is called “Revelation” without an “s” at the end.

In any case, Jason Byassee wrote up a great response to NBC’s apocalyptic miniseries, “Revelations.”

So it goes for many movies of a similar genre, the disaster flicks, and the moviegoers who fetish them. I could name off a few of the worst offenders here:

• Titanic, a sappy love story set in the context of a real-life event that made someone with the disaster flick fetish say, “Hey! Just a few special effects, and we’ve got a great movie!” So a few folks made a few million over a terrible human disaster. What else is new? I wonder if this trick can be repeated!
• Independence Day, a.k.a. ID4, a story that wraps itself in the flag, just to depict the end of the world as we know it, brought to you by illegal aliens. Did you enjoy watching New York and D.C. blow up? You just might be stricken with the disaster flick fetish.
• Pearl Harbor, a sappy love story. It’s Titanic all over again. Similar predictable story, different human event. Some day, someone will do the same thing using the fall of the WTC towers as its special-effects-oozing climax. And it will be just as revolting and disrespectful to the memories of those who lost their lives in these very real events.

Is it just me, or do the miniseries and these three movies all have a common appeal? It’s not just an appeal to the lowest common denominator — apparently the disaster flick fetish crowd is a large enough market to justify the creation of these trashbins of bloody money. When I’m talking about a common appeal, I’m really referring to other things that appeal to this same crowd.

Is this the same crowd as the “values voters,” who would sooner loudly condemn others than understand and embrace the humanity of these others? Or is this, perhaps, the same crowd that believed Zell Miller’s bogus argument about John Kerry’s stand on national defense? Or could there be other ideo-demographic segments that would better fit the profile of the disaster fetish mentality?

Linking each of these crowds is a capacity to suspend disbelief of mind-blowing disaster scenes, a radical outlook on the nature of good and evil, and a higher-than-average divorce rate.

Update: On a related note, yesterday’s edition of All Things Considered included a story about live news coverage of high speed chases. What I don’t understand is why news stations believe this appeal to the lowest common denominator would create a permanent ratings bump that would lead to more ad revenue. The bump is artificial and temporary. It’s like a bunch of commotion, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.