Nuclear Monsters

Background: On 16 July 1945 at 5:29:45 A.M. Mountain War Time near White Sands, New Mexico on the Alamorgordo Bombing Range in the Jornada del Muerto desert, the dawn of a new age began. Shortly after the Nagasaki explosion, CBS radio commentator Edward R. Murrow said: "Seldom, if ever, has a war ended leaving the victors with such a sense of uncertainty and fear, with such a realization that the future is obscure and that survival is not assured." The sobering influence of the dawn of the nuclear age reflected a nearly universal and collective sense of imminent doom. Fallout shelters were offered for sale in Sears' catalogs. Theologians argued about the morality of shooting a radium-contaminated neighbor at the door of your family's shelter. Now the possibility of contaminating the global village created an ironic entertainment venue--"nuclear" movies--for how human ingenuity might save us from ourselves--if only for a little while longer.

Program Description: Mickey Rooney emerges from a destroyed "test" house at the Nevada Test Site, colossal men and women tear through frightened towns as giant ants, locusts, and spiders force the military into armed conflict. This program, an investigation of the fear that surrounds anything nuclear, contrasts these film segments with nuclear detonations, nuclear training films, government documentaries [only recently declassified], and public relations documentary footage from the Nuclear Defense Agency. Although narration is essential, the dynamic comes from the visuals as Nuclear Monsters triggers viewer's memories of the role of the movies and archive footage in their ideas and beliefs about the nuclear age. This program is not a chronology of nuclear films, but explores the visual history of the nuclear era. Ironic, informative and humorous, Nuclear Monsters has been described as a unique representation of the visual history of the nuclear era 1950s-1980s. The project is 27 minutes in length.
Justification: Just as westerns endorsed the myth of the West during the 1920s, gangster movies typified the 1930s, and musicals signified the 1940s, nuclear movies shaped as well as reflected cultural attitudes, behaviors, and feelings. Since the nuclear era promoted science fiction to science fact, the public demanded entertainment films that reflected "atomic" stories. More specifically, these "nuclear" movies, ranging from the highly crafted to drive-in grade-B formula films, have become important cultural indicators. Hundreds were produced, and they were rigorously stylized, and functioned within prescribed social guidelines. Normalcy no longer existed, as mutants, blobs, distorted and gigantic insects, creatures, and crazed zombies terrorized innocent Americans. Nuclear monsters became symbols of our collective fears as ordinary citizens confronted something that had never been seen before, forcing humankind to rise above the unknown by creating a new social order of understanding and confidence.

Deserving the focus on nuclear themes, this year surpasses the fifty-second anniversary of the world's first atomic explosions. Nuclear Monsters is a unique visual montage of movie clips combined with rare, nearly lost archival footage of above-ground nuclear tests, training films, and atomic explosions. Nuclear Monsters has the potential to inform, educate, entertain, and visually challenge a broad audience across the country. Nuclear Monsters will be offered for national distribution within the next year.

Outline for Nuclear Monsters: These "nuclear" movies will be woven into a montage/narrative.

• Nuclear Monsters will begin with historical footage of nuclear detonations from the Department of Energy.
• Awareness of the unknown, suspicion of something unusual happening. These suspicions, voiced by ordinary citizens, frequently lead into the narrative of the "nuclear" film. The protagonists are calmly discussing strange events, unbelievable events...the narration reflects the prevailing expectations of how citizens should react to the unknown. The premise of these narrative accounts reflects the need to adapt, without panic, to a changing global scenario. Often, scientists provide the initial leadership in communicating how to deal with the scenario.
• First visions/screams/fears of nuclear monsters.
• Nuclear monsters [e.g. mutants, enormous insects, half-human/half-animals, fish-like carnivores] on rampage [this section will have nuclear monsters woven into a montage].
• Struggle for survival: human against nuclear monster. This section deals with the conflict and debate over how to adapt to the changing global scenario.
• Struggle for solution and prescriptions for social behavior. After the cause that created the monster has been identified, this section reflects the prescribed social habits and attitudes necessary for successfully adapting to the changing global scenario. The morality tale is revealed, and the narrative reinforces prevailing official prescriptions including preparedness, determination, patience, and perhaps most importantly, trust in the authorities to solve insurmountable problems...for now.