In its recent opening weekend, Twisters marked the biggest start ever for a natural disaster movie with US$80.5 million in North American box office revenue. The popularity of the film indicates disaster movies remain an important popular culture phenomenon.
As an associate professor of disaster and emergency management, I recently was a panellist at a Natural Hazards Workshop on a session titled, Now Streaming: Representations of Disasters in Film and Television.
Disaster studies scholars have considered disaster movies from many perspectives including their value for teaching people about disaster management and how these films shape the meaning and experience of disasters.
