On American Individualism In The Disaster Movie 2012

As one of the most famous American disaster films, 2012 portrays American core value of individualism profoundly. This paper tries to explore the value of individualism in 2012 so that we can have a deeper understanding of how individualism is demonstrated in the film. Based on the analysis of the main characters, the scenes, the actors' lines, the thesis purports to demonstrate that three aspects of individualism is embodied in the film: individual equality and freedom, individual autonomy and independence, and individual heroism.This thesis is composed of four parts. Part one is the introduction which includes a brief account to 2012, literature review on this film, significance of the study, the framework of the study, and a brief introduction of individualism. The main purpose of this part is to explain the theories and objectives of the research. Chapters one to three give a detailed analysis of the film 2012.Chapter one discusses how individual equality and freedom are reflected based on the analysis of the scenes of the film. Through analyzing the characters' lines, actions in different scenes of the film, chapter two argues that the film demonstrates the characters' individual autonomy and independence. Focusing on major events of the main characters, chapter three contends that the film displays strong individual heroism.The last part of the thesis summarizes the three aspects of individualism reflected in the film and concludes that the film 2012 is a disaster film with one of the American core values—individualism highlighted.