Introduction.

This essay discusses the values and ideas represented in disaster and sci-fi movie posters of the 1960s-1970s. The concepts used with be those of Stuart Hall (encoding, decoding and visual signs), Louis Althusser (the ideology of representation between the imagined and the actual), Karl Marx (ideology and the class system of 'false consciousness'), and Roland Barthes (myth). The main elements of the posters to be addressed will be the artistic style, using Stuart Hall and Roland Barthes, and the representation of males and females on the posters, using Louis Althusser and Karl Marx. The selected posters (figs. 1-10) share a property - they are all primarily hand-drawn, nonphotographic works. A majority of the posters (figs. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10) have a significant number of photographs of the main stars in a line across the bottom of the poster. On posters where men and women are both present, (figs. 5, 9, 10) it is the male character(s) at the forefront, with the female character(s) appearing ill-equipped or in compromising situations. The dominant element of the posters is the image. Stuart Hall, in his essay 'Encoding/Decoding' says that Certain codes may be so widely distributed in a specific language community or culture that some visual signs appear to have achieved a 'near- universality' in this sense. (1980, pp110-111.) With regard to the poster images below, they all carry a similar trait - they are all hand-painted. This is a common property with many specialeffects laden movies of the era. The images are an exaggerated depiction of a scene or portmanteau of scenes the movie. The scene you see in the movie is never quite as amplified as that represented on the poster. This universal theme has continued with the resurgence of disaster movies in the late 20th, early 21st centuries, with films such as (but not limited to) The Day After Tomorrow, 2012 and The Core (figs. 11, 12, 13) all choosing an artificial style, albeit computer generated, to exaggerate or 'overdisaster' their respective posters. So, by establishing that most disaster/sci-fi movie posters all follow a theme of artistic depiction and exaggeration, they could be said to be part of their own mythology. Roland Barthes' Myth Today chapter from his 'Mythologies' book says Myth essentially aims at causing an immediate impression - it does not matter if one is later allowed to see through the myth. (1957, p11). Barthes reinforces this by also saying Myth hides nothing and flaunts nothing: it distorts; myth is neither a lie nor a confession: it is an inflection. (ibid, p10).

In relation to the posters chosen, this suggests that it doesn't matter if the scenes depicted on the posters are exaggerated. All that matters is that the reader is 'grabbed', which Louis Althusser describes thus Ideology acts or functions in such a way that it recruits subjects among the individuals, hailing: Hey, you there!. (1971, p174) The presence of man-made structures such as aircraft, ships, buildings and cityscapes on the posters (figs. 1-7, 9) aids the hailing function by giving the reader a 'real-world' reference, something easily recognisable. The use of destructive mechanisms such as fire, explosions and water advances this by creating a basis for fear amongst the audience. The addition of uncomfortable angles further reinforces this fear. Specifically, the Boing 707 (fig. 1) and the Boeing 747 (figs. 2, 3) - at the times the respective films were released - were in commercial use extensively, making the familiarity and fear even more concentrated. Concorde (fig. 4), although not in extensive use, was a symbol of the future, a new technology. To see this cutting-edge aircraft put in jeopardy played on the curiosity of the audience, as well as allowing the audience a glimpse into an aircraft they may never get to see in real-life. Indeed, these ideas could be extended to more recent films (figs. 12, 13). It is interesting to note the lack of uncomfortable angles in fig. 11, given that it is a disaster movie. It may be that showing one of the most well-known symbols of western civilisation almost submerged negated the need for such angles. Figs. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 place a certain prominence on images of the stars in the movie. This creates another layer of 'hailing', where the well-known faces of the stars give a secondary 'real-world' reference, based on audience familiarity. By going deeper into the imagery of the posters, one can identify the differing 'roles' of males and females in the posters - males being at the forefront, the heroes, and the females being in the background, requiring a hero - and how they reflect the supposed values and ideas of the era (figs. 5, 9, 10). Louis Althusser describes this ideology as a Representation of the Imaginary Relationship of Individuals to their Real Conditions of Existence. (1971, p162) This is connected to the 'false consciousness' of ideology, advocated by Karl Marx in 'The German Ideology' (co-written with Friedrich Engels). He describes false consciousness thus: The class which has the means of material production at its disposal has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it. (1846, p64) British semiotician Daniel Chandler puts it: The mass media functioned to produce 'false consciousness' in the working-classes. This

leads to an extreme stance whereby media products are seen as monolithic expressions of ruling class values, which ignores any diversity of values within the ruling class and within the media, and the possibility of oppositional readings by media audiences. (2000) In even simpler terms, the ruling-classes, who hold the power to create and distribute media on a mass scale, have the power to impart their own dominant ideologies, eschewing any diversity of values that the lower-classes may have. With regard to the posters, the impression is conveyed that the males are stronger than the females. Fig. 5 shows the male characters at the forefront of the image, with the females behind them. Two of the females at the top of the image are shown with their clothing in a revealing state, somewhat objectified sexually. Fig. 9 shows the male lead with virtually no female representation. Fig. 10 has the male lead character armed and leading a female by the hand. Leslie Knope's essay 'Representation of Women in Movie Posters' makes the following observation: In depicting women as subordinate to male superiority, authority and desire, movie posters also portray the female gender as inherently weak and passive. (2011) This could be seen as a tactic employed by Hollywood at the time to try and curb the burgeoning sexual equality movement of the 1970s. Still in it's infancy, sexual equality was very much an unorganised and somewhat underground campaign, with males dominating the workplace, at least in positions of power and in the household. It is unlikely that large studios would do anything to buck the trend. Knope also points out That this is a trend that is found in all posters depicting women indicates an overtly patriarchal attitude in the movie industry as it constantly depicts the female gender as essentially inferior to the male gender. (ibid). As businesses, it should come as no surprise that the major Hollywood studios want to make as much money as they can. By making films that display values equal to the attitudes of the majority of the population of the time, they stand to make more return on their investment. Karl Marx illustrates this point in 'Das Kapital' by saying Under the ideal measure of values there lurks the hard cash. (1867, p82). Conclusion and Summary. Whilst common amongst sci-fi and disaster movies of the era, the artistic style can not be said to be inextricably affiliated to the values and ideas represented on the posters, but rather as one of a variety of ways to communicate values and ideas, and to generate impact and visual excitement. Values and ideas could technically be portrayed by various printable methods such as photography and/or wording. What the artistic style does allow is an amplified portmanteau of the events in the movie. It could be argued that the style was simply borne 'of an era'. The style notwithstanding, it is evident that, as well as representing the physical events of the

movie, the posters also carry an apologue of values and ideas relating to sexual equality, or lack thereof. Whether this is a reflection on society or of the decision-makers in the film industry is a grey area. Given the state of sexual equality in the 1970s, and that males dominated positions of power, by definition, this was manifested in Hollywood itself. As a consequence, it could be argued that Hollywood and the state of sexual equality of the time were in a reflexive relationship, thereby maintaining a buoyancy of the dominant ideologies. Going beyond the scope of this essay, one could look at the values and ideas in the independent film industry, including the exploitation genre (and possibly the 'Blaxploitation' sub-genre). Additionally, the chronological advancement of female representation could be looked at as well, with movie posters such as 'Tomb Raider', Resident Evil', 'Jackie Brown' and 'Kill Bill' all featuring females extremely prominently and in positions of dominance (fig. 14).

Fig. 1 ( Universal Studios)

Fig. 2 ( Universal Studios)

Fig. 3 ( Universal Studios)

Fig. 4 ( Universal Studios)

Fig. 5 ( 20th Century Fox)

Fig. 6 ( Warner Bros.)

Fig. 7 ( Universal Studios)

Fig. 9 ( MGM)

Fig. 10 ( MGM)

Fig. 11 ( 20th Century Fox)

Fig. 12 ( Columbia Pictures)

Fig. 13 ( Paramount Pictures)