Kinship at the End of the World: Apocalyptic Media and The Last Man on Earth as a Manifesto for Life in Eco-Crisis
Abstract
The Last Man on Earth (2015–2018) presciently foreshadows the cultural anxieties that plagued 2020 by portraying the death of almost all life on the planet from a widespread killer described only as “the virus.” The series challenges the recurrent individualism present in apocalyptic dramas while rejecting the framework of a world historical individual that transforms the world through sheer political will. We argue that The Last Man on Earth uses comedic approaches to explore the impacts of widespread ecological (socio-epidemiological and environmental) crises and both critiques the overconsumption that marks life in the Anthropocene and resists apocalyptic media’s typical insistence on rugged individualism in favor of the necessity of kinship as a mechanism for survival.
Department(s)
Communication, Media, Journalism and Film
Document Type
Article
DOI
10.4324/9781032699622-15
Publication Date
1-1-2024
Recommended Citation
Holladay, Holly W. and Classen, Chandler L., "Kinship at the End of the World: Apocalyptic Media and The Last Man on Earth as a Manifesto for Life in Eco-Crisis" (2024). Faculty Scholarship. 459.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/articles00/459
Journal Title
Television Sitcom and Cultural Crisis
