a change in course may be required

I think I may have come to the end of my fascination with the end of the world. At least I think I need a break from it. We saw The Road on Thursday evening -- at times, I could not even watch the screen it depressed and infuriated me so much. I told Hubby on leaving the theatre, "if it comes to a time where all vegetation has been destroyed, I'm out."

Honestly, I think it's the first time I've left feeling anything other than "entertained" by an apocalyptic film and that's saying something because I've seen a lot of them -- several in the last year alone, including Knowing, 2012, Daybreakers, and Zombieland.

I spent my teen years convinced our world would be obliterated by the exchange of nuclear warheads between the US and the USSR, with Canada being collateral damage in the middle. By the time I was in university, the Cold War was drawing to a close and the hands of the Doomsday Clock were drawn back. I relaxed a little. Sure, I was still convinced we were going to hell in a handbasket but not at full speed.

However, since 9/11 (and OMG, how I hate that phrase, but I promise I am using it only in a historical context here) Hollywood has been pulling out the stops, greenlighting movies that forecast the future, however bleak. Sure, they still crank out the mindless fare, but I've always considered fluff not worthy of big-screen viewing. Maybe I've got it all backwards. Maybe I need more Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock.

So bring on the happy, Hollywood, I think I'm going to stop paying for the gloom.