In the Hollywood blockbuster film period from the mid-1970s, the fantasy film genre gained a new significance. Vampires, artificial humans, monsters, superheroes and aliens have never been as popular as today. This development is the starting point for a new investigation, adopting a perspective that has not previously been applied in the film studies context, i.e. the analysis of scenarios for their metaphorical theological content.
The "metaphorical theology and enemy stereotypes (Feindbilder) in fantasy films" project of Dr Tan Wälchli forms part of the lead project on "Art relationships", which explores the intersections between music, visual (and audiovisual) arts, literature and dance:
In the Hollywood blockbuster film period from the mid-1970s, the fantasy film genre gained a new significance. The trend has further intensified since the 1990s. Vampires, artificial humans, monsters, superheroes and aliens have never been so popular.
This development is the starting point for a new investigation, adopting a perspective not previously applied in the film studies context, i.e. the analysis of fantasy scenarios for their metaphorical theological content. This does not, however, imply treating fantasy as timeless. The approach is rather to explore how the various metaphorical theological themes are used to introduce new definitions in the discussion of current social crises. This approach is based on Freud, who in his studies on the psychology of the masses analysed the way in which metaphorical theological concepts can serve as the basis of a political theology operating with the "friend vs. foe" dichotomy.
The project examines German films from the early 1920s, when the country was in deep crisis following its defeat in the First World War, and American films from the early 1930s (Great Depression) and the 1950s (start of the Cold War). The final part also examines some blockbuster films, with the main focus on the 1990s and the present. In this case, the researcher is interested not in how a current crisis is addressed, but how these films apply techniques such as remakes, allusions or pastiches to assign values to the older films they refer to, and thereby also re-process past crisis situations. In the light of Freud's theory of trauma, a distinction is made between films that simply "repeat" known scenarios, and those that "recall" or "rework" them, thereby creating an opportunity to deconstruct the friend-foe dichotomy.