Dante's Peak: Pop Culture And Geology

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Dante’s Peak Critical Analysis: Pop-Culture and Geology Many movies depict natural disasters and over dramatize them. Dante’s Peak may not be perfect in how it portrays volcanic activity, but it does a pretty good job. It captures a lot of the real life drama that would ensue during an eruption. It mentions real geological terms that we have learned about in this class. The movie starts out with the main character living through a volcano and going back to work at the United States Geological Survey in Vancouver, Washington. So far this is a believable scenario. It is possible to live through a volcanic eruption.
Dante’s Peak is in the Northern Cascades and is where the volcanic activity is happening. One of the first events in the movie involves Twonset Hot Springs, where two people are boiled alive while swimming. Something similar to this has happened in Yellowstone National Park. “A …show more content…

Not all of the eruptions are on track with actual volcanoes, but they do use correct terminology. Some of the effects in the movie are similar to reality. A car driving across molten lava would obviously not go anywhere. It would immediately erupt into flames and there would be no survivors. I do hope that nobody would actually try to drive across lava. That being said, it is a movie and not a documentary. It will not get every detail correct while still capturing audiences with the drama. While it would be nice if movies followed all the laws of physics, it wouldn’t be plausible for them if they want to keep the publics attention in a movie theater. I don’t think very many people go to a movie expecting it to be completely accurate. I don’t think any of the scientifically incorrect parts of the movie were out of ignorance of anything. I believe it was simply a plot device to bring more drama. This may confuse the publics understanding, but they can easily google to find the accuracy or they can pick up a book on

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