Why am I fascinated with the Apocalypse? Why do I get eerily interested at the prospect of all of humanity being wiped out? Why am I fascinated with fiction about zombies, pandemics, nuclear fallout... anything where the world has been reduced to a barely functioning husk of its bustling former self?
I don't know... Maybe I'm disturbed...
But anyway, I've been watching this show called "Life After People" which some of you may have heard of. It's on the History Channel (and also, seasons 1 and 2 stream instantly on Netflix, which is where I've been watching) and is infinitely interesting to someone like me who has a sick brain and apparently wants to see the human race decimated.
As the opening credits say (and I'm paraphrasing), it's the story not of how we might be wiped out, but the story of the world we leave behind.
Here's a taste...
I picked that clip almost at random off of YouTube to give all of you who might be interested a taste, but the series doesn't just explore what would happen to buildings if there were no people around. It uses sophisticated computer animation, talks to experts, scientists, and authors and examines places already devoid of humans to show us animals and how they'd adapt and change behaviors, how famous landmarks would be destroyed or stand the test of time, how national treasures fare without human maintenance, and all manner of other things chugging along (or not) after all humans are gone.
I began watching this show as a bit of research for a piece of fiction I've had in my head for a along time and maybe someday, I'll get the drive and write that thing. For now, I can laze around in my PJ's and watch the world collapse... and be educated in the process.
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