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A Terror Management Analysis of Films from Four Genres: The Matrix, Life is Beautiful, Iron Man 2, and Ikiru

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Abstract

As the volume introduction noted, the threat and occurrence of death are common elements of a wide range of films across eras and genres. While various perspectives can be fruitfully applied to examining death in films, in this chapter we focus on how films illuminate the psychological consequences of the human awareness of death. To do so, we utilize a well-supported psychological theory regarding how people manage the problem of death to discuss four superficially very different films that pertain to the human response to death.

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Authors

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Daniel Sullivan Jeff Greenberg

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© 2013 Daniel Sullivan and Jeff Greenberg

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Greenberg, J., Ayars, A. (2013). A Terror Management Analysis of Films from Four Genres: The Matrix, Life is Beautiful, Iron Man 2, and Ikiru. In: Sullivan, D., Greenberg, J. (eds) Death in Classic and Contemporary Film. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137276896_2

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