Cover Photo: Scene from "The Impossible," Apaches Entertainment/Telecinco Cinema
Scene from "The Impossible," Apaches Entertainment/Telecinco Cinema

How to Survive a Disaster Movie: Be White. Speak English.

When Americans consume media that privileges white survival, what does it mean for which disasters earn our attention, our money, our likes, our grief?

1. How to Survive a Disaster Movie

The Impossible,

The Impossible

The Impossible

GodzillaTitanic2012San Andreas

in

Mad Max: Fury RoadisMad Max

solve

Parable of the Sower

Attack the Block

WaveThe Impossible

Princess Mononoke Nausicaaof the Valley of the Wind

Annesha Mitha is an MFA candidate at the Helen Zell Writers' Program at the University of Michigan. Her work is published or forthcoming in The Kenyon Review Online , Tin House the Open Bar, and PEN America. She tweets sporadically @anneshamitha.