Trust the experts

In every disaster movie, you’ll find the same group of characters. As soon as the disaster hits, there’s a preacher who proclaims, “There’s no need to fear! God will save us!” Instantly, he is gobbled up by the monster, sucked out the hole in the fuselage, falls through a collapsing floor into the flames below, or whatever the disaster happens to be.

The survivors (including a fading celebrity or two) group around two people. The leader is an expert of some sort. If it’s a plague believed to come from outer space, he (and, yeah, it’s usually a he) is a doctor. If a tower has become an inferno, he’s an architect. Whatever the problem is, he happens to be the expert at solving it. (He also happens to be ruggedly handsome and has his bangs mussed up so he looks even more swoon-worthy as he climbs through the rubble.)

Our leader is opposed by some loudmouthed braggart, usually a businessman or tough guy with heavy eyebrows and a too-tight dress shirt. He questions everything the leader does, and foments division among the survivors.

They come to a point where they have to make a critical decision, one that brings the tension between the leader and the opponent to the breaking point. The opponent bellows, “Follow me if you want to live!” A few of the survivors do. As expected, the opponent has made the wrong decision and winds up getting himself and his followers…