More than a thriller

If the world is really going to come to an end on Dec. 21, 2012, then people better start setting more short-term goals.

Even though NASA addressed many of the reasons for why the world will not end in 2012 on their official Web site, skeptics will believe what they want. In this case, some people are choosing to believe that the Earth was given an expiration date, like a gallon of milk, by the Mayan civilization. 

These people annoy me.

They obsess over movies like the new apocalyptic thriller “2012” and exist to freak everyone out. In fact, the Institute for Human Continuity, which was developed as a promotional stunt for the movie “in preparation for the end of the world,” is holding an election for a leader of the post-2012 world.

I’m really glad the institute was set up, because when Nibiru (a supposed planet that was discovered by the Sumerians, according to NASA) crashes in to the Earth as the myth claims it will, the non-existent world is going to need a leader.

That’s a brilliant idea. While they’re at it, they should hold an election for post-2012 nutcase. They would all win.

I have trouble believing that these conspiracy theorists are truly convinced the world will end in three years. When patients are diagnosed with a terminal illness, they tend to live the few years they have left to the fullest.

Rather than living their lives to the very fullest by going on an adventure, spending time with their loved ones or hitting up Las Vegas, a group of moviegoers would prefer to waste 158  of the few minutes they have left sitting in a dark theater watching Hollywood stunts simulate the world ending.

I have no idea whether or not this planet is going to live to see 2013, but I’m assuming NASA is right about this one.

Too bad NASA didn’t have the creative team that launched the “2012” promotions campaign to help spread their message. 

Its plot is absurd, but “2012” debuted at $65 million. 

The thriller is making quite a killing at the box office and, even though I’m too afraid to see any movie that involves the world ending during my lifetime, I must commend Sony Pictures on their marketing campaign for this flick.

They were able to toss the world into a crisis mode comparable to the Y2K scare (one of the most over-hyped, anticlimactic moments of my life, I might add). 

The Internet is now flooded with ridiculousness like the Institute for Human Continuity’s Web site, and I’ve noticed that some of my classmates have been studying the Mayan calendar harder than the material they should be focused on to pass their courses.

I’m impressed with the publicity stunts Sony pulled to generate hype about this movie. They were crafty and created a marketing campaign encouraging their target demographic to research the real Mayan calendar.

Congratulations, Sony.

The campaign not only made the movie $5 million more than many had projected it would in its debut, but it also turned people into paranoid fools.