The effects of growing up with so much lovin' from tv has had interesting effects. Now, I really do try to avoid watching, but there's this itch inside of me that can only be scratched by whatever is coming up after these messages. When I watch a tv show, I can just turn off my brain, and stare mindlessly at the screen...sort of like, well, a zombie.
The last two weeks I watched several episodes of the series 'the walking dead'-a show about zombie apocalypse. It's got me thinking (sort of ruining the point of watching tv), where does our fascination with this concept of zombies come from? So, after very minimal, and skeptical research, here's my answer in one phrase blips...
- 18th century BC-Epic of Gilgamesh - 'I...will let the dead go up to eat the living! And the dead will outnumber the living!'
- Similiar concepts in Chinese, Native American, Indian, and Haitian cultures
- 1818-Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is somewhat reminiscent of zombies, but begins to address moral issues surrounding attacking them.
- 1968-Night of the Living Dead is likely the first portrayal of modern zombies.
- 1982-Michael Jackson's Thriller christens the King of Pop.
- 1993-The best zombie production ever was produced. My Boyfriend's Back is a movie about a young man who is killed in the middle of asking his dream girl to prom, and the power of love brings him back to life as a zombie and hilarity ensues.
I actually was going to go into a discussion of how zombies have changed and what I like/don't like about that, but I'm not sure it's worth it to discuss post-my boyfriend's back commentary on the subject. I guess to wrap things up, maybe we're super into watching zombies out of vanity. We stare into the luminous screen and see a little part of ourselves staring back. The zombies are asking for brains, and who am I to deny them?
I think the zombies are just the next fad for monster movies. Of course, the next question is why we feel the need to have monster movie fads? Probably because each monster reflects some aspect of ourselves--or humanity--that we most fear. Dracula was the embodiment of caving to our carnal desires; Frankenstein's monster was the embodiment of our fear of mortality and disease, deformity, susceptibility (there are many interpretations here, but this one seems to fit nicely); the Mummy is probably fear of old people....
ReplyDeleteI'd argue that zombies are the embodiment of the modern man coming to terms with his humdrum life. Dreams crushed, the realization that you won't live forever, and that you won't likely accomplish all your dreams. Seeing your body cannibalize itself into something you barely recognize. You'll see that in the theatres, there's a movie called Warm Bodies that has a zombie romance. This is very likely middle aged men telling themselves that they are still attractive. I think that's why this appeals to us. I want to believe that I am still an attractive man (if I ever was). Zombies are just the personification of all these insecurities and fears...and probably a bit of boredom, too.
What would you have to say about the change from slow zombies to fast ones? Any subtext there?
I rarely reply to comments but this one is so good I can't resist. I totally buy into your interpretation of the humdrum life. Slow to fast zombies is an interesting one (as well as the occasional re-personification of zombies as in Thriller (dancing) My Boyfriend's Back (salvation/heaven for zombies) and apparently Warm Bodies (love))and i think it could be another step to bringing the zombie closer to us.
DeleteI think that on the surface Hollywood knows that a rabid monster is much more interesting than a slow one. I think there are also hints of glorifying violence here. I've long thought that people like tv because it lets us feel emotions that were once commonplace, but now are omitted from our relatively boring lives. as human beings, we really do like to feel emotions, including violence. when we see it depicted on a screen by the mirror image of ourselves, we trick ourselves into thinking that we feel those deep emotions too.
Ok, so are they abandoning the metaphor and just cashing in on a meme, or are they just making zombies even more scary (that humdrum life is now cut short by an early death, and you didn't even write that book you had planned for so long) and just hyping the same fears?
DeleteI'm kind of favoring the idea that they're just playing with the zombie mold, but that they're putting your fears about life on steroids. It does feel like they are a different monster, though, when they come running at you instead of ambling lamely.
As for the need for a mirror to see those emotions, I will buy that only if they are staying with the zombie as a metaphor for an unfulfilling life. If we can't see ourselves as the monster, then we lose so much of the fear. And speeding them up doesn't really do much but raise the pulse a little. I guess if you argue that society has ADD, and the zombies need to be fast to keep you interested, then they could keep the metaphor intact, while addressing an attention deficit.
It's kind of sad, either way. I have found myself not caring about movies as of late. That's saying a lot, since I was a bit of a movie buff for several years. I wonder if it just comes with age, or have I reached that zenith of attention deficit, and since I don't watch zombie movies, I don't get the rush.