The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore is based on a zombie apocalyptic world where people are fighting to survive after a zombie outbreak. Todd K. Platts’ Locating Zombies in the Sociology of Popular Culture suggests that zombies used in the media are representations of our fears and anxiety. Platts believes that zombies “represent fears associated with a loss of identity and the anxieties associated with nuclear radiation and the possibility of an apocalyptic future” (Platts 551-552). These fears are illustrated in Kirkman’s comic, as Rick and the other survivors try to stay alive until the government solves the outbreak. Through this essay, I conclude that zombies are used to represent cultural anxiety that we all fear will happen …show more content…
Their appearance suggests that they are “designed to evoke our macabre fascination” (Platts 550) created from “manmade and natural disasters, conflicts and wars, and crime and violence” (550). This is seen in the comic’s illustrations when Rick wakes up from a coma and sees the zombies. The zombies all look bloody and dead, and have a lot of scars and gashes on their body. This image is one that many people fear, because we live in a world where appearances determine your future. The thought of looking disfigured goes against society’s definition of normal. In addition, the zombies also appear to be malnourished, and are seen moving extremely slowly in many scenes. One prime example is when Rick and Glenn first meet and are heading to the campsite just outside of Atlanta. They were trying to get to the campsite when suddenly the zombies start following them and they have to look for a way to escape. At this time, Glenn tells Rick not to worry about them since they will “be long gone before [the zombies] get down [to them]” (Kirkman and Moore n.p.). When we see these types of traits, we would often assume they are sick or abnormal; we like to believe that in order for someone to be considered normal, they must be healthy and have an appealing appearance that fits social standards. As a result, whenever we think of nuclear radiation, we associate them with the appearances of zombies: looking disfigured and malnourished, and because are made to believe that appearances are important, any association with a zombie’s appearance will go against a person’s social
Torie Boschs “First eat all the lawyers” appeared in Slate october 2011. Her piece was to reach out to horror fans and to explain to them why zombies are a great monsters in current media. Zombie fanatics who read this short essay will love her vast knowledge of zombies while others who still do not understand why zombies are horribly terrifying can get behind her argument. Bosch explains that the current zombie craze has to do with our current society and how white-collar workers would be left defenceless in a world over run with a rampant horde of zombies. While blue-collar workers can flourish in this current state as they have more skills suited for survival. Boschs essay uses rhetorical devices such as ethos, foil and satire to make her
Both White Zombie and “Dead Men Walking in the Cane Fields” represent the early zombie and both of them embody Cohen’s first thesis “The Monster is a Cultural Body” Both the story and the film have zombies and both of these works make their zombies appear scary with dead like characteristics, however the real reason why they are scary is that, at the time, they tried to change society and that scared people. The people that liked society the way it was didn’t want another group to gain power or righ...
Max Brooks explains in his article ‘’The Movies That Rose From The Grave’’ [2006], that zombies and the supernatural forces have impacted and have become popular in the world today. The first main idea that Brooks points out is the way society has changed the meaning and glimpse for the supernatural creatures like zombies causing them to become increasingly popular. To support this zombie movies have changed from darkness and mystery to violent and bloodier scenes therefore making them more prevailing. The second main idea that is discussed by Brooks is how the media has helped to increase the popularity of zombies, vampires, ghosts. Highlighted by the author particularity both ‘’resident evil,
James Parker essay “Our Zombies, Ourselves,” informs readers that the zombie has almost outranked the vampire, and why they’re so popular. This undead monster originated from a Caribbean folk nightmare and was adapted over time by, the Halperin brothers, William Seabrook and George Romero and numerous others. Much like the vampire, zombies owe their fame to the progressiveness of technology, allowing them to consistently invade various media forms. The zombie has infested countless tv shows, movies, video games, and books, throughout the 21st century. Zombies themselves are soulless corpses who were regurgitated back into the world of the living. This making them rejects from the underworld, this presents the zombie as rejected yet inexpungable. What makes the zombie so popular, however, is that symbolizes everything that is rejected by humanity. “Much can be made of him, because he makes so little of himself. He comes back, He comes back, feebly but unstoppably” (Parker). The zombie represents humanity itself as well as what is rejected by humanity. Much like individuals today, the zombie is burdened by life’s demands, converting to nothing but a rotting, groaning human shell that stumbles through life without a purpose. The zombie is symbolizer of the real world, and all things irrepressible, whereas the vampire is a symbol of an alternate world and all things
Although the zombie metaphor focuses primarily on fear involving unconscious contributors and their mission of adding to their population, the fear of governmental control and how society responds to the epidemic is also an issue that needs to be considered. In this scenario, the viral outbreak is not only a threat to individual health but also to the stability of society as a whole.
The pages of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury were to show a plausible disaster in America, even though the events never happened; it could still come true to an extent. We can see why Mr. Bradbury made such a novel as to bring the idea of what could happen to our minds. If we stray from the knowledge seeking ways we contain in our society, we would and still might find the tides of conformity flush away our humanity. We do strive to keep this disastrous dystopia only created in our dreaded thoughts and ideas. If such a change occurred here, we would address the situation as a hazard of a great form, a situation that makes us into a type of zombie. Yes, some kind of zombie, they might be as the undead community as to always keep a fake smile. Yet, we cannot help but wonder; what makes a zombie? Is it the need for basic brain activity involvement every minute of their shallow lives? Possibly, the hidden depression that weighs their legs down gives them the sight of zombie drags? We could speculate that maybe these zombies of Fahrenheit 451 just look hungrily for love! Always to be dissatisfied by the quick and sudden luxuries. Zombies are the end to the survival of the majority population in humanity; this is why seeing Millie, firemen, and the city as zombies is okay, they prove the former statement through their actions of conformity. To understand and solve these questions and statements we will dive into the meanings of conformity and individuality, how Montag the protagonist of this novel sees the world, and we will chose in our own minds through this information the evils and goods between conformed life and independent persons.
The zombie race is very different. It doesn't not have many abilities and is not advanced like humans. Their behavior patterns are different. They cannot stand cold or winter weather. Their behavior is very different and difficult to calculate. They usually stand around lingering and waiting to attack when they hear something. They follow noises.Some abilities that they do have is that they have excellent hearing and can walk but aren't blind.The also can smell human blood. Zombies are generally weak but don’t underestimate what they can do to a human.
George Romero's reinvention of the zombie in Night of the Living Dead (1968) is clearly a critique of elements of the American society, and the film as a whole is easily twisted into a warped view on the 'American Dream'. Themes throughout Romero’s film, dealing with controversial topics during the time that the film was made, are still, to this day, debated by critics and film historians. Themes of racism and war are defined within the movie, hidden underneath the idea of carnal, cannibalistic zombies and over the top heroes who, eventually, succumb to the reanimated despite their every effort. These themes are colored over and painted to hide subtle references to the typical American Dream during this time, and Romero does quite the good job at it too. This dream, whilst continuously changing in the everyday lives of modern Americans, can be loosely defined as a national ethos of the United States, or a set of ideals dealing with freedom and the opportunity for success - an upward social status that can be achieved through hard work and effort.
It has a lot of examples that it used like “The principal downside to any zombie attack is that the zombies will never stop coming the principal downside to life is that you will never be finished with whatever it is you do” (pg.41). This can be tight to the current times because we as people never stop, we are always afraid of getting behind, that we have become like zombies or running from zombies. This author also points out are fascination with zombies a growing fad that has people preparing and imagination what their reactions would be in a situation like what people believe will one day happen. He compares other movies that are related to the poplar series “The Walking Dead”
The idea of a zombie is made up and it comes from nzambi, the Kongo word for the spirit of a dead person. In states such as Louisiana, or the Creole culture they believe zombies represent a person who has dies and brought back to life with no speech. Kings psychological argument on how we have an urge to watch horror movies because it helps to re-establish our feelings and feel natural again. Klusterman’s sociological essay helped us see the comparison of zombies and humans in real life. In conclusion zombies are not real, they are make believe but help bring a sense of normality to
In the article, “A Zombie Manifesto: The Nonhuman Condition in the Era of Advanced Capitalism” by Sarah Juliet Lauro and Karen Embry, the authors’ evaluate the idea of the zombie and its connection to capitalism and post-humanism. According to the authors, the zombie represents much more than just a fear, it represents a loss of oneself to many different things, primarily to a capitalist society. The authors have come to the conclusion that humans have a fear of what they cannot control, and that is why the zombie is so big in entertainment. We see zombies everywhere, in movies, books, tv shows, fundraisers, marathons, and so much more. They have been around for decades, but recently they have become very popular. The authors believe this is
Mass amounts of people will die, families will be separated, and peaceful ways of life will be long gone. Guard your loved ones, board up your windows and keep your gun under your pillow because you’re gonna need it. I have taught the facts, the opinions, and the theories on the possibility of a zombie apocalypse. I have explained with facts and statistics the ramifications of it if it was to happen, the way and speed at which it can spread, and the cruelty that will follow. You can protect yourself and the ones closest to you, but first you have to believe it.
Fear is of course the most common one as it is generally the theme that is almost universally shared in all media relating to zombies. The book does not break any new grounds in the discussion of fear from zombies. However, the fear that people experience from not being able to defeat the zombies is something largely unique in the story. It haunts the characters and motivates them to come up with new techniques to defeat this unscareable force. On the other hand, the main theme that this book makes largely its own is the theme of primitivism.
Romero changed the way people thought about zombies. His zombies represented everything people were afraid of at the time. Romero’s zombies represented American fear of communism, fear of races mixing, and fear of the youth revolting against their elders. In his second and third movies, Romero’s zombies represented fear of consumerism-being a mindless consumer and being consumed- and fear of losing our humanity through violence. Zombies were always scary because they used to perfectly represent the wide spread fears of
The terrorism acts, murderers and natural disasters are all the “zombie apocalypses” of this century. This social standard that the world is a violent place fills everyone’s mind with fear, and if these standards weren’t so terrifying neither would the movies or images of the zombie be. With the jarring events and diseases transpiring such as 9/11, and the Zika virus, one cannot live a normal life of ease. The cultural anxiety of today represents the zombies of this day and age. It may be because of the social events that have occurred over the years leading to the intimidating image of the zombie, but these zombies provide ideas of how we deal with the past and present social issues.