I can't help but wonder; where does our obsession with the undead stem from? And what does this fascination say about our culture? As human beings we are inherently afraid of death and these "living dead" are a physical representation of such. Their ability to defy logic is matched by their desire to eat our brains. This is more frightening than merely eating an arm as it symbolizes their dominance over us; they've destroyed our intellect, without such we are just the same as them. Perhaps this theory is stretching; what do you think?
Sunday, May 17, 2009
After a night of debauchery a few of my friends and I decided the best cure for our aching heads and growling stomaches was a hearty Sunday brunch. Midway through our meal talk turned from mild chit-chat to apocalyptic theories. Sara had recently read The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead and stated with certainty that she believed the zombie apocalypse is imminent. Apparently there is a whole sub-culture devoted to the study of zombies that I was unaware of and for the past 21 years have remained in the dark about while seemingly everyone else is tuned in. While mulling over the topic in my head throughout the day I've noticed it's presence in a variety of facets from the "Nazi Zombie" xbox game that my boyfriend devotes himself to for 5 hours of the day, to Romero's famous 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. The media is pumping us full of fear and dread for an ending that is less than desirable.
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Hey Emily,
ReplyDeleteI too,have a friend like Sarah, who believes a zombie attack is not only plausible, but approaching. Though the only answer he gave me when I asked him why he thought so was, "I just know," I think I have an idea about where this idea comes from. Like you, I believe it has a lot do with humanity's natural fear of death, and even further, fear of the unknown. Death is one facet of human life (or really, lack therefore) that is impossible to fully comprehend. Science may help prevent death or say why death occurred, but it can't tell us what happens after one passes. There's really no proof that death is permanent. People have technically died and come back to life, so maybe that's a hint that death is reversible and it's only a matter of time before the dead decide to come back. Just a thought.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those topics that have always freaked me out. I've always had his deep rooted fear that I'll be driving past a cemetery, and an old, dead, relative will be sitting at their gravestone waving. It's crazy to look at the pop culture angle, with books and movies coming out to only amplify people's fear of living after death. (Did you know they're doing a remake to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? Sounds romantic, huh?)
Not to jump ahead, but I wonder how the world would react if there were some way for scientists to get people to come back from the dead? It would go against a lot of religions, and not to mention, it would mean a whole lot of brain eating (muhahaha).
Emily
ReplyDeleteInteresting topic, I too was in the dark that there was a large following of people that truly believed a zombie attack to be imminent. Without the media in some form, would the idea of a zombie even exist? Think of our first notions of what constitutes a zombie and how they look, most likely if an image pops into your head it will be one reminiscent of something seen in a movie.
Although spurring from that topic, the afterlife and idea of ghosts are certainly a less silly notions in my opinion. It is human nature to wonder and perhaps to even fear this great unknown, which is why many turn to religion. The idea of scientifically bringing someone to life is a very scary thought as well, I am sure there would be a lot of unanticipated complications on the test subjects, I personally hope we never get there, too creepy. : /
I feel that the zombie apocalypse is already here. Not in the physical sense, but I think that we've been turned into zombies by our culture. Fast food, video games, television, shopping malls and other things transform us into consumers out for instant gratification. I didn't come up with this on my own and I'm not going to pretend that I formed this opinion by myself. If you've seen Romero's "Dawn of the Dead"(the original not the remake) it takes place almost entirely in a shopping mall. The juxaposition is rather frightening and isn't too far from reality. People shuffling through malls only concerned with their next item on their list, store, or meal (usually not brains) is something we can see in any large store or shopping center.
ReplyDeleteI'm not recommending blowing off their heads as a solution because that only works in the videogames and movies, but something needs to be done to save our attention spans and brains!