The purpose of the article "Zombie Movies Are Never Really About Zombies" is to explain to readers that zombies have little to do with the undead. The author walks us through the history of zombies and how they were represented in the past. Zombies have appeared across cultures and time periods, making them an archetype. Before reading this article, I had never considered that the viewpoint of what zombies portrayed was completely different centuries ago. I always thought that zombies were just gory, scary forms of entertainment. However, the idea of a zombie has roots in the culture of enslaved people. Haitian slaves believed that when they died from non-suicide, they became a zombie that was released back to their homeland, where they were free from slavery. On the other hand, when they committed suicide, they became soulless zombies that would never be free. Zombies were viewed as a symbol of oppression and the fear of losing one's identity. The article also discusses how modern zombie movies and TV shows have shifted the focus from the undead to the living and how they deal with the apocalypse. Overall, the article provides a fascinating insight into the cultural significance
Producers create franticness throughout the movie to make it more intriguing to the audience. If I were to make a zombie movie, I would have the main character die and become a zombie. Having the zombie as the main character is a better alternative to a typical zombie movie because it allows me to give the zombie an actual personality. I would also provide information on the zombie's life and what's going through its mind. In conclusion, I am a huge fan of zombie films and I hope they continue to be made. However, I recommend that producers make them differently by providing background information about the zombie itself. If you want to learn about the history of the idea that represents the zombie, I recommend reading this article.
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,
In the article "Movies that Rose from the Grave" by Max Brooks, he delves deeper into the reasoning of where, why, and when zombie horror flicks
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
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
As said in the previous discussion regarding the second chapter of Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human, zombies and their culture are examined and broken down in order to understand their motives for the progression of zombies globally. Through different perspectives from individuals based around the world, the discussion of the zombie culture debates over the idea that zombies have not just evolved within the narratives that have brought them to life, but they have evolved in such a way that ultimately transforms the narrative itself. However, in this specific chapter, “They are not men.they are dead bodies!” : From Cannibal to Zombie and Back Again, Chera Kee breaks down the introduction of zombies into mainstream consciousness, and eventually cinema.
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 beneath 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”
Zombies have become very popular due to their depictions of being easy to kill and being communal. Zombie apocalypses are also very relatable due to the fact that they are set in lives similar to our society and seem easy to overcome. Zombies, themselves, can be identified with because we see ourselves when we look at a zombie. Zombies drudge on through the same task of finding human flesh to consume every day just like we drag ourselves to either class or our job in order to sit through another boring lecture or perform the same menial task every day. Just like the zombie, R, in the book, Warm Bodies, said, “I am Dead, but it’s not so bad. I’ve learned to live with it,” we have learned to succumb to our daily routines and just live with
We don’t see anything resembling a zombie until the third act. Even then, the “monsters” aren’t mindless brain eaters. They’re just decomposing at an accelerated rate.
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.
In Night of the Living Dead, the zombies were eventually eliminated. Or were they? Theorists argue that the monster’s elusiveness is due to its physical, psychological and social characteristics that cross the lines of classification. Human’s innate fear of the unknown is due to their inability to make a distinction or draw a clear conclusion. This is explained further in Jeffrey Cohen’s second thesis in “Monster Theory” that claims that; “the monster never escapes” (Cohen, 14). The zombie as a monster can never be destroyed completely and if it is, it leaves a remnant the make people feel uncertain of its destruction. Base on Cohen’s theory, the zombie’s different interpretation allows it to emerge in other forms (a faster, smarter zombie?)
They use a lot of information that is overwhelming, and does not add a lot of validity to the point they were trying to make. Throughout the article, the authors take from various other zombie pieces, such as movies, books, and TV shows and use them to add to their ideas. In some cases, they also use other pieces and discredit them as a way to prove their own point. For example, they talk about the “Cyborg Manifesto” by Donna Haraway. This essay presents the idea of the cyborg, which is an organism that is part human and part machine. Throughout the essay, Haraway gives examples of where we see the cyborg throughout media, and how humans might be connected to it. The authors in “A Zombie Manifesto” stated how they were influenced to title their piece after her, but they go on throughout the essay constantly trying to prove the piece wrong. They argue that the idea Haraway is presenting is not truly what humans connect to, and the authors think their ideas are more relatable. They believe their zombie interpretation is more relatable than Haraway’s cyborg interpretation. The authors are trying to make their interpretation more valid by invalidating another interpretation. This makes the piece hard to agree with, for an interpretation is relative to each person, and tearing apart another interpretation is an unproductive way to persuade readers to agree with you and your ideas. Another reason the article is difficult to agree with, is the fact that it is very difficult to understand. With the piece being as persuasive as it is, the authors did not take the time to ensure the writing would be easy to understand for all. In reading the article, it felt as though the authors had a specific group of readers in mind and didn’t accommodate to others who might find interest in zombies. The article is written in such a way
There are many possibilities where a human can be turned into a “zombie”. Disease, disease has been with humans as long as humans have lived on this Earth. When we look throughout history, we can see the evolution of disease. In England during the Middle Ages, the Bubonic Plague is a perfect example. It hit the British pretty hard, taking them absolutely by surprise.
George A. Romero, the director of Night of the Living Dead accidently created the zombie genre that we are familiar with today. Night of the Living Dead reshaped the entire genre with its bitter realism. Romero established verisimilitude unintentionally by focusing on how people react to crisis. The first zombie movies relied on semi-terrifying dress codes (of their time) and the conventional diegetic scream of a female. Whereas Romero’s film is an interpretation of humankind’s collapse. Romero drew inspiration from the infamous Vietnam War spiralling at the time and the American civil war. The verisimilitude lies within the human condition in dire times, like war. Therefore, in the Night of the Living Dead the zombie/ghoul stands as a symbol for the enemy contriving those dire times. This consequently makes the genre actually terrifying because representations have altered. Zombies are no longer an otherworldly or scientific monster e.g. White Zombie but a