"I hate to break it to you, but it's probably zombies."
Yup. It's about time I discuss the undead elephant in the room -- zombies.
I've decided that zombies are a unique...beast. I once decided to a mini-research project on the history of zombies, but I'm not going to redo that here. But if you're interested, it's worth looking up. It was some pretty fascinating stuff...
I would also be tempted to provide a list of my favorite zombies of pop culture, but frankly my friends all surpass my knowledge and enthusiasm so my list would be rather embarrassing. For example, my favorite zombie movie is Zombieland, and I really really don't like The Walking Dead tv show (love the first three comic trades though). So I'm not going to pretend I know a thing about which zombies are best. But it did get me thinking -- in regards to my zombie-enthusiastic friends, I wonder if they actually wish it was a part of reality the way I wish I had gotten my acceptance letter to Hogwarts at 11. Not passing judgement, but it's kind of a funny thought - since for me at least, zombies are realm of fandom that make me actually grateful that it's not real.
Also, in thinking about the range of zombie qualities and their presentation, I discovered they really do possess quite the collection of contradictions or dualities. I suppose most things in life could have the same said about them, but that is not the point. Today it's zombies.
So yeah, we've established that people either (not so) secretly wish for the zombie apocalypse and probably consider Zombieland more of a study guide than source of entertainment, or there are those that if given the choice between real zombies or mandatory dentist appointment everyday for the rest of your life -- yeah, I'ma go with dentist.
In there presentation, it's kind of interesting to me that in most zombie movies/shows/comics/games it's either all about the zombies or not about the zombies at all. And even then if it's "about them" it's not really about them... I realize at first glance that probably doesn't sound right, but I'm still convinced it's true. Let me explain... on the one hand, you have zombies as a means to illustrate a social construct (e.g. "our dependence on technology has like turned us into zombies, dude") or to show how people -- the survivors -- relate to each other in a very controlled environment hypothesized by the writer (which is what puts most zombie stories in that dystopian genre). Even though the story or whatever is largely about zombies (it would be weird to call, for example, The Walking Dead, a survival story. It only makes sense as a "zombie story") but then again, it's really not about the zombies at all. Its about the choices those who experience them have to make to survive.
On the other hand, often times the zombies are entirely the focal point and it's not about the survivors at all. And these stories again use zombies to achieve another purpose -- gore and violence. Whether you like it or not (whether it's even really okay to "like" gore...which would be another topic of discussion), zombies are a vehicle for violence. So once again it's never really about the zombies in this case either, other than to pose the question "how many can I take out with this here chainsaw, eh?"
I think the only exception to these two presentations is probably the book Warm Bodies (for the record, the movie is just "eh". although I love About a Boy, so I'm glad to see that kid is back to work, and lookin' good if I do say so myself!). It doesn't focus too much on the survival of the non-zombies, and it doesn't focus on the destruction of the zombies just for the sake of it either. It's the exception that makes the rule, and I really enjoyed it. It's humorous at times, and full of existential goodness. Haha. (Apparently it's also based on Romeo & Juliet. I suppose this should have been super obvious when I read it, but I didn't pick up on it, and it didn't make a difference to me even after I found out. But I thought you should get a heads up.)
The only other exception I can think of right now, would be World War Z. I can't speak of the movie, since honestly the trailer looks like crap -- like they spent half the budget on Brad Pitt and said "eff it" in regards to decent CGI... anywho...I'm reading the book right now and it's pretty decent. The presentation is really unique, and super convincing. And again, from what I can tell it doesn't fall in either camp too strictly. Although I suppose it would be mostly about the survivors, but it's told as a 'history' of sorts so for some reason it makes it seem just a bit different than following along with a cast of characters trying to survive to the end. I dunno. I'll report back when/if I finish it (if you haven't noticed already, I'm notorious for not finishing anything, and I'm also currently reading Red Mars, which is super-fantastic.)
So where was I? Oh yeah, zombies. Duh... I think that's it for my thoughts on them. I realize it's not a bunch of contradictory stuff, but it is a surprisingly decent amount considering that most other genres don't have to deal with that. I mean, if you look at approaches to space travel or some other prevalent thing in science fiction, there are hundreds of different interpretations but they all tend to follow the same rules and constraints (just science -- physics...no big deal...). But zombies don't really have that -- I mean, everyone kind of sort of agrees on a couple key characteristics-- OH GEEZ, I'm getting into the "essence" of being a zombie...I'ma take that as a sign I should stop here...
P.S. - I'm a total chicken when it comes to scary stuff -- I don't do well with graphic violence, gore, horror, or anything generally perceived to be scary. So there are no pictures this time around, since searching for zombies on pinterest or google is frankly really gross and not worth the trouble...so instead I will leave you with this:
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