I
have encountered zombies in films, such as Wild Zero (1999), Shaun of
the Dead (2004), Død snø (Dead Snow, 2009), and, of course, the franchise of The Evil Dead (1981, 1987, 1992, and we'll pretend that the
2013 one doesn't really exist for the sake of everyone's
happiness). I have also run into, controlled, and slain
many zombies in video games, such as in Silent Hill, Diablo 3,
and Guild Wars 2. There are also many books which delve
into the zombie culture, like those of Max Brooks. Despite
my experience with the undead in these works, zombieism did not catch my
attention until this class started. This is because I was
much more focused on the living human characters. I was
always rooting for the badass with the chainsaw in the films or
books, and I was always mindlessly killing the risen in the
games. Never did I wonder: are the zombies were autonomous? Do they have memories? Could I kill an undead close one if I
were squared off with them?
We've
tried to answer such questions to AMC's The Walking Dead, although
we have only seem clips from the show in its infancy, so the
conclusions we came up with were open-ended. I would like to apply
these questions Død snø, simply because the entire movie is
available on YouTube:
(Sadly,
there is no English subbed version. There is a dubbed version on
YouTube, but it's terrible. In the parts I look at, though, understanding the dialogue is not important.)
Død
snø is set near Øksfjord, Norway, where eight medical students on
vacation in a small cabin up in the mountains. Seven of the students
travel together via vehicle, while one opts to go on foot by herself
(she ends up dying in the first scene). The other seven arrive at
the cabin first, and just after they have settled in, they find
themselves having to face off with Nazi zombies who are bent on
retrieving and protecting a box of valuables that was looted during
World War II.
This
immediately raises the question of whether or not the zombies can
remember things, since they continue to protect the box of loot,
killing anybody who takes even one coin. This question of memories
is important, because if zombies do indeed remember their past life,
then perhaps they still hold on to a shred of humanity or agency.
Zombies with humanity or agency pose a threat for two chiefly reasons: it impacts
whether or not you are more conflicted in killing one who had a
connection with you, and it makes the zombies more threatening
(because they would then have the ability to strategize against you).
Since the risen in Død snø are Nazis, there is no concern of the
members of the group having to face off with someone with whom they
have a connection with (some of the members of the group are bitten,
but none of them return as undead). Determining whether or not the
zombies are autonomous beings in this movie, then, is done to
establish how threatening they are.
In Derksen and Hick's essay, "Your Zombie and You," they discuss the Lockean view
of personal identity, which posits that a person is the same person
as they were last week or last year if they “maintain the right
sort of psychological relationship with that individual” and if
they “participate in the same stream of consciousness” (18). The
zombies' remembrances suggest that they are the same people in their
undead form as in their living form, but Derksen and Hick argue that Locke's view of personal identity cannot
hold for zombies, because when the Nazi soldiers died, they “ceased
to have psychology,” so there was “no mind to be psychologically
continuous with”
(18, their emphasis). However, the zombies' protective
nature over the treasure in Død snø seems to suggest that they have
a memory of the treasure existing, that it means something to them,
and that they must protect it.
However, in our class discussion, we asked if zombies' habitual actions are purely muscle memory or if the actions bear sentimental value. It the actions are just muscle memory, then it's less arguable that their behavior is indicative of them being autonomous beings. The zombies in Død snø, though, are commanded by a zombified Standartenführer Herzog, whose actions seem to be performed with serious intent. After the big fight scene where the remaining survivors kill off a number of Herzog's soldiers, we see Herzog standing defiantly (1:17:04), appearing to be utterly livid that his soldiers were killed (again). He then calls out for more soldiers. This is an action of memory, as he remembers his position of authority among his soldiers, and, what's more, this shows that he is still capable of strategizing. As argued in the Derksen and Hick essay, this is indicative of the zombies having agency, as Herzog “seeks optimal ends and optimal means to those ends” (15). Herzog does this by organizing his undead soldiers in order to sniff out his treasure. When the last remaining survivor realizes this, he runs back to the cabin while being chased by Herzog in order to dig out the treasure. When Herzog sees the box (1:21:30), he halts, because he recognizes it. Again, this is suggests that zombies have memories, as recognition requires recollection. The survivor hands the box to Herzog, and he's allowed to leave. Herzog's allowance of the survivor walking away is indicative of rationalization, as Herzog got his treasure, so there is no reason for him to chase after the survivor. That is, until Herzog realizes that the survivor had one forgotten piece of loot in his pocket.
However, in our class discussion, we asked if zombies' habitual actions are purely muscle memory or if the actions bear sentimental value. It the actions are just muscle memory, then it's less arguable that their behavior is indicative of them being autonomous beings. The zombies in Død snø, though, are commanded by a zombified Standartenführer Herzog, whose actions seem to be performed with serious intent. After the big fight scene where the remaining survivors kill off a number of Herzog's soldiers, we see Herzog standing defiantly (1:17:04), appearing to be utterly livid that his soldiers were killed (again). He then calls out for more soldiers. This is an action of memory, as he remembers his position of authority among his soldiers, and, what's more, this shows that he is still capable of strategizing. As argued in the Derksen and Hick essay, this is indicative of the zombies having agency, as Herzog “seeks optimal ends and optimal means to those ends” (15). Herzog does this by organizing his undead soldiers in order to sniff out his treasure. When the last remaining survivor realizes this, he runs back to the cabin while being chased by Herzog in order to dig out the treasure. When Herzog sees the box (1:21:30), he halts, because he recognizes it. Again, this is suggests that zombies have memories, as recognition requires recollection. The survivor hands the box to Herzog, and he's allowed to leave. Herzog's allowance of the survivor walking away is indicative of rationalization, as Herzog got his treasure, so there is no reason for him to chase after the survivor. That is, until Herzog realizes that the survivor had one forgotten piece of loot in his pocket.
While
it's unlikely that my community will come across Nazi zombies at our
military school located somewhere in the midwest, this kind of
establishment of whether or not zombies have autonomy is critical for the survival of the
living members of Home on the Brainge. Død snø posits that the
undead do indeed have agency, and if we follow the zombie world set
up by this movie, having a better understanding of the zombies'
threats, intents, motivations and mannerisms will aid in our
preparedness and strategizing, similar to how the last survivor in
the movie nearly managed to escape the Nazi zombies altogether by
determining what Herzog wanted.
Dead Snow is a great movie, and one that does something interesting with zombies: it conflates them with the stereotypical mummy! Aside from the Brendan Frasier Mummy movies (which are fun but not at all cannon), mummies protect artifacts and spaces (tombs) from being "despoiled." And, given our history of finding and looting ancient tombs (yes, I'm calling you out, Indiana Jones and Lara Croft!) this is a real concern.
Which gets us back to agency and morality. A) Is it moral to loot a tomb? Does the dead man/woman/people/pets/etc. really need all their stuff AND to be "undisturbed" for all eternity? It's easier to ask this about ancient people, but when we start thinking about our relatives, the question gets MUCH tougher. B) Mummies (in the traditional sense) have sometimes unlimited abilities within the narrow scope of their agency to get revenge and/or to return the stuff and/or re-seal the tomb.
All of which leads me to question whether Dead Snow isn't really trying to ask why we fetishize zombies now but not the equally undead mummy? (As well as deal with Norway's difficult WWII and Cold War situations and legacies, of course.)
Due to the fact I am unfamiliar with mummy canon, my comment will address the idea of the dead snow Nazis from a perspective of zombies. Dead Snow, for me, not only poses the question of agency for zombies but the idea of subservience. The Dead Snow zombies clearly follow the general's commands. What's interesting is this rank was bestowed in life. Military rank is a distinctly human thing which goes beyond muscle memory. The zombies act like a decaying army. In a way, this removes their individual agency. The zombie soldiers do not act from their own will. While the general clearly acts with agency, the "lay zombies" only react with a sense of subservience. Why do they continue to follow orders from the general when his rank is meaningless in death? Are they acting with agency by following the General, or is the subservience an argument that they are mindless?
It is true that Herzog is the only zombie who seems to possess agency, but I don't think the question of whether or not the "lay zombies" are mindless pertains to zombies specifically. Instead, that seems to relate to something we discussed in class: the whole concept of zombies seems to reflect something about humans/humanity, i.e. this is saying that living soldiers are, too, mindless. The "lay zombies" are acting as they would if they were living; they are following the orders of their military superior.