I’ve said this before and I will say it again, I am not fast, I’m not strong and I have no hand-eye coordination to speak of. This being said, the idea of me wielding a firearm is laughable. Basically a Zombie apocalypse would be the end of me. Looking on the bright side, I do always look behind me so at least I know that the sneaky rogue zombie won’t kill me… it will be the rest of them that kill me.
While I understand, and am comfortable with the fact that a zombie apocalypse would mean my certain demise, I wonder if this is the case for everyone? How do people experience zombie fiction and why do we like it? What is the typical response of reading a zombie novel or The Walking Dead? Is it "fuck yeah, I could do that" or is it closer to my, "Nope, couldn't of out run that" or "Should I start carrying a hunting bow? Do you need a permit for that?" Do people use Zombie fiction as away of escaping the mundane by putting himself or herself in the role of protagonist? Or do people look to zombie fiction of a reminder of how nice it is to live in a stable society? Sure this world isn’t perfect but the flesh eating undead aren’t chasing me, and we have indoor plumbing.
As far as escapism goes, the post zombie apocalyptic word is a pretty interesting choice. And by interesting I mean, weird, it's a weird choice . While is does seem to provide a platform for acts of extreme badass-ery, it also seems fundamentally...horrible. Typically tons of people die, society crumbles, even the good parts like the Internet and the grocery store, and to top it survivors are in a state of constant danger. I can see how some danger could be thrilling, but all the time seems a bit excessive. Watching Rick, on horseback gun in hand one cannot help but think , "that guy looks cool", and then maybe not all of us but some of us think, "wish I looked that cool". But the second he becomes surrounded by the Zombie horde, I'm out. Too scary for me, I'm perfectly capable of watching it on television but beyond that, no thank you, I am not saying don't get the appeal, I do, and maybe if I were a more Xenia like human being I would have and easier time imagining myself thriving in this situation .
In thinking about zombie fiction as a way of grounding us back in reality it seems equally strange to me. Is reality really so boring that we need to use the destruction of civilization and the unyielding horde of the undead to make it seem better? That's seems little extreme, a lot extreme. Viewing short film Spoiler, was definitely a grounding experience . Society went on business as usual , except for the fact that you might turn into a zombie and be burned alive in your home. The full zombie experience completely devoid of the aforementioned badass-ery. ( I need to pause for a second to reflect on the fact that of all the sentences I have written in my life, that last one is my favorite. I was able to use the words zombie, aforementioned and badass-ery in one statement. awesome.) Using zombie fiction to give one perspective about the world is effective , it's seems to me to be a pretty dark place to go. Is that necessary gain perspective on reality?
After taking awhile to reflect on why I or anybody else likes Zombie fiction, I haven't come to any definitive conclusion. What I think is that it makes us kind of weird. And I am not referring to just the people in this class or people who like zombies, I am talking about all of us. People are weird. I think our puzzling love of zombie fiction is just one of the many examples of what strange creatures we are.
In thinking about zombie fiction as a way of grounding us back in reality it seems equally strange to me. Is reality really so boring that we need to use the destruction of civilization and the unyielding horde of the undead to make it seem better? That's seems little extreme, a lot extreme. Viewing short film Spoiler, was definitely a grounding experience . Society went on business as usual , except for the fact that you might turn into a zombie and be burned alive in your home. The full zombie experience completely devoid of the aforementioned badass-ery. ( I need to pause for a second to reflect on the fact that of all the sentences I have written in my life, that last one is my favorite. I was able to use the words zombie, aforementioned and badass-ery in one statement. awesome.) Using zombie fiction to give one perspective about the world is effective , it's seems to me to be a pretty dark place to go. Is that necessary gain perspective on reality?
After taking awhile to reflect on why I or anybody else likes Zombie fiction, I haven't come to any definitive conclusion. What I think is that it makes us kind of weird. And I am not referring to just the people in this class or people who like zombies, I am talking about all of us. People are weird. I think our puzzling love of zombie fiction is just one of the many examples of what strange creatures we are.
Your point is highly relevant. Zombie fanaticism is puzzling. And as you mention, "people are weird."
ReplyDeleteI think the mass zombie appeal is inherently tied to individuality. Inherently tied in that zombies are the antithesis of individualism. They are a dehumanized object of conformity. Alienated from even fellow zombies.
Consequently many zombie fan fiction protagonists are characterized by their highly polarizing traits. Traits which can inadvertently appeal to even the most unaware, alienated, isolated, and socially awkward butterflies amongst us.
You ask the question: "Is it necessary?"
ReplyDelete-Well, no, of course it's not necessary.
But, while the necessary question is a good one to ask, I don't think people that love zombie fiction want a happy ending. For once in fiction, the main folks aren't going to come out okay... they're going to get bit and turn into walkers and everyone is going to be very sad. I'd call it the cult-ural (see what I did there?) equivalent of watching the Titanic. You know full well everybody on the Titanic is going down pretty hard. Even if you're the strong swimmer type, and you might have made it out alive, you don't watch it to measure the potential distance to land, you watch because it's fascinating to see a story line played out that's out of the ordinary.
I've been thinking a lot about the topic of how I would act in this scenario because I've been hooked on The Walking Dead since we watched it in class. At first, I couldn't even watch when there was a bloody or grotesque scene, but I've become more and more desensitized to the point that I found myself thinking "wow that was awesome!" after someone brutally bludgeons a zombie. Watching the show, in all honesty, has made me want to be one of the badass, gun wielding, zombie slaying heroines. I have to constantly take a step back and remind myself that I really, really hate loud noises and probably would faint if I had to fire a gun without earplugs in. I’m also pretty squeamish in real life and don’t think I could handle shoving a spear into a zombie’s head. It is definitely interesting to examine our own personalities and beliefs in the face of a zombie apocalypse and ponder how we might react. I want to think I’d be able to hold my own and defend myself, while also keeping my humanity, but it’s one of those things that you can’t accurately imagine until you’re thrust into it.
ReplyDeleteAddressing your thoughts on the draw to zombie fiction in relation to the desire to be apart of that world I would like to comment that there is some sort of draw to an apocalyptic world. I think one of the main draw to this type of world is the fact that things that things human society has deemed valuable no longer hold any value in an apocalyptic world. For example, money, jewels, stocks, fancy clothes all these things will not help you out in a zombie apocalypse and the desire to obtain them is lost. Personally I fantasize a world in which money has no value. This reminds me of the movie WALL-E where Wall-E is searching though the things left behind and finds a diamond ring, which he promptly throws and keeps the box. It just reminds me that the things I stress over everyday i.e. money, homework, etc. would hold no meaning in an apocalyptic world. Thus the entertainment I get from reading zombie apocalypse fiction where the inherent danger of zombification is the main stressor of everyday life. This is reliveing in some morbid way to my everyday stressors where the competition for jobs, money, etc. is constantly growing.
ReplyDeleteI think there are many reasons that people are drawn to zombie apocalypse literature and many of those reasons are in fact very weird. I also think though, that most people have some sort of fascination with the genre, which I suppose would make the majority of us weird. I agree with your point that when we watch or read something of the sort, some of us like to picture ourselves as the badass survivor/zombie killer. I'd also like to add that some of us may fear the same thing. It is unrealistic to think that one could survive the zombie apocalypse without having to kill some zombies, and that having to do this would undoubtedly change a person. Similar to Rick's transformation over the seasons in The Walking Dead, we would probably become desensitized and loose some of what makes up our character. I also think that we get some appeal from being able to explore the unknown without actually having to physically do it. The choose your own adventure book and games we have played allow us to make decisions based on what we think we would actually do, as well as experiment with decisions without any real consequences.
ReplyDeleteI have been also thinking a lot lately about why we are in fact so obsessed with the zombie genre. It seems the past couple of years the zombie genre has taken over in a way. We now see TV shows, movies and countless number of books. Why all of a sudden are we so enthralled with a society that turns into a mouth eating chompers? I too have often try to reflect why I enjoy zombie movies, books and discussion, what about that is so appealing?! I took have not come to a final conclusion but I do feel it has something to do with the fear factor. What could be scarier than watching your own friends and family turn into a mindless eating machine, whose flesh is literally rotting. As we have talked about in class zombies have not affect, they are unable to feel emotions and this to me is why I am so enthralled with zombies. Having no remorse or emotion would be the scariest loss of all to me, and the zombie genre allows my mind to wander and explore things that I don't think it would actually ever happen. The zombie genre to me is a way for people to get so close to their fears without having to live them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Meg. Although we may think we know what we would do in a Zombie Apocalypse, we'll never know until we're in the situation. And like Rachael, if know that if a Zombie Apocalypse were to occur, the chances that I would survive are slim to none! However, what is great about this class is that it introduces so many different ways to think about zombies and how to handle them.
ReplyDeleteI believe that so many people are interested in zombie fiction -- or post apocalyptic fiction in general -- is because it provides a form of escapism from the real world. At the same time, I think it introduces the question of "what if"? What if this were to happen in real life, and how would we survive? Last summer, I read news articles online predicting the Zombocalypse due to the amount of cannibalism stories that were saturating the news. As I read these stories, I kept wondering -- what if this actually happened? Perhaps it is the hidden fear (or desire) we have of a Zombocalypse that keeps us tuned into the genre, and the hope that there could be a positive outcome (whatever that may be).