Every few weeks I'll have a dream about the Zombie Apocalypse, where I'll find myself taking refuge with a random collection of people, struggling to find shelter, weapons, defenses, whatever we need to survive. The people I find are never that important, its more like a break for my subconscious, a quick respite or loading screen before it all starts up again. We take refuge, then almost inevitably, someone will do something stupid and zombies will appear. Ultimately, I will fight and run for my life, until I find more sub-conscious inspired survivors. Its a pattern and I fall for it every time.
Now, you might be wondering why I have decided to tell you this. What does it matter? Why would a zombie-horror dream be any different from any other, run-of-the-mill nightmare? Why are zombies so special?
Enter the Zombie Genre. In 1968, George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" ushered in a new horror, a new antagonist, a shambling-corpse that could be defeated by the underdogs. Being the hero in the Zombie Apocalypse, although unlikely, is at least plausible for the everyman:
"Dawn of the Dead"- A nurse, policeman, married couple, and a TV salesman.
"Zombieland"- A gun-toting dad, nerd/student, and two sisters.
"28 Days Later"-A bike courier, cabdriver and his daughter, pharmacist.
"Shaun of the Dead"-A salesman, his mom, his ex-girlfriend, and a gamer.
"Walking Dead"- no spoilers here. I'll just say Rick, go watch it for yourselves.
Zombies are usually portrayed as dangerous, but never invincible. As long as someone is smart and cautious, they could theoretically survive. Half the fun of watching them is critiquing the survivor's actions, saying comments like, "Why not take the car?" or "That was stupid, I wouldn't have done that!"
So, Zombies are the antagonists for the everyman, the average joe, the underdog.
Suddenly, we dont need special training, powers, or something particularly superhuman, we can imagine ourselves being the heroes.
So what else about the Zombie Apocalypse is so appealing?
Free stuff. The world ended right? So now there's everything you ever wanted lying around, unclaimed and unused. Want to hole-up in a mansion for the night? Live in that yacht? Drive that super car? I know it sounds horribly materialistic, but in a world where money doesn't matter anymore, why not enjoy the end-of-days in style? It plays into our basic desire for comfort and luxury. Similar to R and Julie taking the red convertible in "Warm Bodies," if it's there, why not?
No rules. There is no more society, no more cultural consequences, not as we knew them anyhow. Suddenly, the entire playing field has been leveled. There are no more famous people, successful people, athletes, or movie stars. No more banks, taxes, or debt, it is only what you achieve for yourself. Almost like some pervers meritocracy, life is simple again. Find a weapon, food, shelter, and survive.There are only survivors and zombies. It is up to you and your group to fashion something new, retaining or replacing anything that is unnecessary in the post-apocalyptic reality. Sure, you might keep the inherited cultural identity, but survival is fundamental, so society will inevitably change to reflect that.
Ultimately, the zombie genre is appealing to audiences because they could (theoretically) survive and be the heroes, those special few who made it against all odds. We like to imagine ourselves as the survivors, what we would do, how we would act, and who we would trust, because it is a scenario we could imagine ourselves succeeding in. Now, realistically if the Zombocalypse ever did happen, most of us would die, but lets stay positive and imagine our moment in the sun.
By the way, if you dont have zombie dreams, you are missing out.
You really put a pleasant spin on the possibility of a Zombie Apocalypse. As horrific as it might be the simplicities will be there. You either survive or die, and in this world all class differences and educational differences seem to get thrown out the window. Your post also led me to imagine Milton from "Office Space" having the time of his life during a zombie outbreak. I figured he would have upgraded to a red staple/nail gun to ward off the zombie hordes.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that a Zombie Apocalypse would really level the playing field, and put everyone in the same amount of power. And if the zombies were slow moving zombie-slugs and everything was laid back and relaxed, that would be awesome. Now I wish I had zombie dreams where I could just rampage around doing what ever I wanted. It would be like the ultimate video game.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about that. Think about The Walking Dead: The Governor is able to rule because he's willing to be ruthless and (as needed or whenever he feels like it) vicious.
ReplyDeleteI worry that if you're not in a cool group of survivors (like in ZOMBIELAND), you're probably going to find yourself in a LORD OF THE FLIES situation. Are you really sure you're not a Piggy?
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ReplyDeleteOh thats absolutely true, Survivors (Shane, The Governor, British Soldiers) could be just as dangerous as the zombies themselves, so no survival situation would be easy. If your not in a 'cool group,' like Zombieland, you're potentially at the mercy of others in Leadership positions.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it kind of works into the 'No Rules' aspect of the genre, the only Law that really exists is the law of the gun, that is to say whoever is holding the biggest stick, or at least willing to use it. Which truly asks, How far are you willing to go to survive?
For that, I think about Michonne from the Walking Dead, she has interacted with both groups and still retains some semblance of autonomy. Until recently, she had been an outsider to all groups and had largely been very successful, especially with those Zombie sherpas.
Back to the Lord of the Flies/Governor, for the average citizen in Woodbury, the Governor seems like a decent leader, its only the almost omniscient perspective of the audience that reveals he's actually a monster. Realistically, Woodbury is divided not unlike our own communities, so his ruthless leadership is not as prevalent (socially for the citizens) as it would be in something like the 'Slaver' societies of The Road.
Had some errors. whoops!
This post calls attention to what I feel to be one of the most interesting aspects of the zombie scenario: the function of the post-apocalyptic zombie scenario as fantasy. Maybe this is obvious to everyone else, but it seems to me that, for many people, fantasy refers purely to day dreams, to GOOD or positive fantasies -- fantasizing about winning the lottery, being a superhero, what have you. Often overlooked in my experience is the function of fantasy as a space for working out various fears, dreams, wishes, anxieties, and so on. Fantasy provides us with an arena in which to think through, imagine, even potentially resolve different issues plaguing our psyches that can't be worked through in the real world. A zombie-infested world, as this post makes clear, provides us with a number of scenarios that allow us to imagine situations and work through "real life" situations alternative to our own, such as a world without money (or in which money has been rendered useless), a world in which death as we know it is no longer the end of existence, just to point out two of the obvious.
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