Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Zombies: The Apocalypse Monster


There are all kinds of monsters. Vampires, werewolves, lizard creatures, etc. And of course, there are zombies. But the one thing that zombies have over all the other monsters is that they seem to be the one monster that can end the world. All those other monsters manage to live along side human society, and in many cases even integrate themselves into it. But when zombies show up it seems to spell the beginning of the end for humanity.

Why are zombies the one monster humanity cannot defend against? That is, why is the world never depicted as being overrun by other types of monsters? With the exception of the brilliant film Daybreakers, you don’t see a world overrun by vampires. I know the book I Am Legend (and its various film adaptations) is supposed to depict a world overrun by vampires, but I never considered the monsters in it to be very vampire like. They are more like zombies.

The most simple reason for why we associate zombies with the end of the world is that they are most closely associated with a plague. The one time human society almost did come to an end was in the 14th century thanks to another plague, The Black Death. This disease decimated Europe and killed nearly half a billion people. People who were infected were very close to being the living dead. Adding the mobility of zombies and it just becomes that much more terrifying a scenario.

Our current pop culture is fascinated by zombies. Why? Why do we enjoy depicting this continuous scenario where humanity is destroyed? It seems a bit schadenfreude (enjoying the misery of others). We’re watching the survivors of a fictional scenario struggle to continue to live and enjoy it. If you’re a fan of AMC’s The Walking Dead (of which I am), that’s pretty much every episode right there. In some cases you’re even rooting for certain characters to die (Carl?).

Perhaps that is the essence of zombie fascination. Zombies represent the worst of human nature. That singular greed and hunger that controls our every action. Most humans try to suppress their more base nature, but zombies are that nature unchained. No thought, no feelings, just hunger. In a way it reminds most people that in reality humans are merely animals and without rational thought we really are no better than any other beast.
 
But the modern vision of the zombie really only came into existence forty or so years ago. The entire concept of the modern zombie is the product of the mind of one man, George Romero. It was only after his brilliant film Night of the Living Dead, and it’s numerous sequels and copycats, that we pictured zombies as swarms of ravenous hunger.

Originally, the zombie is a product of voodoo ritual and belief. Rather than being a lumbering cannibal, zombies were the risen corpses of the enemies of voodoo priests. These risen dead were condemned to a life of slavery to their new master. The creation of a zombie did not involve an infectious bite but was instead a product of spells and potions. Some scientists theorized that these supposed zombies were not the risen dead but actually just coma victims whose brains were damaged due to oxygen deprivation. This would leave the victim susceptible to suggestion and give the illusion that he or she was under the command of a voodoo priest.

If film and television have any say we will not see the disappearance of the zombie anytime soon. As George Romero helped the concept of the zombie evolve he gave way to Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, which further evolved the concept. We can only hope that new geniuses will continue to tweak the take on a zombie apocalypse and pray that such a real event never comes to pass.

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