Why We Love Zombies
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
Ever since the zombie fad kicked into high gear, I've been disappointed that our world's greatest nemesis is not some sinister intellect beyond our ken, but brain-dead cannibals.
Have we nothing to strive for?
Have we nothing to strive for?
It's true. To me, zombies represent all of the people who are only alive because it would be illegal for me to take my .45 to 'em... and I look at the collapse of human civilization to be a positive thing. Fighting for survival is something I'm good at. Dealing with people isn't.
I agree 100% with point 4.
I'd also like to add that noone wants to think that hundreds or thousands of years after we are dead people will be able to do all that cool stuff we can only dream about.
If the appocalypse happens right no noone will ever be able to travel space or whatever you wish you could be doing. The idea of "being born too early" is rather common I think. That's why we wish for some kind of "fairness" to compensate our shortcomings. What we cannot experience noone else should be able to either.
If the world ends with our generation we will have lived at the height of technology, not at a level that will be considered prehistoric by some immortal superhuman in 3245 as he flies to his holiday home on Alpha Centauri with his harem of sentinet androids.
I'd also like to add that noone wants to think that hundreds or thousands of years after we are dead people will be able to do all that cool stuff we can only dream about.
If the appocalypse happens right no noone will ever be able to travel space or whatever you wish you could be doing. The idea of "being born too early" is rather common I think. That's why we wish for some kind of "fairness" to compensate our shortcomings. What we cannot experience noone else should be able to either.
If the world ends with our generation we will have lived at the height of technology, not at a level that will be considered prehistoric by some immortal superhuman in 3245 as he flies to his holiday home on Alpha Centauri with his harem of sentinet androids.
I think it goes beyond the "wish fulfillment" aspect, though. Mostly, I think reasons center around #4, our tendency to be interested in all things apocalyptic.Yahtzee Croshaw said:
Zombies are the ultimate doomsday scenario. Robots, aliens, disease, meteor, nukes, all of these have a lot of pull... but zombies combine their best (worst) elements and add a few of their own:
1) The zombie apocalypse is longer and more trying on the human spirit. Unlike robots, meteors, or nukes, zombies aren't a one-off event resulting in sudden and catastrophic destruction. After the nukes, survivors rebuild in the ashes (or a safe distance from them)--the world is set back to the stone age, but hey!, the nukes are gone. The zombie problem only gets bigger with each person that dies. The fallout never stops, and it has legs and teeth.
2) The zombie war is a losing battle. Each one we kill is just one less zombie. Each man we lose makes their side bigger. The tighter we band together, the greater the chance that a single case could explode again through the densely-packed populace.
3) The zombie world is a hopeless one. The dead, despite every religion's beliefs and sacred rites, are rising and feeding on the living. Every religion just got proven wrong. So now, with things so bleak, people can't even hide in the folds of God's robe. They have to face it alone and in the stark knowledge of their mortality and insignificance.
Beyond this, there's also the hope that every geek can prove himself useful in the zombie apocalypse by having encyclopedic knowledge of the problem, but it still won't get them laid much because all the hot women will have been eaten.
"no one really knows what happens after death. The only thing we do know is that the concept of an afterlife, any afterlife, even the hot fiery ones, holds more appeal than the notion that our consciousness will simply cease to be."
Well i could not have said it better myself
Well i could not have said it better myself
I'm not sure killing zombies is entirely guilt-free. The re-occurring theme of all the decent zombie portrayals is that 'we are the real monsters'. Zombies may be dangerous and without remorse; but they are also without malice, self-interest and satisfaction. They also tend to be quite harmless on their own. The worst danger in a zombie apocalypse is running into a psychopath who without the constraints of society is given license to inflict their perverse pleasures on other people, dead or alive.
Most of us would not do to a dead body what some people readily do to zombies in films, books and games: often for their own pleasure rather than survival. Some people don't even bother to take the effort to distinguish between other people and zombies. When you consider the dangers of other zombie-free post-apocalyptic worlds; the zombies are in fact often the only thing protecting you from all the mad-men and desperate ready to rob, rape or kill you.
Most of us would not do to a dead body what some people readily do to zombies in films, books and games: often for their own pleasure rather than survival. Some people don't even bother to take the effort to distinguish between other people and zombies. When you consider the dangers of other zombie-free post-apocalyptic worlds; the zombies are in fact often the only thing protecting you from all the mad-men and desperate ready to rob, rape or kill you.
I loved the completely unexpected jab at Lara Croft. I just didn't see that coming and then wham: I'm laughing my ass off.
And I know why I love zombies. Pop in some Dead Rising 2 and shove a shower head into the zombie's head and watch the blood shower. Grab a giant sword or ax and slice them in half. Take apart a lawn mower and put it on some 2x4's and run around chopping them into tiny pieces. Zombies are fun as hell to kill and they deserve it, the bastards.
Doesn't mean I love all zombie games, though. RDR's Undead Nightmare just bored me to tears. Walk up to a zombie with a gun drawn, press R2 for an instant kill, and repeat a few thousand times to win the game. Booooooring.
And I know why I love zombies. Pop in some Dead Rising 2 and shove a shower head into the zombie's head and watch the blood shower. Grab a giant sword or ax and slice them in half. Take apart a lawn mower and put it on some 2x4's and run around chopping them into tiny pieces. Zombies are fun as hell to kill and they deserve it, the bastards.
Doesn't mean I love all zombie games, though. RDR's Undead Nightmare just bored me to tears. Walk up to a zombie with a gun drawn, press R2 for an instant kill, and repeat a few thousand times to win the game. Booooooring.
Valid points, but I think they need to be tempered by the same ideas that have been brought up by the last few Extra Punctuations. Zombies are being put into everything by everybody for any reason, and thus they have been rendered boring and any actual meaning they once had is lost.
If you projected any harder, you point yourself at a wall and do.....oh, sorry.
Yeah, good points though.
Yeah, good points though.
