Why We Love Zombies

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
Why We Love Zombies


Zombies are disgusting, rotting, mindless beasts with a violently insatiable taste for the brains of the living and yet we just can't get enough of them - for good reason, experts say.

Vampires, werewolves and ghosts are all very nice but when it comes to maintaining an enduring love affair with the American public, none of them can hold a candle to the lowly zombie. From the early 30s Bela Lugosi classic Zombieland [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023694/], we've been exposed to all manner of the risen dead and we keep coming back for more. According to so-called "zombie experts," that's because the zombie's greatest limitation - their complete lack of individual thought, personality or other defining characteristics - means they can be used to reflect whatever happens to be troubling society at any given moment in time.

"You can't shoot the financial meltdown in the head - you can do that with a zombie," said World War Z [http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/recordedattacks/] author Max Brooks. "All the other problems are too big. As much as Al Gore tries, you can't picture global warming. You can't picture the meltdown of our financial institutions. But you can picture a slouching zombie coming down the street."

The blank mind of the zombie offers a "blank canvas" for writers and movie makers, added Georgia Tech graduate fellow Andrew Wood, who is currently writing a book on zombies in popular culture. "Since the zombie doesn't have the long literary tradition of the vampire or a number of other monsters, it allows artists a degree of autonomy to conceptualize the zombie any way they see fit," she said.

The most obvious manifestation of that flexibility is the popularization of the "fast zombie" seen in movies like Shaun of the Dead [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289043/].

Zombies also let us deal with our fears in a safe and non-offensive way, Brooks added. "It's safe to do something like a zombie walk - it isn't so fun to do a swine flu walk," he said. "If, at a party, you bring up how you'd survive a zombie attack, you'd be the life of the party. But if you say, 'What would you do if super-AIDS came to America?' you'd clear the room."

The popularity of zombies waxes and wanes but Brooks said he expects they'll remain a pop culture fixture, in one form or another, for a long time to come. "In the early 2000s, I had all but pronounced the genre dead - there hadn't been a big studio movie in more than 10 years," he said. "I've gone out of that business. I've pulled up my shingle for pronouncing the death knell of the zombie."

Source: CNN [http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/10/02/zombie.love/index.html?iref=mpstoryview]


Permalink
 

HardRockSamurai

New member
May 28, 2008
3,122
0
0
Ironic that you post this now, since MovieBob kinda answered it with his review of Zombieland very recently.

"We hate zombies because we hate each other."

I like this explanation a little bit more. Calling zombies "a blank canvas" is just too much. I understand that zombies can be used for purposes of social satire (ala Dawn of the Dead), but does anyone really think THIS can be used to reflect society's issues?


[small]HEALTHCARE!!! RAWR!!![/small]​

Also, is it just me, or does one of the zombies in that picture look an awful lot like Hugh Laurie?
 

ElArabDeMagnifico

New member
Dec 20, 2007
3,775
0
0
NOT ADVERTISING!

5 reasons you secretly want a zombie apocalypse. [http://www.cracked.com/article/136_5-reasons-you-secretly-want-zombie-apocalypse/]

The first reason brought up is "Guiltless Violence" - they are after all, the common enemy!

but the number one reason? "Being the Alpha Dog"

cuz c'mon, raise your hands internet users, which one of you thinks you WON'T survive a zombie apocalypse?

No one! No surprise...
 

DeathWyrmNexus

New member
Jan 5, 2008
1,143
0
0
Oddly, I am working on a zombie noir set in the WW1 days. XD

Zombie simplify matters and that is something we've been lacking too much in our lives. Simple problems. So I agree.
 

Cliff_m85

New member
Feb 6, 2009
2,581
0
0
I'm going to love when Twilight part 4 comes to theaters, because there's a zombie scene in it. Except that the zombie can talk and survives on eating beef because he doesn't want to harm humans. He also has a crush on Bella.
 

Hoppetussa

New member
Sep 24, 2008
680
0
0
HardRockSamurai said:
Ironic that you post this now, since MovieBob kinda answered it with his review of Zombieland very recently.

"We hate zombies because we hate each other."

I like this explanation a little bit more. Calling zombies "a blank canvas" is just too much. I understand that zombies can be used for purposes of social satire (ala Dawn of the Dead), but does anyone really think THIS can be used to reflect society's issues?


[small]HEALTHCARE!!! RAWR!!![/small]​

Also, is it just me, or does one of the zombies in that picture look an awful lot like Hugh Laurie?
You mean the one to the left? It actually does look like him.
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
Legacy
Jul 18, 2009
19,570
4,374
118
HardRockSamurai said:
Ironic that you post this now, since MovieBob kinda answered it with his review of Zombieland very recently.

"We hate zombies because we hate each other."

I like this explanation a little bit more. Calling zombies "a blank canvas" is just too much. I understand that zombies can be used for purposes of social satire (ala Dawn of the Dead), but does anyone really think THIS can be used to reflect society's issues?


[small]HEALTHCARE!!! RAWR!!![/small]​

Also, is it just me, or does one of the zombies in that picture look an awful lot like Hugh Laurie?
You know what's ironic?

Everybody on the internet is turning into mindless zombies, because they're constantly talking about zombies.
 
Apr 28, 2008
14,634
0
0
kind of strange that I read this right after watching moviebob.

Can't it be both reasons?

We hate zombies because we hate each other, and the fact that they don't do any people things help.
 

The Great JT

New member
Oct 6, 2008
3,721
0
0
We hate zombies because they just ate our best friend's flesh. And because they're all republicans.

And it's still satisfying to see a zombie head explode into a million pieces. Which is why we love Left 4 Dead.
 

dsawyers9

New member
Aug 20, 2009
126
0
0
We love zombies because it also does something that no one ever would believe could or should happen to people. That one thing is, Union. That is right, the so called tale of humans uniting to fight a common enemy has always been viewed towards Aliens. Well why cant we just work together vs a new common enemy, aka the zombie. Yes we get the same feel of hell yes, I just killed someone, but yet its OK, because zombies are no longer living humans, but undead humans. So killing zombies unites people vs a common enemy. Which for some reason leads us to accept our natural hatred of others.
(please no one go kill people now, it's still bad)
 

Shadow Law

New member
Feb 16, 2009
632
0
0
Zombies are great because whenever one gets killed we don't feel the least bit of remorse, Why? Because they're already dead and evil. If you could kill anything with absolutely no remorse then you do it too.......or you could just be a cold blooded killer.
 

Jonci

New member
Sep 15, 2009
539
0
0
I hate zombies movies. I like killing zombies in video games. It's guilt-free mass murder because they are already dead. No worrying about whether or not he had a family or kids. He is dead and wants to bite me. Bullet to the head, sucka!
 

ae86gamer

New member
Mar 10, 2009
9,009
0
0
Malygris said:
According to so-called "zombie experts".
Thats me. *Thumbs up*

OP:Of course we love zombies. I mean, just look at Thriller [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un3-Hb9wF9s]. Zombies are awesome, flesh eating monsters.. who can dance.. in unison.
 

Jedamethis

New member
Jul 24, 2009
6,953
0
0
ElArabDeMagnifico said:
NOT ADVERTISING!

5 reasons you secretly want a zombie apocalypse. [http://www.cracked.com/article/136_5-reasons-you-secretly-want-zombie-apocalypse/]

The first reason brought up is "Guiltless Violence" - they are after all, the common enemy!

but the number one reason? "Being the Alpha Dog"

cuz c'mon, raise your hands internet users, which one of you thinks you WON'T survive a zombie apocalypse?

No one! No surprise...
No talking when Alpha Dog is talking!
Jonci said:
I hate zombies movies. I like killing zombies in video games. It's guilt-free mass murder because they are already dead. No worrying about whether or not he had a family or kids. He is dead and wants to bite me. Bullet to the head, sucka!
Yay for repercussion-free violence!
 

dalek sec

Leader of the Cult of Skaro
Jul 20, 2008
10,237
0
0
Cliff_m85 said:
I'm going to love when Twilight part 4 comes to theaters, because there's a zombie scene in it. Except that the zombie can talk and survives on eating beef because he doesn't want to harm humans. He also has a crush on Bella.
Please tell me you're joking.
 

Cowabungaa

New member
Feb 10, 2008
10,806
0
0
Malygris said:
If, at a party, you bring up how you'd survive a zombie attack, you'd be the life of the party.
*cackles madly, changes into sobbing and crying* I wished! Zombies, popular? Hére? You must be joking.
 

lasherman

New member
Mar 11, 2009
621
0
0
Cliff_m85 said:
I'm going to love when Twilight part 4 comes to theaters, because there's a zombie scene in it. Except that the zombie can talk and survives on eating beef because he doesn't want to harm humans. He also has a crush on Bella.
Goddamnit! they can't be happy with destroying vampires and werewolves, now they have to ruin zombies?