Almost 11 years ago, my friends and I decided to go watch one of the "best-critiqued" films of the time: Resident Evil. I had no idea what the film was about, and neither did most of the group, but we just decided to go because the trailer seemed interesting. I instantly regretted it as soon as the first zombies showed up on screen. Right after the movie was over, my friends and I started discussing the movie and we all came to the conclusion that we would never like to live through something like that.
Fast forward 11 years and now we are in a society that doesn't fear zombies anymore, instead people crave for a zombie apocalypse to happen. What has changed in the past decade that now we embrace the idea of a zombie apocalypse?
To answer this question, we must first look at the increased exposure to the topic of a zombie apocalypse. First of all, countless movies have been created on the topic, ranging from gory horror movies, to gory comedy movies, and to gory romantic movies. Action, horror, and comedy zombie movies portray the surviving humans as heroic and worthy role models, such as Zombieland which narrates the story of a group of survivors as they make their way through a zombie-infested area. The new genre, romantic zombie movies, allows the audience to either create a more sympathetic view of zombies, like Warm Bodies that recently came out in theaters that tells the story of a zombie who falls in love.
On the same line of portraying humans as heroes is the famous AMC series The Walking Dead which also narrates the story of a group of people who are still alive during a zombie apocalypse. The show portrays the survivors as highly skilled heroes in the art of shooting with a bow and arrow, a gun, or just being good at hand-to-hand combat. It comes as no surprise that people who watch these movies and TV shows aspire to be like the main characters, and therefore they embrace the idea of a zombie apocalypse in order to prove their abilities.
While yes, the idea of being skilled at fighting, or an excellent runner when it comes time to escape seems appealing, the realistic side of me would never want a zombie apocalypse because I remember that 12 year-old Dulce who came out terrified of the movie a decade ago, and in all honesty, present-day Dulce might react the same way if a zombie apocalypse were to happen.
The idea that our fear of zombies has decreased over the years makes me wonder if this is because our society has become more educated, so maybe we feel more confident that the chances of a zombie apocalypse occurring are slim to none. Also, could this trend be attributed to technology because more and more people are relying on television and movies for entertainment? You mentioned recent zombie-themed entertainment such as "Warm Bodies" and "The Walking Dead", so maybe horror-like entertainment is simply becoming more prevalent.
ReplyDeleteI remember playing resident evil 5 video game but that is not the issue here. Society has created this fantasies that surrounds our lives. it seems that being human is not entertaining enough. we have to add zombies, and don't forget the beloved vampires, and warewolves all other mythical creatures we create,all in the name of entertainment. Just adding more spice to the old bland taste of seeing only humans on the screen. it's easy to ignore a human that pass by you but i don't think you will ignore a zombie passing by. its eye catching, it's entertainment.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting post! I really would not have thought to analyze this. As a fan of the Walking Dead I can say that I would much rather watch it on my TV than live through it. It's very peculiar how people are now craving a reason to put all of their new talents to test that they've learned through movies, TV shows, and video games. The past few years have seen a large increase in horror-zombie entertainment and this does not seem like it will change anytime soon.
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