Do I remember it right that the whole “zombies eat brains” thing comes from Return of the Living Dead?
I think the idea of the dead rising from the grave and walking around is a very old scary story but as you say the Hollywood “zombie” is such a new concept that it’s got no real lore behind it. I’ve seen several folks make the case over the years that the Hollywood Zombie is a conveniently blank canvas to paint present day existential dread onto, that “zombies” can always represent the threatening other, be they nazis, communists, anarchists, kids these days, mindless consumers, terrorists, nazis again for some fucking reason, liberals, conservatives, whatever.
Where they come from, how they work, how they behave, what happens to their victims, that can change to match the fears of the modern audience. Evil magic brings dead people back to life and they slowly shamble toward you and smother you. A deadly virus that comes from a lab if we’re on an anti-science kick or a foreign country if we’re being xenophobic this election cycle turns people feral and they sprint after you and tear your flesh off. A more different deadly virus is spread by bite, so if you let them too close, they’ll recruit your children to their cause! Or it’s an army of people who have gotten brain implants and an army of Borg drones who work as a hive mind with a single purpose: To make you get a 5G plan too!
The Other who is less human an thus less valuable than I am are attacking and we have no moral hangups about fighting back very wantonly.
I’ve seen several folks make the case over the years that the Hollywood Zombie is a conveniently blank canvas to paint present day existential dread onto, that “zombies” can always represent the threatening other, be they nazis, communists, anarchists, kids these days, mindless consumers, terrorists, nazis again for some fucking reason, liberals, conservatives, whatever.
Deeply ironic, considering Romero movies are mostly about threats from the living. Night is a classic American horror movie with desperate strangers trapped in a house. Dawn is about what people think they need. Day is loudly about the limits of authority and quietly about the limits of hope.
It’s not until Snyder’s fast-zombie remake of Dawn (and the modern craze it kicked off) that right-wing moralizing really crept in. Even though that movie has the absolute best takedown of apocalyptic gun fetishism.
Do I remember it right that the whole “zombies eat brains” thing comes from Return of the Living Dead?
I think the idea of the dead rising from the grave and walking around is a very old scary story but as you say the Hollywood “zombie” is such a new concept that it’s got no real lore behind it. I’ve seen several folks make the case over the years that the Hollywood Zombie is a conveniently blank canvas to paint present day existential dread onto, that “zombies” can always represent the threatening other, be they nazis, communists, anarchists, kids these days, mindless consumers, terrorists, nazis again for some fucking reason, liberals, conservatives, whatever.
Where they come from, how they work, how they behave, what happens to their victims, that can change to match the fears of the modern audience. Evil magic brings dead people back to life and they slowly shamble toward you and smother you. A deadly virus that comes from a lab if we’re on an anti-science kick or a foreign country if we’re being xenophobic this election cycle turns people feral and they sprint after you and tear your flesh off. A more different deadly virus is spread by bite, so if you let them too close, they’ll recruit your children to their cause! Or it’s an army of people who have gotten brain implants and an army of Borg drones who work as a hive mind with a single purpose: To make you get a 5G plan too!
The Other who is less human an thus less valuable than I am are attacking and we have no moral hangups about fighting back very wantonly.
Yep! Return Of The Living Dead is a whole other level of fucked up, and it is fantastic.
There’s a hardcore band named after one of the best lines.
Deeply ironic, considering Romero movies are mostly about threats from the living. Night is a classic American horror movie with desperate strangers trapped in a house. Dawn is about what people think they need. Day is loudly about the limits of authority and quietly about the limits of hope.
It’s not until Snyder’s fast-zombie remake of Dawn (and the modern craze it kicked off) that right-wing moralizing really crept in. Even though that movie has the absolute best takedown of apocalyptic gun fetishism.