James Berger is a senior lecturer for American and English Studies at Yale University (Berger). His article “Zombies and the End of Society” contains three sections, namely 'Where are the Dead?', 'Revelations and Deferrals', and 'Zombies and the End of Society'. The last one, which also gave the article its name, is the most important one for this paper, since its arguments and claims concern the justification of violence in zombie movies. In the following, Berger's argumentation will be summarized and explained, to entirely understand his approach and use it to analyze the movie examples in sections 3.1., 3.2., and 3.3. In the section 'Zombies and the End of Society', Berger asserts that “[i]n most contemporary apocalyptic scenarios, the apocalyptic event itself is a pretext for the social breakdown that follows” (Berger). In the movies, the apocalyptic event mentioned here, is the infection of humans by viruses or other substances, that cause people to start feeding on human flesh and make them aggressive, mindless killers, which ultimately leads to the social breakdown. More people get infected, scientists as well as politicians, so the search for a cure becomes impossible and the government can grant no security anymore. According to Elizabeth McAlister “[...] the American zombie is almost always a sign and a symptom of an apocalyptic undoing of the social …show more content…
He cites ideas by other theorists, e.g. Anna Froula, which concern that argument. Elizabeth McAlister has the same claim of a connection between capitalism and zombies: “[…] the zombie serves to index the excessive extremes of capitalism, the overlap of capitalism and cannibalism, and the interplay between capitalism and race in the history of the Americas” (462). Yet, to prove the thesis of this paper, the economic factors are less important and will therefore not be examined further at this
The article “Dead man still walking: Explaining the zombie renaissance” by Kyle Bishop is about the revitalization of the zombie genre. The article talks about the inception in the late 1960’s, the category of zombie films has had its roller coaster ride of ups and downs, starting with its decline in the early 1980’s with the release of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video. Furthermore, during 1990’s, due to the shift in the cultural consciousness that came with the Clinton Administration and the countries isolation from global tragedies, the popularity of these films continued to decline. Cultural consciousness refers to the understanding and awareness a shift in feelings, sensations, thoughts, of not only our own culture, but adjoining cultures.
The zombie argument presents an idea meant to prove that consciousness doesn’t necessarily logically supervene on the physical. In this example there exists a zombie, defined as “someone or something physically identical to me ( or any other conscious being) but lacking conscious experiences altogether.” (Chalmers,94) Zombie world is then defined as “a world physically identical to ours,but in which there are no conscious experiences at all. In such a world, everyone is a zombie.” (Chalmers, 94) In this idea, only “phenomenal zombies” are to be considered meaning zombies that are “physically and functionally identical ( as us) , but which lack experience” (Chalmers 95) There are five main arguments that stand behind this idea, the first two being ideas regarding conceivability, the second two arguments of epistemology and the fifth and argument of analysis.
She allows the reader to truly imagine themselves in a zombie apocalypse by using description and comparison. “If you work in the many white-collar fields that have suffered in this recession, zombies are the perfect representation of the fiscal horror show” (Bosch, 651). Any reader that works in the white-collar fields, or knows anyone that does, can relate to what Bosch is saying because she used a vivid description and a comparison in one sentence. Readers will read this line and imagine their work chaos during the recession and immediately visualize zombies taking over the world and the madness that goes along with that. “There was a recession. It was a time of unemployment – of white-collar employment…” (Warner, 197). She also uses another type of figurative language: a metaphor. When she talks about the reality of zombie television shows and movies, she used a metaphor to compare modern day zombies to unicorns. “[n]o longer are zombies the beloved genre of the lonely, virgin teenage male, the macabre flipside of the girls’ obsession with unicorns” (Bosch, 651). She uses this metaphor to enhance the reader’s reading experience with humor but also by allowing the reader to understand how modern day zombie television shows and movies are looked upon. It is no longer for guts and gore but for fondness of shows and
In the modern movie genre, horror movies accounts for very great proportion of the number of followers. Relevantly, the zombie film genre has been developed into a dominant part of mainstream horror, replacing the previous monster such as vampires and werewolves. In Max Brooks’s essay “The Movies That Rose From the Grave”, he offers his opinion that throughout the process of zombie film transformation, it increasingly captivates viewers while gradually generates the modern horror. Brooks’s essay should be an appropriate inclusion of a college textbook which explains the phenomenon of the “undead explosion” in various kinds of media, proving to the audiences with enthusiasm, interest, credibility and specific examples that zombie culture is resurrecting a formerly obsolete genre.
Zombies have been a pop culture icon for years. Whether it be video games like Call of Duty or making people feel nervous for a potential zombie apocalypse, the zombie has become one of the most recognizable pop culture figures. The rise of zombies as a frightening creature can be related a real-world issue. In this essay I will dispute that zombies have changed over time and that there is a distinct connection between the way zombies are portrayed and the way the world looks at the lower economic class.
Klosterman appeals to ethos, as well as pathos, with a quote from Max Brooks, a zombie expert, and continues with appeals to logos in his discussion of the quote. Max Brooks is the author of several zombie books, as well as a zombie survival guide, which lends him, and in the process, Klosterman, expertise on the subject. Since Brooks is a zombie expert, the fact that Klosterman is quoting him shows that his essay is supported by experts, and gives validity to it, and that Klosterman knows what he is talking about. This all serves to cultivate Klosterman’s ethos and to make what he says more believable to his readers. In addition, the quote from Brooks he uses further establishes the monotony of daily tasks that are repeated by comparing them to a zombie brain with the fact that they “will perform that one function…until its power source eventually shuts down,”(848). This appeals to
Coup Poudre - there is knowledge about the existence of Zombies and how they are created. A drug used to induce death/or give the appearance of death contains tetrodoxin and is produced by puffer fish. In small quantities the coup poudre, as is known, is ingested unknowingly by the person and will quickly give appearance of death as it gives total
“Zombies are like the Internet and the media and every conversation we don’t want to have. All of it comes at us endlessly (and thoughtlessly), and – if we surrender – we will be overtaken
The name of the article is Our Zombies, Ourselves written by James Parker. In this article Parker discusses the historical backdrop of zombies and talks about where it is that they started from. Parker additionally raises exceptionally fascinating point on the notoriety of zombies and a short timeline on zombies. He also talks of different sorts of popular cultures which incorporate zombies and are utilized, for example, the movies Night of the Living Dead, White Zombie, the books The Zen of Zombies, Zombie Haiku, and the television series The Walking Dead.. By utilizing these references Parker helps demonstrate to us how zombies appear to ceaselessly draw our interest. The article additionally educates the reader about how zombies came
There has been a resurgence of zombie films in the last decade, ranging from Danny Boyles 28 Days Later to Paul W.S. Andersons Resident Evil. This renaissance of zombie cinema has resurfaced in response to the cultural, political, and social volatility experienced in today’s society, much like its predecessors. A zombie film, unlike other monster movies, plays more with the real-world fears and anxieties, presenting the audience with inescapable realities. However, to understand why this subgenre has been brought back into the mainstream cinema, a comparison is needed across generations of film. This paper will focus on the comparison between George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and Danny Boyles 28 Days Later; in an attempt to show how zombie cinema is a reaction to cultural shocks.
Ever since the first zombie movie was created in 1932, there has been a constant rise of zombie appearances in popular media. Like with all monsters, the majority of zombie media aimed to represent a certain aspect throughout the society in question. Whereas vampires represented romanticism and Dracula represented how a certain social group was viewed during a certain time period, zombies in Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” aimed to create a situation whereby a group of people had to survive a night together, despite their racial tensions between one another. Being the founder of all subsequent zombie films, “Night of the Living Dead” provided a guideline for zombie behavior. As time passed, more and more versions of the zombie came out, whereby zombies stopped being a plot device and turned into the focus of the film itself. The Walking Dead, currently standing as the fourth most popular TV series, took a turn from this progression and decided to imitate Romero’s take on zombies. By including zombies which simply aimed to sustain themselves by consuming the flesh of the “live,” the creators of The Walking Dead caused the remaining survivors to gather together and rely on primitive human instinct to survive. Even though the zombies in this series run rampant, they play a very minimalistic metaphoric role. Instead, by presenting the zombies as a plot device, the characters in this series were able to demonstrate their true prejudiced view on society, ultimately revealing
Rodney Clapp, writer, editor for Wipf and Stock Publishers and expert in topics such as theology and culture, in the article, “Attack of the Zombies”, argues that many things in life are beginning to resemble zombies. Clapp assumes that the audience also views zombies as lifeless creatures that go around spreading their disease. The author’s purpose is to persuade the audience to believe that many things they see today are starting to resemble zombies. The author writes in a challenging tone for people who question the similarity of zombies to every day life. Clapp supports his argument by comparing and contrasting, and exemplification.
In the modern world, media outlets and pop culture constantly revive the idea of zombies taking over human society. From The Walking Dead to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” zombies are portrayed as slow-moving living-dead creatures shown in mass amounts to create the idea of consumption. While this monster as it is depicted in movies and television shows is nonexistent, there are living zombies walking the surface every day. They hide in the shadows of town and often only wear the clothes on their back. They spend every day trying to survive with the little amount of money they can scavenge. Money to them acts as the cure to help them get the necessary resources they need. Many people in this nation and across the world are categorized as living under the poverty line. The spectrum of people ranges from homeless and sleeping on the streets to large families settling in garage-sized apartments. Even when taking out of consideration the similarities in physical appearance, zombies are an accurate representation of the major issue of poverty in today’s society due to the instant eeriness that the stereotypes of both subjects represent and the idea that the poor are unable to receive the necessary health treatments.
When picturing a zombie the image of a undead person looking for its next human meal comes to mind. While this is the foundation of what the contemporary belief of a zombie is, the actual origin has a far deeper and darker history than what is portrayed today. In the 17th century, Haiti; at the time known as Saint-Domingue, was colonized by France. Slaves were brought in from Africa to work on the sugar plantations. These slaves were subject to such brutal and horrible conditions that many of them died after a few years of service at a rate two to three times higher than any other type of plantation (Berlin 21). A belief rose among the slaves that if they died, they would return to la guinée (Africa) and be free - but there was a catch. If they committed suicide; as many did, they would not be allowed to return to la guinée and instead would spend eternity at the plantation as an undead slave (Mariani).
There are many political theories in the world today. Drezner addresses how realism, liberalism, constructivism, neo-conservatism, and bureaucratic politics would face the threat of a zombie apocalypse throughout his book. Each theory presented with the possibility of a world where the dead walk amongst the living and feed on their flesh, and then Drezner would elaborate on how each political theory would unfold if the world were to decide to pursue that particular political theory. This elaboration helps us determine if the world could even survive a zombie apocalypse. Although many people would ask is the threat of a zombie apocalypse even a