The Media In The Movies

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.

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

While the idea of zombies or where they were first originated from can be debated by many different countries, several of these myths have reoccurring plots of how humans passed away, and found a way to come back from the dead. No matter what story is being told from around the world about zombies, they all seem to originate from a dark power being used to bring someone back from the dead. Throughout the centuries; however, we have adapted towards our new technology and now many zombie stories include either a deadly virus that escaped from a lab or a biological disease that somehow evolved and helped reanimate people; yet, didn’t completely bring them to life as the functioning citizens they used to be. Although the story of how zombies came to be has changed due to technological advances, in both cases zombies seem to represent a punishment and a plague to the human species and are condemned as evil beings, or ungodly. With increasing popularity in American society, it is evident that the main explanation its popularity are because it depicts survival or an individual or group of individuals, shows a new society that isn’t overly sanitized or censored, gives people with regular lives an opportunity to live vicariously through the characters and furthermore shows that consumerism isn’t a necessity.

History has changed. Ideas and standards have also changed. Back in the day, when the media or movies showed a hint or a dash of blood, the reaction of the average person was shock and disgust at the blood and gore shown. These scenes and clips shown have become more and more extreme over the years to the level of being hazardous to society. Even in the videogame industry, certain scenes that may have caused outrage and commotion fifteen years ago are now seen as childish and may even be considered as humorous. To put it candidly, most of the mass media has been used widely to its ability to influence and persuade, to glorify, and diabolize thoughts and actions of individuals. Yet people of this generation still spend a great percentage of

Society is heavily influenced by what is portrayed in the media. The documentary, 13th, talked about the inaccurate stereotype surrounding African Americans, specifically men, in the CJ system. A large portion talked about the “crack down” on crime, specifically the War on Drugs, which became a major part of pop culture. Because of this, black men getting arrested was constantly shown on the news, causing an overrepresentation. The media coverage led to people of color being portrayed as animals, which lead to misplaced fear across the nation. An infamous term used by the media was “super predator”. This term was effective in instilling fear of people of color in much of the nation. “Super predator” painted a picture of a kid who had

Zombies have had quite the resurgence within the last decade culturally. Before we got Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, or the amc show, The Walking Dead, Zombies had simply faded into the background of horror and pop culture. Since George A. Romero’s film Night of the Living Dead, Zombies had really seemed like a one trick pony. They were depicted as slow moving creatures, preying down upon harmless naive teenagers. But after the resurgence of the zombie from films and shows in the early 2000’s, zombies are now everywhere and in all different shapes and sizes. Comics, videogames, shows, books and movies are now just a few of the mediums that zombies are used in media today. Well it now finally seems that Zombies have finally seemed to make

Zombies are one of the biggest pop culture horror icons currently influencing all areas of the entertainment industry. Intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky, Chris Hedges, Paul Krugman, and others have used the zombie as a metaphor for everything from our dysfunctional financial system to our alienating political institutions. From TV to movies to books, the idea of a zombie invasion has entered the minds of several different creators. Even though these all have the purpose of entertainment, they also reflect current society. Looking into the deeper meaning of these works, zombies are being used as symbolism for the frustrations within the world.

The propaganda technique of transfer was most used in the Hollywood film clip. As the seen opens up a frontal shot of FDR, and the American flag behind him appears. As the clip plays out others are listening and hearing the call to action of the president. In every shot of FDR delivering his speech only the flag and himself are well illuminated the remainder of the background is dim, and dreary. The director most likely used transfer because of the respect Americans have for their nation,flag and president. The presidents speech appears to reach people of all walks of life as if calling them to action, and to stand behind him as the flag is in the shot of him delivering the speech. By the president who is the figure head of the country supports

Media can influence a nation and thus can shape the opinions of the masses. Film and television has the responsibility to provide adequate representation of racial minorities. It has the power to have a great impact on the lives of many children of colour and can shape society. There is already huge issues with representation in the media such as prevalent whitewashing and the normalisation of Caucasians. However, there is a multitude of methods to achieve the desired representation that can change opinions and affect present day culture.

As anxieties within the public become more complex and evolved, the zombie culture infects the aspects that our world is so desperately dependent on, “The spread of the living dead reflects a variety of anxieties in the American body politic buffeted by asymmetric threats and economic uncertainty” (Drezner 825). Looking through a psychological lens, anxieties embody random and unpredicted emotions and fears that are almost uncontrollable. So, when the zombie culture embodies such feelings, one cannot help but associate the two and fear not only the task of dealing with said anxieties, but the overwhelming fear of zombies themselves. As depicted through many forms of media, especially through narratives, zombies are unconscious bodies that perform actions not related to any logic or reasoning. The critical threats that enthrall the public’s attention in today’s society are those that do not even originate from a conscious actor, but ones that are considered impersonal and remote, such as a virus. With these nontraditional threats now embodying the zombie persona, the appropriation of zombies solidifies the cultural significance to a greater extent. With zombies becoming an intricate reoccurrence within today’s media, it is almost impossible to ignore their significance, “It should be pointed out, however, that constant references to the

Scary movies are one of the most popular genres out there, as well as mystery and crime books— this is because deep down people love to be scared. People are attracted to things they can’t explain and feelings, like fear, that they can’t control. The idea of zombies taking over our world is a very scary thought and it has been a growing fear in recent years in our society. Not only is the thought of our loved ones, neighbors, friends, or possibly even yourselves being undead and attacking your fellow community is a terrifying and disturbing thought. Fear of the unknown also plays a major role in the interest of zombies, and because no one knows exactly how our society will come to an end, we are terrified at the thought that it could be by a horrible outbreak. We like structure and safety in America, and for the most part we favor on the side of having more control. In the event of an apocalypse, all of those things would crumble, and the world would become complete chaos. That factor scares people, but also entices them at the same time. We are worried about a time with no rules or order, but also we are curious about what it would be like to lash out and act violently without getting in trouble. We also are fearful of a time when status and wealth does not matter. For example, in World War Z, the

After watching this movie it reminded me of the paper we previously submitted regarding media having an enormous influence in our lives the movie Network has the same concept. I believe this movie took place in the depression era where everybody’s was out of work and scared of losing their job. Where bank robberies, crimes, and unemployment were at its highest peak all people did was watch the news. Where a TV rating was so important then and still is in today’s current generation. To me the story centers on Diana Christiansen who is a rating hungry-programming executive who is prepared to do anything for

Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized that the most effective propaganda often took the form of “mass entertainment". The increasing popularity of the film industry caused the growth of the influence of Hollywood stars. As a response to the request from Roosevelt, the U.S. government established The United Service Organizations, which has been providing live entertainment and programs to the soldiers who were far from home. Hollywood stars participated in advertisements and travelled across the country to encourage civil to purchase war bonds supporting the U.S.A. in the war. Hollywood stars, for instance actress and singers socialized with soldiers and performed at U.S. military bases wherever they were fighting. The organization's most popular

Mass media is a media intended for a large audience. It may take the form of broadcast media, as in the case of television and radio, or print media, like newspapers and magazines. Internet media can also attain mass media status, and many media outlets maintain a web presence to take advantage of the ready availability of Internet in many regions of the world. Some people also refer to it as the “mainstream media,” referencing the fact that it tends to stick to prominent stories which will be of interest to a general audience, sometimes ignoring controversial breaking news. Many people around the world rely on this form of media for news and entertainment, and globally, it is a huge industry.

Media and society have always gone hand and hand. We as a society rely heavily on the news and the information it provides, the weather, current events, political news, entertainment, the list goes on and on, but how much of the media can we believe? Is the media truly operating at an ethically? This paper will look at this issue by examining media responsibility through the ethical theories and perspectives utilitarianism, and virtue ethics.