The symbolism of zombies
Jan 29, 2014 20:48:54 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2014 20:48:54 GMT
Since the 1960's or whatever, "zombies" have become a major genre in cinema -- evil undead people who want to attack us and generally eat us. Dozens and dozen of these movies have been made in just about every country that makes movies. The attackers in movies have always been symbolic of current national fears. After using all sorts of outer space monsters or others created by radiation leaks or toxic waste, which clearly were "communists" in terms of what it took to exterminate them, then there were the not-immediately-obvious monsters such as those portrayed in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," first made in 1956. These were locally bred communists, the ones that Joseph McCarthy was hunting.
Then we went on to the modern zombies, the undead who used to be part of our group but which have turned against us after coming back to life. It is not immediately obvious whom they represent, but I would assume that they are pinko creeps who were raised normally but who turned against traditional American values for some reason. While the first zombies were all Americans, lots of other countries picked up on them in the ensuing decades (especially Spain and Italy) for various reasons.
But what really intrigues me now are the 21st century zombies. They are still zombies, but they are totally ambiguous and no longer necessarily want to eat us. There was a movie in France in 2004 called "The Returned" and it was later made into a popular TV series which is continuing. An American version is now going to be made as well. Both the movie and the television series are about dead people who return but who just want to fit in. But of course they can't because they are dead and we buried them and they no longer have a place in our lives. On top of that, they are weird -- they don't eat or sleep like us and they sort of continue to decompose. Yuck. Last year there was the zombie movie "Warm Bodies" about zombies who are getting better. Even though most them wanted to attack and eat us, some of them seem to be cured of their condition and of course the hero of the movie falls in love with a live girl, which is a considerable dilemma. In the meantime, now we have another (British) television series "In the Flesh" about other gentle zombies who are returning, but nobody wants them. They have to wear makeup to look alive, but obviously plenty of people are not fooled at all.
There is obviously some very important symbolism concerning these new zombies, but I don't feel qualified to determine exactly what the point is. Do they represent harmless Muslims... or maybe gays or other minority groups? The message seems to be to try to get us to accept people who creep us out, but that's a pretty negative attitude in the first place, isn't it? Does anybody have any ideas about this?
Then we went on to the modern zombies, the undead who used to be part of our group but which have turned against us after coming back to life. It is not immediately obvious whom they represent, but I would assume that they are pinko creeps who were raised normally but who turned against traditional American values for some reason. While the first zombies were all Americans, lots of other countries picked up on them in the ensuing decades (especially Spain and Italy) for various reasons.
But what really intrigues me now are the 21st century zombies. They are still zombies, but they are totally ambiguous and no longer necessarily want to eat us. There was a movie in France in 2004 called "The Returned" and it was later made into a popular TV series which is continuing. An American version is now going to be made as well. Both the movie and the television series are about dead people who return but who just want to fit in. But of course they can't because they are dead and we buried them and they no longer have a place in our lives. On top of that, they are weird -- they don't eat or sleep like us and they sort of continue to decompose. Yuck. Last year there was the zombie movie "Warm Bodies" about zombies who are getting better. Even though most them wanted to attack and eat us, some of them seem to be cured of their condition and of course the hero of the movie falls in love with a live girl, which is a considerable dilemma. In the meantime, now we have another (British) television series "In the Flesh" about other gentle zombies who are returning, but nobody wants them. They have to wear makeup to look alive, but obviously plenty of people are not fooled at all.
There is obviously some very important symbolism concerning these new zombies, but I don't feel qualified to determine exactly what the point is. Do they represent harmless Muslims... or maybe gays or other minority groups? The message seems to be to try to get us to accept people who creep us out, but that's a pretty negative attitude in the first place, isn't it? Does anybody have any ideas about this?
