Zombies in Pop Culture

Zombie Culture
The impending apocalypse

*ideas adapted from Dan Birlew‟s “Why are Zombies so Popular?” (2010)

• Dawn of the Dead
• Shaun of the Dead
• Zombieland
• The Walking Dead (tv)
• Dead Set (tv)

Zombies in Pop Culture

• Castlevania
• Doom
• Resident Evil
• Silent Hill
• Left 4 Dead


• Pride and Prejudice and
Zombies
• How to Survive a Zombie
Apocalypse


• Founded in 2007
• 60+ thousand members


• “Dedicated to raising the level of
zombie knowledge and respect in
the Arts and Sciences”


• Slogan: “What you don‟t know
can eat you.”


• “Naked man eats face off victim
when high on LSD”
• “Another „zombie-like‟ attack?
Man eats family dog after police
say he ingested synthetic drug K-
2”
• “Catholic priest bites ear off
other priest: Ungodly battle over
parking space”


• Nachzehrers: Germanic creatures
that consume already-dead bodies

The Origin of Zombies

• The word “zombie” comes
from African and Haitian
legends regarding voodoo
doctors
• People thought these doctors
could temporarily resurrect
the dead and turn them into
slaves


• A 1929 account of meeting a
Haitian zombie:
"The eyes were the worst. They
were in truth like the eyes of a
dead man, not blind, but staring,
unfocused, unseeing. The whole
face, for that matter, was bad
enough. It was vacant, as if there
was nothing behind it."


• In reality, the doctors
administered a powerful
narcotic that induced a
coma-like near death state
• People only seemed dead
• “zombi” = spirit of the dead


• The walking corpses
associated with zombies
today is closer to Arabian
legends of ghuls
(a.k.a. Western “ghouls”)


• Ghouls are shape-shifting
demons that typically
assume the form of hyenas
• They eat people and rotten
flesh


• Because they can take the
form of what they eat, they
sometimes appear as the
recent dead (sound
familiar?)


• 1920s: Author H.P.
Lovecraft was famous for
his short horror stories
• He blurred the line between
ghouls and zombis


• In “Re-animator,” a mad
doctor revived the dead; the
zombies were murderous
and violent cannibals (sound
familiar???)


• 1954: Richard Matheson
published the novel I am
Legend
• an infection turns people
into vampires, who create
other vampires during the
night


• 1968: George Romero‟s
movie, Night of the Living
Dead
• Influenced by the I am Legend
concept of “monsters creating
other monsters”
• Finally, the “classic” zombie
they crave flesh and are
capable of creating other
zombies through biting


• 2002: Danny Boyle‟s 28
Days Later
• People infected by a virus
(like in I am Legend) and
experience uncontrollable
rage
• Gave birth to the idea of the
“quick zombie” (no longer
laughably clumsy)


• Don‟t like
your boss?
If he‟s a
zombie, you
can smash
his head in!

Why are they so popular?

• Food, liqu
or, cigarett
es, cars, an
d guns are
all free for
the taking!


• The guy or
girl you‟ve
had a crush
on is now a
possibility
(everyone
else is a
zombie!)


• You might
even get to
rescue
him/her
from being
eaten!
You‟ll for
sure get a
kiss then…


What does this say about society?

• Dan Birlew: “Perhaps
swinging on a guy‟s head
with a cricket bat is starting
to sound like a good way to
blow off some steam….


• Dan Birlew: “…But the only
problem is, you‟re talking
about a person…”


• Dan Birlew: “…So you need
something that‟s not a person,
but a kind of
rudimentary
semi-person
with no
intelligence”


• Dan Birlew: “[Zombies are]
former people that you can
beat down and tear apart in
the most gruesome ways you
can think of…”


• Dan Birlew: “…The more
clever and savage, the
better”
*warning: upcoming image contains some
graphic elements


In the end, just remember this…

How else would they get to your brain?

Zombies in Pop Culture

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Andere mochten auch

Andere mochten auch (9)

Ähnlich wie Zombies in Pop Culture

Ähnlich wie Zombies in Pop Culture (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Zombies in Pop Culture