Caution: Zombies by Elizabeth Cutbirth

CAUTION RADIOACTIVE

ZOMBIES

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CONTENTS

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Why Are Zombies Popular?

Nicholas Barber

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Zombies Are Hot Right Now

Daniel W. Drezner

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Zombie Popularity In The Media Melissa Nasiruddin

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Just when you think they’re finished, they get up again and shamble

towards you. It’s a truism that applies to zombies −everyone’s favourite decomposing, man-­eating fiends−but it’s also true of the zombie films, television series, books and graphic novels that are being devoured by ever greater audiences, long after the fad for this particular breed of undead monster seemed to be heading for the grave. It’s now more than a decade since zombies began their relentless shuffle into the mainstream of popular culture. In Danny Boyle’s 2002 hit 28 Days Later the mindless cannibals weren’t called zombies − they were simply ‘the infected’ −but they were close enough to remind the film industry that there was money to be made from the dormant horror sub-­genre. Two years later saw the release of both a frenetic zombie action movie, Dawn Of The Dead, and a ground-­breaking zombie romantic comedy (or zom-­ rom-­com), Shaun Of The Dead both critical and commercial smashes.

Since then, the films have kept lurching onto the silver screen, from 28 Weeks Later (2007) to Zombieland (2009) to Cockneys vs Zombies (2012).

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Why Are Zombies Popular?

Nicholas Barber

With The Walking Dead’s record­breaking ratings and World War Z winning big at the box office, there’s no end of love for zombies.

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been spawning sequels (as well as By the time Brad Pitt’s World War Z was released in June, it seemed it film spin-­offs) ever since. But the game’s creators−and the creators of was several years late to the party. every subsequent zombie project− Surely there was nothing new to be owe a debt of gratitude to George said about the undead? That tardiA Romero, the writer-­director of a ness, along with reports of the film’s low-­budget black-­and-­white shocker, troubled production, suggested that Night Of The Living Dead, in 1968.

World War Z would die a death at Before that, zombies were sorcerers’ the box office. Instead, it went on slaves in Haitian Vodou folklore, but to rake in $540m, making it one of Romero imported them to contempo2013’s ten biggest blockbusters. And rary America. He also codified a new zombie fever hasn’t been confined set of undead rules. to cinemas. A comic-­ “Unlike vampires His zombies had an book series with the insatiable hunger for same grisly antagonists, and werewolves, human flesh. They The Walking Dead, was they’re not hunted in packs − launched in 2003, and frightening and were unstoppable was adapted into a because of how unless they were detelevision series in 2010. powerful they are. capitated. They could This month, the TV show’s fourthseason comThey’re frightening turn their victims into fellow zombies with menced, and its opening because of how one bite. And, just episode was watched by dismal it would as importantly, they 16.11m viewers − five be to become one.” were a metaphor million more than the for everything that equivalent episode the season before. If that weren’t enough, bothered Romero about the modern world. In a new documentary about a more thoughtful French take on the making of Romero’s landmark the risen dead, Les Revenants, was film, Birth Of The Living Dead, the shown on British television this sumdirector comments that his screenmer as The Returned, and became play was the product of “a good the first fully-­subtitled drama to be deal of anger, mostly that the Sixties broadcast on Channel 4 in over 20 didn’t work”. Released in the same years. 2013, it seems, is the year of year that Martin Luther King Jr was the zombie. murdered, Night Of The Living Dead Simon Pegg, the star and co-­writer was radical enough to feature a black of Shaun Of The Dead, traces the hero who was besieged by a mob of zombie revival back to the release brain-­dead attackers. From then on, of Resident Evil, a video game that zombies have stood for unreasoning, terrified and transfixed PlayStadestructive conformity. In Romero’s tion users in 1996, and which has

1978 sequel, Dawn Of The Dead (which was remade in 2004), the zombie hordes are seen lumbering around a shopping mall, still driven by an overwhelming urge to consume, even after death.

To compare zombies to their rivals in the monster-­movie pantheon, vampires and werewolves symbolise the thrill and the romance of having superhuman strength and no conscience−hence the Twilight and True Blood franchises. But there’s nothing glamorous about being a zombie.

Unlike vampires and werewolves, they’re not frightening because of how powerful they are. They’re frightening because of how dismal it would be to become one yourself. Another difference is that werewolves and vampires are content to share the planet with the rest of us. They might tuck into the odd innocent bystander, but Dracula and the Wolfman don’t threaten our way of life. In Romero’s films and their many imitators, however, the monsters are either the cause or a symptom of a complete societal breakdown. When a botched science experiment, a radiation leak, or a glowing meteorite begins zombifying the populace, the result is a pandemic which leaves the world in chaos. Whether this scenario is played out in 28 Days Later, Zombieland or The Walking Dead, the rule of law ceases to exist. Humanity’s last survivors are forced to forage for food in a dystopian desert, while trying to avoid becoming food themselves.

It can’t be a coincidence, then,

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that zombies are in vogue during a period when banks are failing, when climate change is playing havoc with weather patterns, and when both terrorist bombers and global corporations seem to be beyond the reach of any country’s jurisdiction. It can’t be a coincidence, either, that the fourth season of The Walking Dead got off to its hugely successful start just weeks after the United States federal government shut down. “We’re living in very uncertain times,” says Max Brooks, who wrote the book on which the World War Z film is based.

“People have a lot of anxiety about the future. They’re constantly being battered with these very scary, very global catastrophes. I think a lot of people think the system is breaking down and just like the 1970s, people need a ‘safe place’ to explore their apocalyptic worries. They can’t read stories about real plagues or nuclear war. That’s too scary. That’ll make them turn away. Zombie stories give people the opportunity to witness the end of the world they’ve been secretly wondering about while, at the same time, allowing themselves to sleep at night because the catalyst of that end is fictional.”

Zombies embody the great contemporary fear − and, for some people, the great contemporary fantasy − that we’ll soon be surrounded by ravenous strangers, with only a shotgun to defend ourselves. Compared to that, facing a werewolf or a vampire is a breeze.

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Zombies are Hot Right Now Daniel W. Drezner

By any observable metric, zombies are totally hot right now. Look at movies like “Warm Bodies” and the coming “World War Z,” the ratings for AMC’s hit series “The Walking Dead” (12.9 million viewers for its recent season finale) and $2.5 billion in annual sales for zombie videogames. Over the past decade, between a third and a half of all zombie movies ever made have been released. A glance at Google trends reveals that in the past few years, interest in flesh-­eating ghouls has far outstripped popular enthusiasm for vampires,

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Why are the living dead taking over our lives, and why have so many other domains of American culture, from architects to academics to departments of the federal government, been so eager to jump on this macabre bandwagon?

Is it all just good, scary fun—or something we should worry about?

First we have to appreciate why zombies are so terrifying. The classic ghoul of George Romero films seems awfully slow and plodding. But what the living dead lack in speed, they make up for in other qualities. Zombies occupy what roboticists and animators call “the uncanny valley” in human perception—though decidedly not human, they are so close to being human that they prompt instant revulsion. Another common feature of zombie narratives is that 100% of the people bitten by zombies eventually turn into zombies. Even the most virulent pathogens encountered in the real world (say , Ebola or HIV) have infection rates below 50%.

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These qualities matter because they map so neatly onto the genuine threats of our day. Zombies thrive in popular culture during times of recession, epidemic and general unhappiness. Traditional threats to U.S. security may have waned, but nontraditional threats assault us constantly. Concerns about terrorism have not abated since 9/11, and cyber­ attacks have now emerged as a new anxiety. Drug-­resistant pandemics have been a staple of local news hysteria since the H1N1 virus swept the globe in 2009. Scientists continue to warn about the dangers that climate change poses to our planet. And if the financial crisis taught us anything, it is that contagion is endemic to the global market system.

Zombies are the perfect metaphor for these threats.

As with pandemics and financial crises, they are not open to negotiation. As with terrorism in all its forms, even a small outbreak has the potential to wreak massive carnage.

Because the living dead resonate so strongly with the present cultural moment, it is no surprise that various promoters and policy entrepreneurs have used them as a “hook” for their own causes. The scholar John Quiggin published “Zombie Economics” as a way to grab reader attention about the ill state of current economic theory. Outdoor retailer REI marketed “13 Essential Tools

for Surviving a Zombie Outbreak”— each available for purchase at REI stores. The annual Zombie Safe House competition challenges architects to design the best ghoul-­proof home, and zombie “fun runs” are now regular events across North America.

These examples highlight the positive ways that the living dead can be used to spark interest in other ideas.

One of the strengths of the horror genre is that it allows people to talk about present-­day problems without addressing them straight-­on. The moment zombies are added to the mix, a dry public policy problem suddenly becomes a game of sorts, accessible to ordinary citizens.

Still, here’s a real downside to these constant references to the living dead.

The most serious problem lies in the suggested analogy. Policy entrepreneurs piggyback on zombies to capture attention, but they too often overlook a key element of zombie stories:They are relentlessly, depressingly apocalyptic.In almost all of them, the living dead are introduced in minute one, and by minute 10, the world is a wasteland. The implication is that if zombielike threats emerge, the state and civil society will quickly break down.

The apocalypse narrative matters if people implicitly accept the notion that some real-­world threats will actually

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History of Zombies In Film

1932- “White Zombie”

1985- “The Return of The 1968- “Night of The Living Living Dead” Dead” 1979-”Zombie 2”

2003- “28 Days Later”

1981- “The Evil Dead” 1972- “Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things”

trigger this sort of collapse. Perception plays an important role in maintaining national resilience and public order. If Americans think that we are teetering on the brink of chaos, the apocalyptic mind-­set can, in itself, help bring about that state of affairs.

Preparations for doomsday already influence policy debates. For National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, part of the logic for opposing gun regulation is that he anticipates “confrontations where the government isn’t there—or simply doesn’t show up in time.” Sen. Lindsey Graham has worried aloud about inadequate firepower if, say, “chemicals have been released into the air and law enforcement is really not able to respond and people take advantage of that lawless environment.” When lobbyists and senators muse aloud about such scenarios, there is a problem with our political discourse.

The solution to this millenarian cul-­de-­ sac is to create more creative zombie narratives. There will always be a place in zombie lore for the postapocalyp-

1993- “Braindead”

2013- “World War Z”

2004- “Shaun of The 2009- ”Dead Snow” Dead” 2005- “Land of The Dead” 2008- “Quarantine”

tic visions of “The Walking Dead,” but we also need stories like Max Brooks’s novel “World War Z” (the source for this summer’s movie), in which the adaptability, ingenuity and creativity of human beings are put on full display .

Any species that has managed to invent duct tape, Twinkies and smartphones stands a fighting chance against the living dead. Narratives about flesh-­ eating ghouls should remain scary—but they can also remind audiences that we have an enormous capacity to adapt Mr. Drezner is the author of “Theories of International Politics and Zombies.”

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Zombie Popularity In The Media Melissa Nasiruddin

Fear of the unknown has long been a

of magic and spells. Among some

psychological driving force for curiosity,

academics, zombies in the New World

and the concept of a zombie apoca-

were thought to be wretched, half-dead

lypse has become popular in modern

creatures that reflected the bondage

society.

African-born and Caribbean slaves

Although zombies are currently an

suffered at the hands of their masters,

integral part of our popular culture, our

working to the point of exhaustion in the

morbid fascination with the walking

plantation fields while having little to no

dead spans several centuries. Historians

agency. To this day, voodoo is prominent

and anthropologists trace the origin of

in western Africa, Haiti, New Orleans,

zombies to the folklore of several tribes

and parts of the Caribbean Islands.

in western Africa, from Ghana to Nigeria

Although most cultures would consider

(1,2). During the slave trade of the late

the zombie to be a fictional creature,

1500s through the 1800s, persons from

zombiism (i.e., being a zombie) is

these regions were spirited away from

rather common in Haiti, with instances

their homes to till the plantations of the

of people being reported dead by loved

Caribbean and the European colonies,

ones, only to be spotted fully reanimat-

bringing with them the voodoo culture

ed and wandering around town several

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weeks to several years later. In Haitian

zombie and the notion of a zombie

and African culture, zombification is a

apocalypse in The Night of the Living

punishable offense on the same order

Dead. These zombies were the corpo-

of severity as murder. A person who has

real expression of strife, a mechanism

been zombified, or transformed into a

to demonstrate rising social tension

zombie, can have a blunt affect, dull

in response to a ruinous threat. Sub-

gaze, and almost stuporous behavior,

sequent media have continued to use

characterized by a lumbering gait and

adaptations of Romero’s zombie. The

simple, repetitive vocalizations and

film adaptation for I Am Legend depicts

movements. Most medical evaluations

humans who have undergone phys-

would characterize victims of zombifi-

iologic changes, developing intoler-

cation as having mental disorders such

ance for the sun and a unique form of

as catatonic schizophrenia. The afore-

communication while maintaining the

mentioned traits have been incorporated

ability to learn through mimicry and form

into the current interpretation of zombies

social hierarchies. In the film 28 Days

found in modern film and media.

Later, infected humans transform into

Zombie folklore made its appearance

creatures characterized by preserved

in modern media in Das Cabinet des

intellect and tremendously aggressive

Dr. Caligari, a silent horror film directed

behavior. However, this expansion of

by Robert Wiene, which debuted in

aptitude is not uniform in modern media:

Germany in 1921. The film’s depiction

Shaun of the Dead portrays zombies

of zombies paralleled Haitian lore: a

as very slow-moving, with incredible

sleepwalker under the control of another

strength but no intelligence—they are

individual. The notion of a zombie was

fooled by normal humans who mimic

primarily defined by the control an indi-

their gait and groans. In addition, Juan

vidual had over another, and the main

of the Dead includes zombies dismissed

character in this film had the character-

by the Castro government as dissidents,

istic attributes of the early zombie: the

and Warm Bodies depicts zombies as

unique lumbering gait, lack of higher

human protectors once they begin to

cognitive ability, and obedience to an-

transform back into humans. Land of

other individual.

the Dead revolves around the zombie

Drawing inspiration from Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel I Am Legend, George A. Romero spawned the more modern film manifestation of the undead

siege of a noninfected gated commu-

nity and sees the leader of the zombies gain class consciousness toward the end of the film. None of

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these interpretations are necessarily character-driven television drama. In his critically acclaimed novel World War Z: out of step with the use of zombie An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max movies as a useful public health Brooks explores social issues surroundmessaging tool. ing zombie apocalypse, such as the Though most popular in film, efficacy of government. These popular zombies are present in other forms of media as well. They can be found and varied manifestations of zombies elucidate the potential for a comprehenin print, with novelizations such as sive dissemination of knowledge, from Zombies for Zombies: Advice and identifying traits indicating infection to Etiquette for the Living Dead and explaining the significance of public the popular comic book series Marhealth infrastructure. Zombies are a vel Zombies. Increasingly, however, unique medium that these flesh-eating “Zombies, in turn, allow for the audience’s monsters have found make these fears suspension of disbethemselves in videoginto something lief and for intellectual ames, feasting upon concrete, something engagement. unwary protagonists Zombies may inspire we can reflect upon since the introduction fear within those who of Zombie Zombie in from a safe witness them in popular 1984 (5). Zombies distance.” culture, and this fear have since spread can be compared with the same emoto the more general population in tions that people might experience when games such as Plants versus Zomthey encounter the unknown. Some of bies and Resident Evil, available on several different platforms of acces- the fears brought on by zombies include fear of brain dysfunction, fear of death, sible technology. and feelings of hopelessness. Zombies, A brief look through the history in turn, make these fears into something of the zombie’s evolution within media unearths their progressing ability to

concrete, something we can reflect

serve as a vehicle to reach greater audi-

upon from a safe distance, as opposed

ences. Frank Darabont’s award-winning

to more active methods of facing our

theatrical adaptation of The Walking

fears, such as high-risk activities like

Dead comic books has proven that

sky diving or bungee jumping. Ac-

zombies maintain television prominence

cording to psychologists, watching 28

even when serving as the backdrop to a

Days Later or navigating the characters

of The Walking Dead through Telltale Games’ deadly streets can be one way in which we, as psychologically bound humans, confront our fears and attempt to prepare for the possibility of our fears becoming reality. Although we would not go so far as to suggest the beauty of our fears in the face of hope, we should at least acknowledge the positive emotional effect that consideration of past success stories when handling rabies outbreaks, and infectious diseases in general, could have on our society should a zombie apocalypse occur. After all, a progressive society cannot be built upon feelings of fear and anxiety; what better way to build feelings of hope and community than drawing similarities between a seemingly unconquerable undead foe and a similar counterpart in the history of public health that was successfully managed (to a certain extent)?

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