Today in class we discussed "What's with all the zombies?" and I found in incredibly intriguing listening to everyone's input and feedback on the reading. At one point we were deeming whether or not the zombie theme could be substituted with some other imaginary creature such as a werewolf, vampire, etc. As a class, we decided yes the reading very well could go toward another creature and be just as relevant. However, we didn't talk about the other reasons this zombie/creature fad could be taking place to begin with. I'd like to elaborate further on this concept. I did some additional research and would like to include another blog post from Esquire.com, this is the link if you'd like to read it over - http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/why-zombies-are-everywhere
Essentially, this author is suggesting a completely different reason behind our zombie obsessed society. In this post she states that none of the theories pertaining to the reasoning behind our zombie obsession are all completely correct. However, the thing so convenient about zombies is that we can extend them and show ways they can pertain to multiple points of society's actions. In this post the author provides her theory of the zombie fad. She says, "After seeing dozens of zombie movies, I'm convinced that the reason zombies are so powerful is that they capture an atheistic fear of the dead." she then goes on to provide reasons for her claim. The author herself is an atheist therefore she provides first hand reasons behind her theory. She says that for atheists, they fear the dead more than people with strong religious beliefs do sometimes. They believe that although people are dead, and are oblivion they go on to live in our memories and have a sort of control the way zombies do. In the post she says, "We cannot talk to the dead. They cannot talk to us. But they threaten to consume us unless we deal with them." this is the atheistic view of the dead and she relates it back to the zombie theory. She says that all zombie movies or books have the same theme, the unchangeable past threatens to consume a world that is living. This relates back to her statement that society fears death, particularly atheists because they cannot communicate or believe to communicate the way people with strong religious beliefs do. They are essentially haunted by the memories of the deceased with no way to change or alter the past.
Sorry for this being so long! I just found her blog post interesting and wanted to share! :-)
I think that fascination with death is a main reason for the popularity of zombies. I'm also on the fence about the other theories that economic hard times, war and general unhappiness in the population lead to their popularity. I'm bringing in commentary on what makes zombies popular from an article that we are supposed to read for next Wednesday's class, but I felt that it pertained to your post. I think that the general fear of death and the uncertainty that comes with it, is more of a driving factor than wanting to see a zombie's head cut off with a chainsaw to release tension from a dull existence.
ReplyDeleteI'm (very unpopularly so) an atheist. I'm fascinated by how death happens, but I'm not worried about zombies or the dead coming back. I think a big reason why the popularity of it all is so big is due to people who believe in life after death, making the whole zombie thing so unbelievable and fun to watch/read. I imagine (someone who's religious, correct me if I'm wrong), but since you're dead and you get to go to heaven with no problem, then why would you ever fear zombies, really? Or dealing with the dead? I think that besides the whole zombie pov and more into the death aspect, people equally are haunted by the death of others, whether they think they'll be zombies, angels, or what have you.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really interesting point of view. I never would've thought about how an atheist might feel about death. This is a very interesting reason behind the zombie fad but it kind of makes sense since our society is moving toward becoming less and less connected with religion. Even though I am a religious person (not hard core, but I do believe in God), I think that this is a valid explanation that many people can relate to!
ReplyDeleteI'm not attacking just making statements: I think that this being an idea for an after life may make sense or give comfort to some people, but I don't think that's the only reason zombies are so popular. That doesn't seem like a much better belief than just becoming part of the universe or just dying and having no afterlife. However, this is just my opinion. I think that fear of zombies is real for everyone because most zombie situations include living people who are trying to stay alive but are willing to accept death just in the right manner. A lot of people who are religious still fear death, not because they don't know what is going to happen after death, but because they don't know if they did the right things to make sure they have the better afterlife (heaven or hell in most cases). I agree that people are afraid of and fascinated by death and they may be using zombies to compensate for that, but that's not the only reason that zombies are such a big fad right now in my opinion.
(Again, I am in no way intending to offend anyone with any comments I have or will make. It is really hard to type to make sure that everything sounds nice when I'm just stating my opinion. Sorry if anyone is offended by this.)
-Crystal
I never looked at it that way. I, as a Christian, never knew an atheists fear of death. I also have a fear of death. I don't fear what comes afterwards though, I fear that I won't accomplish all my goals and dreams.
ReplyDeleteThe human race has always been fascinated by death and now we glorify it through ideas such as zombies and vampires.
Thanks for introducing me to a new point of view!