Friday, March 13, 2015

"Monsters and Mysteries in America"



As we were discussing, Lauro’s article in class today, I couldn’t help but think intently about the Miami Zombie incident, because I recently watched a show about the incident. It was very interesting because it talked about how that case was not the only zombie case, or case where someone had that type of abnormal, cannibalistic behavior, in Florida. It also discussed how the autopsy done on Eugene showed nothing abnormal in his system except small amounts of marijuana that were not nearly enough to cause someone to do the things that he did. It was very interesting, and gave me a new insight on the event. I’m thinking I want to do something with the Miami Zombie incidents, as well as the information from this show, for my big paper. Let me know what you think. I think I could make my paper into a media paper since, according to news reports, Eugene was on “bath salts” but was he really? How great is the influence of the media really on our society? And why do we just believe everything we hear? But it could go either way. Do we listen to the news, who are supposed to be credible, or people and witnesses, who don’t have the same credibility? Here is a link to watch the show: (I think about half way in they go to another story that doesn't relate to the zombie. This is one of those shows where they talk about two different topics in the same show. They start talking about a dybbuk. That part is pretty interesting, too.)

3 comments:

  1. This article would be a great start for your essay! I'm sure you could find a lot of other eye witness accounts or people's reactions to the events. Also, I like the idea of reactions to the media and how the event was portrayed. You could certainly do a paper on the events, reactions, and how media sculpted people's perceptions of the event.

    Oh, and I'll watch the link as soon as I get home, Crystal!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think that this could turn into a great commentary on mental health and how they are also treated like zombies. Obviously something was seriously wrong with this man and societies answer was to label him a zombie (read: monster). If he were to be treated for what ever underlying illness he may have had, he would also be referred to as a zombie in the sense that the medication would make him a shell of his former self. As it was brought up in the article, since both were on the lower rungs of society, it was easy for the average person to dissociate from the situation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Like I said in class, you could write a great rhetorical analysis of media reaction to this event. Media, in lots of cases, actually creates what we accept as truth. I *thought* I had heard the point you make in this piece--that the "bath salts" angle wasn't true. But by the time the actual pharmacological truth came out, people had moved on and, in most folks' minds, the guy was high on bath salts.

    Anyway: great possible paper topic!

    ReplyDelete