The Zombie Survival Guide-->humanity

            The Zombie Survival guide by Max Brookes truly encompasses the idea of a modern monster; ourselves. In this “handbook” to surviving the zombie apocalypse we are presented with a few themes of our own mortality and limitations. For as humanity became the dominant species on this planet, beating out other mammals, disease, and natural disaster, the only thing left to threaten us is plague, or ourselves. I believe that is why the idea of a zombie apocalypse is so terrifyingly popular. It is death, the greatest monster of all, spreading through vessels of humanity.

            Imagine seeing your entire family and friends zombified before you eyes. To me that is worse than death. I envision everyone I know, shuffling around aimlessly, grunting, and marauding for flesh. Significantly, they do not want any old flesh, they want human flesh. They are a manipulated, perverse version of ourselves and those we used to know.

            Extrapolating from classic to modern representations of zombies, I have arrived at a few themes that seem to play into our fears of those hollow, violent creatures. First, I believe that they remind us of a barbarian civilization; Humanity at its most brutal and depraved. Over the last 150 years or more, the idea of “civilized” humanity dominates our society and the world. A zombie apocalypse may refer to the collapse of civilized human society, which I believe, is a fear we all have at one point or another.

            Another critical theme is the fact that most zombie outbreaks come from human experimentation on the genome and DNA of humanity. In many stories, humans accidently release a virus, like in Resident Evil, that consumes the planet. Especially in this modern era of advanced military operations, destruction of the earth by human hands is more than thought about; it is a semi-reality. In the blink of an eye, our world could be destroyed by a nuclear holocaust. Perhaps zombification is a translation of the human fear of self destruction on a massive scale. 

Zombieland & Human Survival

Zombie movies all share the common underlying theme that proposes the question "If a massive outbreak DID pop off...how would I survive?" 

We are all so connected in this modernized society… we all have social media, and are attached to phones 24/7.  But within all of our politics, rules, and technologies we would be all but helpless to a massive outbreak of “monsters”…Facebook wouldn’t help us. The laws that our governments have enacted to protect us would be meaningless in a society with mindless, ration less beings. This anxiety is portrayed through the 2009 film Zombieland. This movie is a direct reflection of current cultural anxieties that drive human survival.

When you break down the characters in the plot of Zombieland you see that there is a quest for acceptance, a struggle between adolescence and adult hood, tough-guy syndrome and Emma Stone just… being Emma Stone.  Of all of the zombie movies that foreshadow post apocalyptic devastation…Zombieland is the quirkiest. The characters are randomly thrown together and everything is marked with dark subtle humor.

The movie just doesn’t try THAT hard to be the serious handbook on how to survive. Mainly to revisit the theme, and “cultural anxiety” that there is no way to prepare to survive a situation that unpredictable.

Columbus is the main character and the narrator of the tale. We’re introduced to him in the beginning and he gives us the rundown on the disgustingness.

America has an insane outbreak of Mad Cow disease (which is a humorous jab at the crazy cow craze that swept through American media at the time). This outbreak rendered the majority of the population cannibalistic zombies.

Columbus is a scrawny college kid who is a self-described loner. His social isolation gives him an upper hand being extra unattached to the senseless violence and murder he partakes in daily. The struggle for survival and the perpetual loneliness drove Columbus to create a set of “rules for survival” that he refers to throughout the movie. Columbus’ rules give him a sense of structure in such a catastrophic existence.

Woody Harrelson plays “Tallahasse”…the tough country boy who’s sole mission in Zombieland is to find TWINKIES...Yeah. He is the walking paradox. Tallahassee meets Columbus and is immediately ready to shoot him…they have a Mexican standoff that is ended when Columbus gives him the thumbs up. From that glimmer of humanity they become partners in crime. He kicks ass, he shoots guns, and he is questing for Twinkies.

The sisters come into the plot conning the dudes and stealing their car and guns. They totally represent 21^st century girl power. They are cunning and smart but their sneaky ways eventually make them damsels in distress.

The universal bonding moment comes when they decide to destroy a store together. After multiple disagreements and moments of wavering trust… the group finally develops a sense of compassion for one another. 

Bill Murray’s cameo provides a brief moment of clarity since it seems so random to the viewer. You have a moment where you think, “Why would this group of strangers end up at Bill Murray’s real house in a post apocalyptic society?” I feel that his purpose in the movie helps highlight the theme. Columbus’ has all of these “rules” that govern how he survives but nothing about a society rampant with bloodthirsty monsters can be controlled in a logical fashion.  

In Time

wired.com

            Justin Timberlake stars in the movie, In Time, which takes place in the future where people stop aging once they reach 25 years old and after that point they live off of what is known as “time.”  Once you run out of time, you die, so in theory as long as you have time you can live forever.  The catch is this time is also used as currency.  Not only that but it can also be stolen from you, or given to others at your own will.  There are two main classes of people in the movie, the lower class who operates off of very little time and pretty much lives their lives minute to minute, and then there’s the upper class who pretty much has more time than they know what to do with.  The main plot of the story is that Justin Timberlake’s character is a part of the lower class, which after a very eventful night ends up with as much time as a very wealthy upper class citizen.  His increase in time is immediately noticed and he is hunt down by the “authorities.”  This movie is a current movie, it came out last year, and the divide between upper and lower class can be seen as how some people might think some politicians view our economy.  This viewpoint is that there should be a fine line between economic classes and that the upper class should keep an eye on the lower class, but not necessarily does anything to help them out.  The movie was released and the concept was developed during what historians are probably going to look back and call The Great Recession, where many people argued that in order to help the economy people from upper class families who have a lot of money should help out more than lower class citizens.  In the end of the movie Justin was able to give a huge amount of time away for free to every person from the area in which he had lived.  This could be a sign that people need to share the wealth.  Although this is not necessarily a physical monster, it was/is a scary time in American history. 

Interview with the Vampire

From IMDb

Interview with the Vampire is a film based on the novel by Anne Rice.  The plot of the film is focused on a journalist interviewing Brad Pitt's character, Louis de Pointe du Lac.  Louis is a vampire and he talks about how he never wanted to be a vampire and how he struggled with not wanting anything to do with the role of the "typical" vampire.  He did not want to drain the blood out of women and children and he most certainly did not want to turn anyone.  Instead, he chose to follow the path of drinking the blood of animals to survive.  

The setting of this movie takes place in 1791 and shows how a vampire drinks the blood of a young, attractive woman.  During that time period, a woman's innocence and virginity were cherished and sacred.  The mark that a vampire leaves on the neck allows everyone in society to see that that person is no longer pure.  A vampire represented a woman's fear of no longer being wanted or significant in society.  In the movies, when a woman is bitten and has the mark on her neck, she no longer gets called upon by men and gets looked down upon.  If a woman during that time period was known to be "impure", the chances of her finding a husband would greatly diminish.  

From Oedipus1

In vampire shows now such as True Blood or Vampire Diaries, being bitten by a vampire is no longer discouraged or seen as frightening by everyone.  Being bitten is seen as the ultimate romantic experience and many people seek out the vampire for that pleasure.  A vampire is a sexy man or woman seeking love or play interests.  Not everyone in the show supports the vampires, but the vampires symbolize more of the "bad ass" boyfriend or girlfriend.  Even though the vampire always alluded to sexual encounters, it was never portrayed as upfront as it is now.  The people who pursue the vampires in these shows are seen as the risk takers and represent society's fear of breaking from the norm and out of the cookie cutter expectation for how people should act.  Thinking about the change in the presence of sexuality and the symbolism of the vampire, I'm curious to see how the vampire will be portrayed in novels and media in the future.

From Smiling Wallpapers

Men in Black

Men in Black (1997) is a film that most Americans have seen.  Will Smith (Agent J) and Tommy Lee Jones (Agent K) working as agents in the super secret organization that monitors and polices extraterrestrial life on Earth.  The plot is, of course, hilarious, and shows the audience that aliens could live among us.  

At the time of the movie's release, the major topic of discussion in America was about illegal immigration.  From 1990 to 1999, four major decisions were made concerning illegal immigration: 

1. The Immigration Act (1990) increased the legal immigration ceilings and tripled the number of visas available for priority workers and professionals with US job offers.  
2. United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez stated that "cases in which aliens have been determined to enjoy certain constitutional rights establish only that aliens receive such protections when they have come with the territory of, and have developed substantial connections with, this country".  
3. The Illegal Immigration Act (1996) required phone verification for worker authentication by employers, made access to welfare benefits more difficult for legal aliens and increased border patrol. 
4. Rodriguez v. United States (1999) held that statutes which discriminate within the class of aliens comport with the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment so long as they satisfy rational basis scrutiny. 

It is clear that, during the late 1990's, immigration quickly became a source of cultural anxiety in America, and can be reflected in the movie Men in Black, with its references to aliens living among society, being controlled and monitored strictly, and being at risk of being deported.  

Jennifer's Body

Jennifer’s Body, released in 2009, stars Megan Fox as the head cheerleader and most popular girl in school.  Megan plays the role of Jennifer, who becomes bedeviled by a rock band and goes on to eat human flesh, specifically that of the male species.  The reason Jennifer becomes possessed is because the band had to make a virginal sacrifice, and the human they sacrificed, Jennifer, was not a virgin. While our culture is being swamped with stories about supernatural males and romance, this story gives us a different perspective, telling a story about a supernatural girl who seeks revenge and goes on to make males suffer for what has happened to her.

Jennifer's Body

Jennifer’s Body helps to spread fear of women’s bodies and sexualities.  While this movie is marketed as a dark comedy, it is an example of pop culture’s deprivation of the roles of women.  Women’s sexuality is feared, and often young girls are punished for possessing their sexuality.  However, Jennifer is made out to be a strong character that is in charge of what happens to the males surrounding her, because she has that mystical power.  The media usually tells us that when the woman possesses sexual desire then she is evil, and this is shown when Jennifer is violent towards the males.  This same aspect takes place in the 2007 film, Teeth.  The main character, Dawn, holds a sexual advantage over all the men in the film.  More and more films in our generation give female characters a powerful, lead role.  In our society, as well, the role of females is becoming more important and necessary in order for society to thrive.

The anxiety over female and male sexuality has been around in American culture for a long time, even before these films we know and love.  As we grow up, we begin to see that the newer films are targeted towards younger and younger audiences though.  With the portrayal of Satan, religion can be pulled into the mix as well, creating an even wider genre of what these films are about.  All we know is that with time things will continue to change but they still manage to hold on to something from a previous generation.

Videodrome

“‘the Videodrome’ is a socio-political battleground in which a war is being fought for control of the minds of the people of North America.” (Videodrome)

Source

Videodrome is a movie written and directed by David Cronnenberg released in 1983. The plot of the movie involves the main character, Max Renn, the CEO of a small Canadian tv station, discovering a broadcast signal, which broadcasts a plotless show featuring torture and extreme violence called the Videodrome. Max initially thinks that the signal, and the broadcast, are coming from Malaysia but upon further investigation finds that the Videodrome is actually being broadcast from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Believing Videodrome and other staged snuff TV to be the future of television, Max orders the plotless show to be pirated and begins watching it. Max soon develops several malicious side-effects that come from watching the Videodrome, not least of which is the development of a malignant brain tumor from exposure to harmful signals that the Videodrome emits. Ultimately, Max finds that the Videodrome’s creators have “been secretly working with [another character] to get Max exposed to Videodrome and to have him broadcast it, as part of a crypto-government conspiracy to morally and ideologically "purge" North America, giving fatal brain tumours to "lowlifes" fixated on extreme sex and violence" (Wikipedia). My brief summary skips much of the story, but what I’ve included should be enough to make my point.

Picture Source

Based only on the conflict presented in Videodrome, I would assume that some cultural anxieties and socio-political issues of 1983 might pertain to government censorship, imposition of morality and violence in entertainment media. The Vidoedrome works on a sensory level, and it was created to attract sadists and sociopaths and poison them through (their version of) pleasure. When people watch movies and TV, they identify with the characters and imagine that they in their places, so the way that some would derive pleasure from watching pornography, a sadist would derive pleasure from watching Videodrome. The creators of Videodrome (the government) sought to attract these people and poison them with radiation. First, it would seem absurd that a cable company would ever broadcast such a program, but if small, local-access companies broadcast soft-core pornograohy at night, why wouldn’t they consider violence when violence is more prevalent and explicitly featured in American movies than sex? And second, what right does the government have to poison people who are technically innocent but probably disturbed and maybe dangerous? This raises questions about what the government should do to control TV content and how it should decide what is acceptable to broadcast and when and where it should be permitted, as well as whether the government should be proactive in weeding out potential threats to society or handle situations as they arise.