When we examine the current state of the zombie or undead genre, there is some exciting and innovative ideas present. Films such as Zombieland and 28 Days Later take the undead genre to new and interesting heights. Most recently, cable television network AMC, has forged the latest addition to zombie lore with The Walking Dead, adapted from the graphic novel of the same name.
As a fan of zombie movies and stories, I face much ridicule. I get looks of surprise, disgust and even questioning of my sanity when I mention my penchant for tales of the undead. If we examine the stories themselves, there are some interesting themes involved. George A. Romero tackled the many ideologies prevalent in the 1960s; racism, feminism, faltering of the nuclear family and conformity to mainstream culture.
The zombie genre illustrates philosophical ideas of human extinction. If somehow, humans were no longer the apex organism in our ecological system, it would reap mayhem, mass hysteria and outrage. To say the least, walking corpses would produce chaos and panic.
Zombies themselves are reflections of our need to belong. In the 1960s, being part of the homogeneous society afforded a person access to good jobs, homes and family life. The undead represented a perversion of that ideal. Moreover, their constant consumption (of human flesh) can be commentary on people's constant rate of consumption of material goods and unrelenting quest for more money. Zombie lore states that zombies do not consume resources such as oxygen or food, nor have emotions or feelings of any kind. Their only goal is to seek out living humans and eat them. This lack of emotion and constant consumption is again a reflection of materialism of the 1960s.
In every story about an undead plague, society crumbles and is realigned. Skills such as hunting, building and survivalism become more important than being able to balance a checkbook, use a computer or sell a script for a movie. Max Brooks, author of World War Z, depicts this to a degree when comparing immigrant families and their knack to make things last by repairing broken items and limiting consumption due to the lack of resources. Max Brooks wants to highlight that a "throw away" society such as ours, the skills and definitions of success are vastly warped. In general, people are very worried about being competitive in the material sense: Drive a BMW, live in a posh neighborhood, go on vacations in the Caribbean and also make $100K or more per year. This is what society has defined as being successful. In a hypothetical disaster, such as a zombie apocalypse, all of those things are null and irrelevant.
Being a celebrity seems to have overtaken the need to do something worthwhile in one's life.
Don't get me wrong; I enjoy movies, music and entertainment, but beyond that, I do not care about the lives of celebrities. They do their job and get paid (too much) for it. Our celebrity centric culture works very much to our detriment. How does this relate to zombies? It just might be that worshipping an actor or celebrity makes you a zombie, constantly consuming their content without regard.
The zombie genre is a warning against over-consumption, materialism and general hive mind behavior. It is important to not only have some individuality, but more importantly, it is important to be mindful of our exhaustion of both natural and man-made resources.
Further reading for fun and education:
