Zombies

     Has anyone noticed how popular zombies have become in just about everything? 

     It seems that within the past three decades, there's been a sudden zombie craze in movies, video games, and TV shows. Yes, we had George A. Romero's zombie movies that started in the late 60's, but I've always felt the prevalence of the character type throughout most of my life (which, having begun in the 90's, isn't much). I remember in the early 2000's being scared by zombie arcade games in bowling allies - those glowing eyes and the unsettling, swaying walk they had were burned into my poor little eyes and haunted me at night. And later, as an early teen, I was terrified of the swift,  relentless zombies in the Left 4 Dead game trailers.

     Now, of course, zombies don't scare me. But I am intrigued by their rise in popularity over the years, because for a monster, they don't have a lot to offer. They're just "brain dead" people who either want to kill you for your brains or kill you for no apparent reason. Most of the time, they're portrayed as slow and they really only seem to pose a threat when they're a crowd.

     So what makes them so popular?

     Well, perhaps it has something to do with the way we see society. In a world of booming technology and consumerism, you tend to see a lot of dead-eyed faces staring into computer screens. This appearance is very similar to the stereotypical image of a zombie's face - the lackluster eyes and the slack jaw coming dangerously close to resembling us. Plus, our constant desire for stuff resembles a zombie's mindless ramble for brains. Perhaps we see zombies as an image of what we could become or (to some) what we slowly are becoming, and portraying that nightmarish image in movies and games is an interesting way of reminding us who we shouldn't be. 

     This metaphor seems especially effective when you look at zombies as being the result of a virus. In the Left 4 Dead games and The Walking Dead series, a disease is the origin of the zombie outbreak. Recent technology has infiltrated our lives like a virus to the point where it's changed the very nature of society in a short amount of time. And while I'm not pointing this out to say technology is bad, I'm saying there is a resemblance with both scenarios. Even in a world where zombies exist, society is forever changed by the disease that started it all in the first place.

     But what about the zombies themselves? You can apply as much symbolism as you want, whether it has to do with society or ideas of life and death, but what about the actual characters makes them interesting? 

     Well....not much, really.

     The only instance where I've seen the zombie character reinvented somewhat is in the Left 4 Dead games by Valve. Not only are they fast, but there are also several special types of zombies who have different attack methods. The Hunter is a smarter, stealthier type that hides in the shadows and leaps onto you. The Witch is the type you want to avoid at all costs, because if you venture too close, there's virtually no escaping her, as she is relentless. The Smoker is one who hides just out of sight, but not too far that his long tongue can't reach you. And these are only three out of eight special zombie types in the two games.

     Here's a storyboard featuring a Smoker and the survivors from the Left 4 Dead 2 game. (Sorry about the image quality! You can find awesome L4D fan-art at artzdeeva.blogspot.com!)

     Definitely not a zombie to mess around with!

     Getting back to the original subject, though, I feel that with the zombie genre, the zombies themselves aren't what's so appealing to many people these days. I believe it's the normal characters who are thrown into zombie-infested worlds that draw people in.

     Going back to the whole society metaphor, some of us - I dare say, all of us at one point or other - have noticed the changes in our society produced from the technology boom. And when we look around and see all the faces staring into screens, it does stir up a desire for awareness and outreach, because the further away we are drawn from each other, the stranger we become to ourselves. 

     You can see this same desire within survivor characters in zombie movies/games/shows. They are brought together because they see what is happening and the urgency to stick together and search for higher ground is important for their overall survival. Even if these individuals look like they'd never associate with each other in real life, they choose to stay together because how - on a survival level and an emotional level - can you face a horde of zombies all by yourself?

     I don't know if anything I said answers the original question for you guys. Perhaps you have a different response as to why zombies are so popular these days. But that, at least, is my take on the matter.

                                                                                                             ~Maud,

                                                                                                    Official Night Owl

P.S. Love animated movies like Frozen and Shrek? Then you're going to love this Friday's post about animation's biggest rivalry!