Because of society’s new obsession with the TV series, “The Walking Dead,” it got me thinking about how the audience of this show admires and idolizes the characters and their situations. What i find alarming is how that these characters are living in a post apocalyptic world and despite this, the audience is not necessarily hoping for a zombie apocalypse, but by the TV ratings and buzz arising from the show, viewers sure would not mind killing a few zombies. This argument of mine arose when I was talking about the show (which I watch and enjoy), with a few of my friends. It was fascinating how much this show has captured the mind of the audience and allows the viewer to put him or herself in the shoes of a person living in a zombie infested civilization. After one episode, I caught myself doing the same thing; analyzing my apartment and saying to myself, “Okay if a zombie jumped me right now, what would I do?” What got me so alarmed about this situation is that the show has millions of viewers and every single one of those viewers believes that they will be one of the survivors. The more I thought about this I laughed because if everyone was a survivor, who would be the zombies? There would not be an apocalypse if millions of people were survivors. So now, whenever I find myself in a, “Walking Dead,” conversation, I ask, “Would you want a zombie apocalypse?” I am met with a variety of answers but the gist of each is yes. Even after I point out to them that the probability of them being a zombie is exponentially higher than being a survivor and even if you are a survivor, the chances of you having to kill a loved one or watch one die is probably 100%, they still would love to live in this dystopia world filled with, “The Walking Dead.”
Utopia/Dystopia
Imagining a better world
I think you are right — our whole fascination with these accounts of the end of the world depend on our assumption that we will be among the plucky survivors, which is highly unlikely. In the Walking Dead case maybe it would help if the zombies did have some shred of their prior lives in them — so at least you would know who you were as you were trying to eat survivors.
I think it’s interesting because people are so concerned with the fate of the world and that this show seems (as unrealistic as zombies are) to be somewhat realistic in the scheme of apocalypses. So that when the fantasy and feared reality mix people flock to the show. I think believing in yourself as a survivor is one way for people to avoid these fears of the end and the zombie part is the fantasy aspect.
I also find this topic to be very interesting. We, as viewers, follow the story line of a select few survivors but usually we don’t even question the other side, in this case what would life be like as a zombie. I enjoyed the movie Warm Bodies because while in the midst of a post-apocalyptic world, we follow the zombies. And they do have a shred of their former selves, at least some of them. In fact, they are fully aware of the lives of the people they are eating- as they eat the brains of a person they get their memories. I though it was an interesting take on this kind of scenario.
I’m always curious as to why certain movies, music, and TV shows are popular. I think pop-culture has finally moved away from it’s vampire fixation and is now captivated by the idea of post-apocalyptic scenarios. Just off the top of my head, there’s “The Walking Dead”, “The Talking Dead”, video games like “Left 4 Dead”, 5k themed Zombie-runs, and even a rewritten work entitled “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”. And that’s just the beginning. In most these scenarios, like you said, they’re in the perspective of survivors. Perhaps it’s pure fascination, or perhaps this reoccurring theme is motivated by the question of our future. As technology and medicine advances audiences can’t help but wonder “could this really happen?” So maybe this is Hollywood’s way of training potential survivors (I mean, I already know what I’m doing in case zombies attack…but that’s just me). Nevertheless, after the Rudy Eugene ‘Bath Salt’ incident last summer, I know I’ll be taking notes during the next episode of “Walking Dead”…just incase i AM a survivor.
I thought this post really hit home. My husband loves this show and I know on Sunday nights that he is in a different realm. He literally know has thoughts about the zombie apocolypse happening. He just recently bought a book to read about zombies and I am hoping this is just another fad. “Walking Dead” is a good tv show, but I think it hard for people to cross over. When I say this I mean, the viewers themselves try so hard to relate to the characters in the show. I mean really? I think they want a zombie apocolypse so they can be looked at as the heroes or survivors. It is the thrill in knowing what to do and how to kill “walkers”. Thanks again for the post it was interesting and I got a chance to vent on my husband’s strange obsession.
i for one don’t entirely understand the zombie sensation, but to each its own. but the idea of a post-apocalyptic world is often easier to imagine, than our world getting “better”. it may just be a recognition of the fact that everything in time fades away, especially a planet being degraded by our own activities. apocalypse is a much more exciting way to imagine the world being destroyed, akin to an action hero going out in a blaze of glory, rather than in a hospital bed dying of some terminal disease. post-apocalypse also gives writers a way to wipe the canvass clean. Anything can happen after the worlds been ruined. but why should post-apocalypses result in dystopia? can’t the “survivors” of a global disaster use the new beginning as a chance to come together and create something better? maybe that’s not sexy enough for hollywood, but it could make for a good novel.