Does anyone else find the whole zombie culture phenomenon disturbing?

[Lexa88]

I've found that instead of the zombie culture thing dieing down, if you'll excuse the pun, it's grown instead. I used to be okay with it... I even used to watch an ex-boyfriend play Left for Dead (zombie game for those who are lucky enough to be out of the know), but I can't stand it now. The stupid things give me nightmares :( I realize that our pain/pleasure centre in our brain is basically the same zone, but I don't understand how people can find pleasure in the creepy flesh rotting creatures or the whole idea that the world could end by violent take-over of a virus. Why do people want that!? To have loved ones infected and have to "double-tap" them in the head... Ugh, our world's so twisted. Anyway, those are some of my thoughts; what are your thoughts on this strange emergence of zombie culture?

[_wickedwolf_]

I think it's less about the gore, and more about relation. At some level, humans need to be able to relate to something in order to really like/admire it. I think that life nowadays (though I guess I really can't speak for any other time, since I haven't lived it) is absolutely zombie-fied. Wake up, go to work/school, check phone/Facebook/Twitter throughout the day, go home, more work/schoolwork, go to sleep. Repeat forever.

I personally feel the life being sucked out of me. And just like being a zombie, there's no real escape. Once you're in the system you have to stay in it until you die. You can;t expect to live a half-decent life with medical care, reliable shelter, and a constant source of food without buying into this system and working for money until you can't work anymore.

There's less and less time for fun, I feel. Sure, lots of people waste their income by spending it on frivolous items (the newest electronics, a new, ridiculous car, a giant mansion for them and their dog), but a lot of people need to work all the time just to get by, just to pay their bills. It's really unfortunate.

So on a whole (sorry, this ended up being kind of a rant on society lol), I think that "zombie culture" is really just an expression of people feeling like they're going through the motions in life. Like if they just stumble on to do what they're expected to do they'll survive another day.

I think that deep down, we all feel like a zombie.

[DreamingofRoses]

I think the big thing about zombies is: they strip away the normality of things.

 

Like wickedwolf said, everyday life is monatonous and expected and really does not lend itself to being blunt or open and up-front. Get a zombie horde? Can't do that anymore! Your life is in constant danger, your loved ones are in constant danger and you may have to do unspeakable things to survive/let others survive. So what do you do? Who will you become? What are your loved ones really like under pressure? How do human relationship dynamics change in the face of such a danger?

 

I think a really good presentation of it is given in The Nostalgia Critic's "Why Do We Love Zombies?" video. You can find it on YouTube or tgwtg.com. WARNING: Strong language and crude humor abound with him. I don't remember anything particularly bad with the zombie video and the one on YouTube should be available for all age groups so it's not that bad.

 

But there are a lot of people who ask that question and a lot of it comes down to (from what I've seen): what happens to a human when the system breaks down and they have their chance to step up?

[rinoa812]

I agree completely you. We are more and more like zombies. People are starting to wake up to it though. As for the genre in itself I am not a big fan but i know a couple who go to cons all over the state im in to meet the walking dead cast. They watch all the horror movies that come out . Their response when I asked them why they liked zombies so much? They said its better than reality lol

[Emily]

Honestly, I just think zombies are cool xD I love B-movies, so for me, zombies are no different than giant spiders or Godzilla or Frankenstein's monster, entertaining and fictional.

 

You definitely can find cultural themes and allusions within zombie culture (the idea of dystopia and a degenerating of society are prominent, which as a discourse has existed for centuries in philosophy and other studies), which I think is a draw for other people. I choose to look at it purely as a form of entertainment.

 

P.S There's a really cool zombie documentary on American Netflix called "The Truth Behind Zombies." It discusses the various ways that people claim real zombies could exist. For those who are fearful of a real zombie, it pretty much proves that our traditional notion of "zombie" is almost completely implausible :P

[yasha]

I always thought people looked at it in an entertaining form like emily said, though Wickedwolf's post makes a lot of sense too.

Personally... I think zombies are pretty boring. I much prefer werewolves and vampires... and even then it depends on the movie/book/event.

[KyokoHateshinai]

I agree with _wickedwolf_ as well, but however I feel like life is monotonous, I refuse to like horror movies, go on roller coasters or anything that would stimulate fear in me (the presence of spiders freak me out). Maybe I feel like life is scary enough for me. I know I sound paranoid, but everyday I'm scared of people judging me, failing school, global warming, not being able to live another day because of some accident/disaster. But sometimes I even ask myself do I really want to live another day in this kind of world. Maybe that's why zombies don't interest me whatsoever and tbh I feel like it's ridiculous. I don't understand why people go to do "scary" things to scare the crap out of themselves to have "pleasure". I don't see how a person trying to kill another person would be possibly "pleasurable" unless they were insane. So I vote "The world is nuts".