Conspiracy rhetoric and Zombies from me to you:
So we all know that the popularity of zombies in our media-television shows, movies, and books-is prominent. There have recently been a rash of stories about people eating people or gnawing the face off of a homeless man.
The following are some links to these stories to get you up to speed.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/07/cannibalism-addiction-karen-hylen-psychopaths_n_1570470.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/30/bath-salts-health-cannibal-rudy-eugene_n_1555493.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/19/alexander-kinyua-cannibal-mental-hospital_n_1609056.html
But what got people extra riled up was the fact that the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) showed up. This occurrence is a common marker of a zombie film. The military and the CDC are generally mentioned as having been ineffective or attempted to cover up what was really happening in the initial scenes of the outbreak. These institutions are even mentioned in how the Government will cover up a Zombie outbreak in Max Brooks' book The Zombie Survival Guide.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/01/cdc-denies-zombies-existence_n_1562141.html
So this, and having read the Zombie Survival Guide recently, got me thinking: Do people really believe in the possibility or happenings of prior Zombie outbreaks? Is this simply mistaken cannibalism?
Google the phrase "The Lawson Tapes" and you'll find this link:
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138506
There seems to be some debate out there on the inter webs at least and there are a slew of [what I'd call] fake, low budget "authentic" zombie footage reels on the You Tubes. There are debates about authenticity in the comment sections of a few of the videos I checked out there.
Richard Hofstadter argues that mass media has influenced and aided in the success of paranoid style discourse, which I believe is at the root of what is happening here in the internet forum (6).He says, "It is the use of paranoid modes of expression by more or less normal people that makes the phenomenon significant" (Hofstadter, p. 1). I am intrigued by the anxieties exemplified in the zombie culture and suspicions. Especially the suspicions that the Government is hiding something from the American people. Instead of preparing them or allowing them to know the truth so they could better prepare for the inevitable zombie outbreak, the American people are being left in the dark.
So we have stories about zombies instead of preparedness. Walter Fisher call humans "homos narrans" and claims that "Humans are essentially story tellers" (p. 6). What story are we telling with these zombie tales from Hollywood and from amateur film makers on line? Are they the same stories? In a post-9/11 world these anxieties may be a way to fixate on something. A buoy to attach our fears to in the storm and chaos of an unsure destiny amidst the War on Terror.
Super interesting take on the recent OH GOD ZOMBIES scares! I hadn't thought of the implications about the CDC getting involved, but yep... that's definitely a common trait in zombie apocalypse media!
ReplyDeleteIt's also very interesting that you bring up that this might be a fixation for our fears. Usually when we fixate on fears, it's an outside source, an "other." Here, it's unclear whether it's an "other" or one of us that we're scared of. Zombies are definitely monsters, but they also used to be people we love. Throws in an interesting ethical dilemma.
When I was reading about the "Miami Zombie," I noticed elements of ethical uncertainty. The woman who was dating the "Miami Zombie" was doing all she could to try to convince the world that he shouldn't be referred to in this way, and that he was a HUMAN, just like the rest of us. That it was drugs that were the real monster.
I hadn't heard of the girlfriend's story, very interesting. Labels and naming matter, Burke was right! The ethics of all of this is a road I haven't traveled much yet but would like to.
ReplyDeleteThe whole "other" as enemy and the ever so complicating-the zombie was a person at one point-is a good angle on this. There is so much work done in the films, books, and television series I have seen that tackle this very issue. They make clear that the zombie, regardless of who it was before, must be destroyed because the present state of being has erased the former human self. But, they still have people take issue with killing a zombie or come up with strict rules about waiting until they've turned zombie to deliver to head shot.