Is the invention of zombies just another excuse to kill things that look human b

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   Sarah Andersonposted 9 years ago

   Is the invention of zombies just another excuse to kill things that look human but aren't?

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   psycheskinnerposted 9 years ago

   Is it "just" that?  No, I am sure that is part of it but it also speaks to deep themes about fear or bodily/societal collapse, questions about the limits of personal autonomy and anxiety about biotechnology.

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   M. T. Dremerposted 9 years ago

   I definitely think that's part of it. Zombies are a simplified way of killing people who are unquestionably evil. There are a lot of grey areas in war settings, but not in the zombie apocalypse. It's also a class equalizer. Someone who is poor, might be a king in a world with zombies, and then those rich fat-cats get eaten because they don't have any meaningful skills.
   
   It's become this odd mythology in the modern age that, based on the way people talk about it, sounds like they actually want it to happen. With the somewhat boring 9-5 lifestyle, I understand the appeal of that fantasy, except the death toll of such an event would negate anything fun about it. Zombies are great in television and video games, but in real life it would be utter hell.

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   gposchmanposted 9 years ago

   While the current representation of zombies is of a brain eating living dead person wandering the earth to destroy humanity, they have been with us for hundreds of years.
   
   Within the history of the New World, the Western Hemisphere, zombies are more tied to the religion of Voodoo. The mythical zombie is a reanimated dead person under the control of a Voodoo Priest or Priestess who has the Power. The zombie is at command of the person of Power.
   This iteration of the zombie is not that of a brain eater.
   
   While there have been recorded cases of zombies, it has been determined that the zombie was never actually dead but had been drugged with a powerful natural psychotropic drug that left the victim in a malleable hypnotic state easily controllable.
   
   With today film makers and fantasy story tellers, tales of zombie apocalypse make for entertaining stories.
   
   I don't think it is an excuse to kill things that look human, because it is easy to establish aliens attacking and there is no reason for them to not look human. They are just capitalizing on an existing genre that offers an opportunity to be gross and have fun. Look at how many dress up as zombies for Halloween.

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