Why has the world become obsessed with zombies on television and in film? Martie Bester, a self-confessed zombie junkie, tries to unravel the mystery behind the success of the walking dead.
When a man rides into Atlanta, Georgia on a horse and there is destruction all around him, and there are thousands of flesh-eating creatures clawing and fighting their way towards him, what does he do?
Does he head to the nearest fast food joint to carbo load and super size or does he man up and size up his backbone? Does he depend on the kindness of fellow human beings, irrespective of their backgrounds, to rescue him? Does he embrace the situation with a brave heart and a courageous spirit and trust those around him for his next breath of air, regardless of how long he has known them? And does he totally believe that they will come through for him, no matter what?
In the 1940s, when zombies regularly started appearing on movie screens, they weren’t taken very seriously. But then, it was fresh after World War II, when millions of ordinary men had become heroes in the eyes of their family members and peers and an even greater number of ordinary people had struggled for survival and lived to tell the tale. Hope was in the air.
Then, a man named Viktor Frankl, the father of existentialism, had just survived the death camps of Auschwitz and later inspired global audiences with his book, The Meaning of Life. Out of all the destruction came a sense of rejuvenation, of rebuilding, of rejoicing. Heroes abounded.
Today, Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) is our hero. Batman sends our pulses racing. The Avengers cash in on our existential angst. Who are we? Why are we here? These questions have never been more pertinent.
Most watched
Similarly, words such as “camaraderie’, “valour’ “trust’, “honour’ and “brotherhood’ have become almost extinct. Are these qualities deceased? Not on American horror television drama The Walking Dead which started airing in 2010. These qualities, on one of the most watched shows on earth, matter most. On The Walking Dead these characteristics are prerequisites for survival.
Lead actor Andrew Lincoln is revered by millions around the globe in the role of Rick Grimes. Reminiscent of screen heroes of days gone by, Lincoln is handsome, but not overwhelmingly so.
Rather, his face is absorbingly constructed and his eyes are by far his most important physical attributes as they blaze bright blue when he is angry (often), lilt like the ocean when he embraces his son (regularly), and reminds us of a gentle hue when he is content (seldom but sincerely).
His shoulders are pulled back, his body is strong, lean like that of a predator, but his most powerful ally is the strength of his mind. That combined with his convictions, principles and determination that cannot be swayed. The world needs heroes and Rick will do just fine, thank you.
Success
Half of the success of The Walking Dead is anchored in the fact that Rick’s love for his son, wife, friends and even enemies are unequalled in any show on primetime television.
This man is stripped raw every week, but he still comes through for the only remaining survivors after the zombie apocalypse. He is a man to be admired. (If zombies had a bit of sense, they would like him too.)
He is the personification of what we see so little of in the “real’ world – a man who is afraid of nothing, is in control without being a jerk, has his weaknesses but overcomes them, trusts again and again, believes in himself and his fellow men and women and doesn’t hold a grudge, keeps all his promises and fiercely loves his family.
This man is purely fictional, of course. But how we all wish he were real.
The writers of The Walking Dead cleverly conceived Lincoln’s character from all the characteristics humans most aspire to but fail to reach in today’s world as instant gratification becomes an even bigger foe than flesh-eating monsters.
Audience identification
Rick Grimes is patient, fair and non-judgmental. Audiences strongly identify with the alpha male in him, yet admire him for being gentle yet dominant. He isn’t sexist, racist or egotistical. But he is unashamedly zombie-ist.
Why is The Walking Dead such a devastating success? Blatantly, it gives us hope. It wrings hope out of the characters’ souls right into audiences’ hearts.
But is The Walking Dead about zombies, or what happens when humans are forced to band together and have to make decisions for the goodwill of one another?
Zombies are, after all, humans distorted by a terrible virus that rots their brains. Zombies could happen. It’s a bit like getting the flu, but two weeks’ bed rest won’t cure it.
No one on The Walking Dead is spared the atrocities of living – or for that matter, dying. The zombie attacks are relentless, destruction seeps through everything, people die courageously – and cowardly, but really, there is no time to mourn or wallow in self-pity.
Togetherness
However, there is a sense of togetherness that used to exist before technology bombarded us in ways that no longer require the need for physical interaction; so different from the very act of survival of seeking out each other’s company as displayed in The Walking Dead.
Lo and behold, in this series, there are no cellphones, no one sits around in adult diapers playing the latest video game to death, and there is no time to complain and debate and have conversations about the same old thing for days on end. When you fight the disease called “zombie’, there is no treatment or cure. It is do or die.
The Walking Dead, for all its gore and horror and special effects wizardry and prosthetic makeup genius, cuts to the bone of what we all desperately want to believe – that we are still a noble race, that we are still capable of doing great things and could very well be everyday heroes.
We need to be reminded of this fact as thousands of “friends’ flash across lonely hearts in cyber space, as neighbours hear the rustle of strangers next door. How very neat and tidy our world has become… and how extraordinary empty.
Movies about zombies have slowly become more popular with titles such as 28 Days Later by Danny Boyle, The Evil Dead and Army of Darkness by Sam Raimi, the Resident Evil franchise starring Milla Jovovich and Shaun of the Dead all pulling in huge worldwide audiences.
Now the globe waits for feature film World War Z (about zombies obviously) with Brad Pitt starring in what is probably one of the most important roles of his career.
I simply can’t wait for the zombies to come out and play and be pulverised. And without a doubt, Pitt will give us all hope…
By Martie Bester
screen africa magazine – june 2013
