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It is quite obvious in today’s society that the topic of Zombies is nowhere near a new phenomenon in American pop culture. They have been everywhere in pop culture from romantic comedies and drama films to comic books. They have taken over the video game world with games such as Residential Evil and have even made their way into history to battle against President Lincoln. There has even been a zombie version of Pride and Prejudice titled Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Let’s not forget one of the most famous zombie television shows, The Walking Dead, which has attracted, at most, 14.8 million viewers. Zombies are everywhere and it seems as if something new involving them, whether that be a book or a television show, is always popping up. A new zombie movie set to come out called The Dead Don’t Die is coming out later this year.
With all this zombie pop culture dominance it, of course, begs the question: why are zombies so popular in American pop culture? What does society love so much about these fictional, brain-eating creatures? The reasons zombies have been and currently are extremely popular is because they not only are the ideal model of a terrifying creature, but they insinuate a lot of violence and allow people to imagine what they would do in an apocalypse. One of the main reasons people are so attracted to anything zombie is because of the type of monster they are. These creatures don’t have any brain power, so it doesn’t take much to bring them down. Stephen Marche stated in his article titled Why Zombies Are Everywhere Now, “There seem to be two choices: either shoot them in the face or run away” (Marche). The difference between zombies and other mythical monsters is the fact that the person being treated by zombies is more in control of the situation than the actual zombies.
People are already attracted to being in control so this illusion of control over these brainless creatures brings them even more pleasure. The fact that zombies are dead people who walk around wanting to eat human flesh could also mean that they are the symbol of death. Although many people classify all monsters as evil creatures, zombies are not, at their core, evil at all. They have no brain power to be evil, so their main purpose is to insinuate fear into people. People being able to fight and win against death is a very entertaining and satisfying thing to watch. Most people don’t want to wait for something to satisfy them, they want it to happen now rather than wait. That’s why killing zombies is something that people enjoy so much. Chuck Klosterman, the author of the essay, My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead comments that ‘something about zombies is becoming more intriguing… [they] are just so easy to kill” (Klosterman 423).
Watching shows like The Walking Dead makes the audience believe anyone can kill zombies, and it doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, boy or girl. Because killing zombies is so easy, millions of people are entertained watching them. Another reason people love zombies so much is that they involve a lot of violence. In the entertainment industry today, especially in movies and television, violence is extremely prevalent. Shows like Game of Thrones and Sons of Anarchy are just two examples of extremely popular violent television shows. According to Ellie Harrison in the article, Why Do We Like to Watch Such Brutal Violence on TV, even though violence can be seen as unpleasant, “at the same time it’s addictive, it pulls [people] in” (Harrison). Violence concerning zombies is more comfortable to watch because, in the world of an apocalypse, it is free of consequence to killing, therefore watching it brings no guilt or shame.
The love to watch violence can also be explained from a neurological standpoint. In an article titled This Is Your Brain on Violence, author Tom Jacobs talks about research done by Columbia’s Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Center that states, “On-screen violence stimulates specific responses in the human brain… this study suggests that repeated exposure to violent images heightens our readiness to take action” (Jacobs). Watching something violent can have the same effect on your brain as engaging in sexual activity or taking certain types of drugs. It changes your brain activity. Although there have been many studies showing the correlation between being exposed to violence and the caused behavior, there is still a lot of skepticism around the topic. Violence is something that people enjoy watching, every popular television show or movie has some sort of violence in it. Especially when it comes to zombies, the gorier the better. A final reason zombies are so popular in American pop culture is that people are attracted to the idea of an apocalypse. With a zombie apocalypse taking over the world it captures the imagination of audiences, giving them a clean slate to be whoever they want. Jeremy Anderberg explains why people have such a fascination with this in his article, Why Do We Love The Apocalypse? He states that it is because ‘humans are afforded the perhaps unique opportunity to re-invent themselves whenever they choose” (Anderberg).
Characters from the television show The Walking Dead are perfect examples of this. Most all the characters, especially Rick Grimes from the show experienced major character development because of the apocalypse. Apocalypses may offer people the chance to recreate the world in an order that they would want. It lets people be in control of everything that’s going on around them. Anderberg states, “The act of creation allows more use of our brains than just about anything else. And it thereby gives us the most satisfaction and fulfillment” (Anderberg). Imagine a world where all order and laws that once took place just vanished, a clean slate where one is allowed to recreate the world they have always wanted to live in. Creating a whole new society to live in intrigues people’s imagination and creativity. An apocalypse gives people the freedom to create something new on the largest scale possible. Some people may argue that zombies are so popular today because they represent deeper meanings in our world or our society. In the latter article I mentioned Why Zombies Are Everywhere Right Now, Stephanie Marche talks about this saying that zombies have been a “metaphor for Communism or National Socialism. They are a metaphor for consumerism. They’re a way of describing terrorism. They’re a way of talking about AIDS… [and they] represent the sexuality of teenage boys” (Marche). Now, while all these metaphors or representations may have some truth to them, is that really why people love to watch them? Because they may represent the sexuality of a teenage boy? Although it is possible to use zombies as a platform to represent something going on in our world, these various theories do not explain their attractiveness.
Zombies have been around in American pop culture for years and years through every entertainment outlet possible. It has been dominant in all genres it is involved in. The question is why? Zombies are popular because they are the perfect type of monster, they have an extreme amount of violence involved in them, and they come with an apocalypse, which people can use their imagination to create their world. They make the perfect monster because they only bring fear. They have no brain power, no immoral compass, they are not evil. Zombies involve a lot of violence as well. Killing zombies come with no bad results or consequences. Violence sells in movies, television, books, and any type of entertainment. Lastly, zombies are so popular because they bring an apocalypse. An apocalypse gives humanity a chance to start over and create a new identity and world for themselves. With all this being said, there is the argument that people love anything zombie because they represent anything going on in our world, or what’s happening to our society. There may be some truth with some of these theories, however, they do not capture the true essence of a zombie, which is death, the one thing everyone fears the most. The truth is, the topic of zombies will never die. There will always be something new coming out with them, and no matter how many times people have seen something with them in it, they will always go back for more.
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