Pop culture bloggings

In class last week we discussed movie monsters and their reflection on society at the time. Zombies have always been an area of some debate as they are such a prevalent feature of media today with shows like The Walking Dead and dozens of zombie movies like Zombieland and Warm Bodies. While zombies do express much of the concern we have today about infection and immigration (just look at the media around Ebola and the CDC Zombie plans), zombies in pop culture have begun speaking more about the current capitalist society than simply infectious disease. The Walking Dead is a prime example as the zombies have not been the central issue since about season 2, sure they are ever-present and a problem, but the true opposition and conflict comes from other live people. It’s more an analysis on the response of various groups to the world’s collapse, especially considering how there are turf wars over safe areas and resources, not just an all out war against zombies. Zombies had become just another force of nature in much of The Walking Dead. The other hint to this is that (spoiler) everyone is infected. They are ALL the walking dead, not just the zombies – and this means there is less to do with concerns of zombies as a metaphor for immigration, but as something we are all infected by: the need to consume. I would argue the underlying messages in zombie films have definitely changed over time, but modern zombie flicks all focus on consumerism the fear of economic collapse. In these movies and shows: we are all already zombies, we are all consumers that can’t be stopped. As seen in Warm Bodies “before the infection” we are already vacant faces stumbling down the road – just were starring at our phones instead of off into the void.