Highs and lows.
So I've got some stuff going on right now. Some good, some bad. I'll start with the bad.
-I've been sick all damn week. I'll feel okay for like 5 hour spaces, then I'll go right back to feeling shitty. I wake up with a fever every day. It blows. It hurts to breathe in, both in my right lung and my right shoulder. I did some online research. I think I now have pleurisy as a result of my headcold last week. Pleurisy is an infection of the lining of your lungs. Makes it hurt to take deep breaths, and causes pain in the shoulder on occasion. The symptoms fit to a T at the moment. My lungs don't hurt too bad right now, but the past 3 days were hellish. I was breathing all shallow and rapid like a damn rodent. Ugh. Dizzy spells, coughing up blood every morning. It's good times, lemme tell you. I'm gonna see how I feel come Monday and if nothing changes for the better, I'm gonna see a doctor. Fuck you, lungs. First asthma, now this. Quit bein' a douchebag.
-I'm gonna fail biology. I can feel it. And that's gonna suck for me. Bad. Mother thinks I'm not trying. Well, why would I try in my other three classes and not in there? It's not logical. I just don't get it. I'm not a dumbass, but I'm not a genious either. Get over it.
-It's getting cold. I hate the cold.
-I have money to spend on people for Christmas, but I can't get everyone something good. And that sucks.
-I CAN'T FIND A DAMN JOB. Ugh.
-Kara found a lump in her general breast area. Not good. They told her it's not a cyst, and that whatever it is, it has to come out. She keeps telling me not to worry, but, it's hard not to. I love her. And if anything ever happend to her, I don't know what I'd do.
Well, that was depressing. ON TO THE GOOD!
-I'm in love. For realllls.
-I got back my zombie essay that I did for my movie class. A+! Go me. You can read it
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zombies…they’re everywhere. That is, at least, at your local video store. In the powerhouse genre of horror films, there are few film ideas rehashed (or even remade) over and over again as your typical zombie flick. Those lumbering, decaying, brain-snacking people have become a ubiquitous force in cinema. On the surface, the idea is simple…dead people come back, and they want to eat you. Getting eaten would put quite a damper on your week, so you arm yourself to the teeth. A massive amount of gore ensues. And the honest truth is that in most of these films, that’s basically all there is. But one man, a true legend of the zombie genre, has shown that these gorefests can have an underlying meaning, albeit sometimes hard to see without actually looking for it. The man I speak of is George A. Romero, who directed “Night of the Living Dead” (1968).
A movie with flesh-eating corpses is hardly someplace one would expect to find any sort of relevant social commentary. However, within “Night of the Living Dead”, Romero has placed an underlying jab at the issues of society at the time. Issues that are, for the most part, still relevant in today’s world (unfortunately). Romero uses his films to address, and even inspire fear of, injustices prevalent in the modern world.
There are many issues touched upon in “Night of the Living Dead”, one of the more obvious ones being the fear of the apocalypse, or at least a catastrophic change in society. In a world so obsessed with the keeping the status quo, any sort of dramatic, extreme, or even biblical change to the way we live our lives is most unwelcome. When “Night of the Living Dead” was released, the Vietnam War was far from over (it would not end for another 5 years, at least, not for America), and because of this, widespread fear and paranoia were all too common. The crippling fear of war on American soil was a real issue, and within the movie, we see the effects of a chaotic, unwelcome change to the peaceful American lifestyle. But in place of enemy soldiers, we have zombies. Perhaps the most subtle hints that the American lifestyle is in its final hour is right at the beginning of the film. When Barbara (played by Judith O’Dea) and Johnny (played by the unaccredited Russell Streiner) are seen driving into the cemetery, an American flag can be seen waving in the foreground. This foreshadows that the death of American lifestyle is coming, and sooner than they think.
Another issue addressed within “Night of the Living Dead” is the fear of being unable to communicate to the outside world for help in a time of crisis. We see a world in pandemonium as the walking dead devour the living, thus turning them into the walking dead as well. And in a world taken by storm by zombie epidemic, it turns out to be every man for his self in a matter of hours. When Ben (played by Duane Jones) and Harry (played by Karl Hardman) find the old television upstairs, they begin to fight over it. The phones are dead, and it’s the only source they have to get information from the world outside of the farmhouse without leaving and risking being eaten. The real irony, however, is that even though Ben and Harry come close to throwing blows over the television, their only means of receiving communication from the outside, they cannot productively communicate with each other on the inside.
Harry, as a character, symbolizes isolation. His only desire is to board himself and his family in down in the basement…to isolate themselves. Rather than stand and deal with the problem directly, Harry would much rather cower with his family in a basement and wait for whatever may come. Perhaps Romero expresses a belief that isolation can do more damage than harm, as his want for isolation is what eventually brings about the end for both he and his wife, Helen. Through this, Romero has dramatized failures in human cooperation in times of crisis.
Throughout the 1950’s, the role of women in society had taken a drastic turn. Women had left the home and were working alongside the men as a result of World War II. However, in a step back from the now upgraded role of women, the actresses in “Night of the Living Dead” are shown as helpless, weak and feeble. When Barbara finds herself at the farmhouse and “safe” in the company of a man, she quickly becomes catatonic. Helen is constantly bossed around and bullied by Harry. She fights back with him constantly, but is always subdued. Both she and Helen are reduced to demeaning roles…they tend to young Karen (played by Marilyn Eastman) who has been attacked and bitten by a zombie and is failing fast. This motherly role is played out by both women as the more “capable” men board up the house, clearly putting that newfound role of women in society in a detestosterone…err, detested light.
Perhaps the most obvious issue addressed in the movie is that of racism. If you look back at Harry’s need to isolate himself and his (entirely white, all-American) family, the issue he has isn’t just with being cut off from the zombie threat, it’s also with separating himself from Ben and all those on his side. Though the animosity between the two is never represented as racism, but as a strong dislike for each other as people, it is still an obvious example of the black man versus the white man.
The real issue of racism comes from the zombies, however. These massive groups of unwelcome invaders are now in a place where they had not been before…slowly taking over a land that they were not a part of before. This symbolizes the irrational and disgusting fear that at some point, another race will become dominant in an area and thus make the natives of the area, those who have a “right” to be there, the minority. The fact that the zombies are meant to represent minorities becomes painfully obvious at the end of the film when we see local militias beginning to wipe out zombies in the countryside. The zombies are shot, burned, and even lynched…actions that tragically befell many persons of color throughout the history of racism in America.
It is unlikely that Romero intended to stir up a big batch of racism and glorify it, however. Ben, the unofficial “hero” of the film, is a black man. This film was shot in a time where black actors were eschewed by Hollywood, let alone allowed to play lead roles. If anything, this shows that Romero was not in fact endorsing ignorance and racial tension. He was merely addressing the issue in a less-common form. It does, however, bring into question why he decided to kill Ben at the end of the film. If Ben was meant to showcase the merits of the African-American race as a whole, would having Ben die really be in Romero’s best interests? Perhaps it was Romero’s need to stir up more controversy by ending the movie in a tragic way…an action not typically taken by most filmmakers of the time. Through Ben’s death, we learn that things aren’t always going to be okay…we don’t always get that storybook ending.
In the end, we see “Night of the Living Dead” as a healthy piece of social commentary. Though they are not openly addressed in the movie, the relevant issues within the movie are certainly there. I suppose you get what you’re looking for…if you watch “Night of the Living Dead” expecting nothing but a zombie flick, you’ll get just that…but should you look for the underlying issues, they’re almost painfully obvious. Whatever the case, I’m sure zombie movies will continue to provide the basic purpose of entertainment. The genre simply won’t die…it keeps coming back from the grave…
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Something happend last night. Won't say what, cuz that'd be rude. But. Wow.
-My shoulder just radomly stopped hurting. Nice.
That's all for now. I'm probably gonna take another nap. I need to get the fuck over whatever's kicking my ass.
-I've been sick all damn week. I'll feel okay for like 5 hour spaces, then I'll go right back to feeling shitty. I wake up with a fever every day. It blows. It hurts to breathe in, both in my right lung and my right shoulder. I did some online research. I think I now have pleurisy as a result of my headcold last week. Pleurisy is an infection of the lining of your lungs. Makes it hurt to take deep breaths, and causes pain in the shoulder on occasion. The symptoms fit to a T at the moment. My lungs don't hurt too bad right now, but the past 3 days were hellish. I was breathing all shallow and rapid like a damn rodent. Ugh. Dizzy spells, coughing up blood every morning. It's good times, lemme tell you. I'm gonna see how I feel come Monday and if nothing changes for the better, I'm gonna see a doctor. Fuck you, lungs. First asthma, now this. Quit bein' a douchebag.
-I'm gonna fail biology. I can feel it. And that's gonna suck for me. Bad. Mother thinks I'm not trying. Well, why would I try in my other three classes and not in there? It's not logical. I just don't get it. I'm not a dumbass, but I'm not a genious either. Get over it.
-It's getting cold. I hate the cold.
-I have money to spend on people for Christmas, but I can't get everyone something good. And that sucks.
-I CAN'T FIND A DAMN JOB. Ugh.
-Kara found a lump in her general breast area. Not good. They told her it's not a cyst, and that whatever it is, it has to come out. She keeps telling me not to worry, but, it's hard not to. I love her. And if anything ever happend to her, I don't know what I'd do.
Well, that was depressing. ON TO THE GOOD!
-I'm in love. For realllls.
-I got back my zombie essay that I did for my movie class. A+! Go me. You can read it
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zombies…they’re everywhere. That is, at least, at your local video store. In the powerhouse genre of horror films, there are few film ideas rehashed (or even remade) over and over again as your typical zombie flick. Those lumbering, decaying, brain-snacking people have become a ubiquitous force in cinema. On the surface, the idea is simple…dead people come back, and they want to eat you. Getting eaten would put quite a damper on your week, so you arm yourself to the teeth. A massive amount of gore ensues. And the honest truth is that in most of these films, that’s basically all there is. But one man, a true legend of the zombie genre, has shown that these gorefests can have an underlying meaning, albeit sometimes hard to see without actually looking for it. The man I speak of is George A. Romero, who directed “Night of the Living Dead” (1968).
A movie with flesh-eating corpses is hardly someplace one would expect to find any sort of relevant social commentary. However, within “Night of the Living Dead”, Romero has placed an underlying jab at the issues of society at the time. Issues that are, for the most part, still relevant in today’s world (unfortunately). Romero uses his films to address, and even inspire fear of, injustices prevalent in the modern world.
There are many issues touched upon in “Night of the Living Dead”, one of the more obvious ones being the fear of the apocalypse, or at least a catastrophic change in society. In a world so obsessed with the keeping the status quo, any sort of dramatic, extreme, or even biblical change to the way we live our lives is most unwelcome. When “Night of the Living Dead” was released, the Vietnam War was far from over (it would not end for another 5 years, at least, not for America), and because of this, widespread fear and paranoia were all too common. The crippling fear of war on American soil was a real issue, and within the movie, we see the effects of a chaotic, unwelcome change to the peaceful American lifestyle. But in place of enemy soldiers, we have zombies. Perhaps the most subtle hints that the American lifestyle is in its final hour is right at the beginning of the film. When Barbara (played by Judith O’Dea) and Johnny (played by the unaccredited Russell Streiner) are seen driving into the cemetery, an American flag can be seen waving in the foreground. This foreshadows that the death of American lifestyle is coming, and sooner than they think.
Another issue addressed within “Night of the Living Dead” is the fear of being unable to communicate to the outside world for help in a time of crisis. We see a world in pandemonium as the walking dead devour the living, thus turning them into the walking dead as well. And in a world taken by storm by zombie epidemic, it turns out to be every man for his self in a matter of hours. When Ben (played by Duane Jones) and Harry (played by Karl Hardman) find the old television upstairs, they begin to fight over it. The phones are dead, and it’s the only source they have to get information from the world outside of the farmhouse without leaving and risking being eaten. The real irony, however, is that even though Ben and Harry come close to throwing blows over the television, their only means of receiving communication from the outside, they cannot productively communicate with each other on the inside.
Harry, as a character, symbolizes isolation. His only desire is to board himself and his family in down in the basement…to isolate themselves. Rather than stand and deal with the problem directly, Harry would much rather cower with his family in a basement and wait for whatever may come. Perhaps Romero expresses a belief that isolation can do more damage than harm, as his want for isolation is what eventually brings about the end for both he and his wife, Helen. Through this, Romero has dramatized failures in human cooperation in times of crisis.
Throughout the 1950’s, the role of women in society had taken a drastic turn. Women had left the home and were working alongside the men as a result of World War II. However, in a step back from the now upgraded role of women, the actresses in “Night of the Living Dead” are shown as helpless, weak and feeble. When Barbara finds herself at the farmhouse and “safe” in the company of a man, she quickly becomes catatonic. Helen is constantly bossed around and bullied by Harry. She fights back with him constantly, but is always subdued. Both she and Helen are reduced to demeaning roles…they tend to young Karen (played by Marilyn Eastman) who has been attacked and bitten by a zombie and is failing fast. This motherly role is played out by both women as the more “capable” men board up the house, clearly putting that newfound role of women in society in a detestosterone…err, detested light.
Perhaps the most obvious issue addressed in the movie is that of racism. If you look back at Harry’s need to isolate himself and his (entirely white, all-American) family, the issue he has isn’t just with being cut off from the zombie threat, it’s also with separating himself from Ben and all those on his side. Though the animosity between the two is never represented as racism, but as a strong dislike for each other as people, it is still an obvious example of the black man versus the white man.
The real issue of racism comes from the zombies, however. These massive groups of unwelcome invaders are now in a place where they had not been before…slowly taking over a land that they were not a part of before. This symbolizes the irrational and disgusting fear that at some point, another race will become dominant in an area and thus make the natives of the area, those who have a “right” to be there, the minority. The fact that the zombies are meant to represent minorities becomes painfully obvious at the end of the film when we see local militias beginning to wipe out zombies in the countryside. The zombies are shot, burned, and even lynched…actions that tragically befell many persons of color throughout the history of racism in America.
It is unlikely that Romero intended to stir up a big batch of racism and glorify it, however. Ben, the unofficial “hero” of the film, is a black man. This film was shot in a time where black actors were eschewed by Hollywood, let alone allowed to play lead roles. If anything, this shows that Romero was not in fact endorsing ignorance and racial tension. He was merely addressing the issue in a less-common form. It does, however, bring into question why he decided to kill Ben at the end of the film. If Ben was meant to showcase the merits of the African-American race as a whole, would having Ben die really be in Romero’s best interests? Perhaps it was Romero’s need to stir up more controversy by ending the movie in a tragic way…an action not typically taken by most filmmakers of the time. Through Ben’s death, we learn that things aren’t always going to be okay…we don’t always get that storybook ending.
In the end, we see “Night of the Living Dead” as a healthy piece of social commentary. Though they are not openly addressed in the movie, the relevant issues within the movie are certainly there. I suppose you get what you’re looking for…if you watch “Night of the Living Dead” expecting nothing but a zombie flick, you’ll get just that…but should you look for the underlying issues, they’re almost painfully obvious. Whatever the case, I’m sure zombie movies will continue to provide the basic purpose of entertainment. The genre simply won’t die…it keeps coming back from the grave…
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Something happend last night. Won't say what, cuz that'd be rude. But. Wow.
-My shoulder just radomly stopped hurting. Nice.
That's all for now. I'm probably gonna take another nap. I need to get the fuck over whatever's kicking my ass.