Zombies... what makes Zombie Apocalypses popular?
Because, you know, I've gotten so very tired of seeing them and of seeing products and services that cater to this drivel. I mean, Zombie Fitness? Seriously? I know no one is serious about the "zombie" part but even so!
Basically, I just want to know: what the heck makes zombies popular as monsters? They have no personalities, no intelligence, no nothing. They're lumbering mindless shells of humanity that do nothing but kill and eat. Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, and the other Universal classic monsters had that whole tragic villain vibe. The Hammer Horror monsters were at least colorful if they weren't very angsty or sympathetic.
Heck, even Pinhead from Hellraiser had a personality. He had goals and wants and even weaknesses. Zombies? It boils down to "Lurch ahead. Groan. Rip people apart in cheap SFX-fueled mayhem. NOM NOM NOM their flesh. Repeat as needed."
When your main monster has less personality than Jason Freaking Voorhees, there is something very, very wrong.
The tendency of anvilicious hacks to use the Zombie Apocalypse to make "this great and incisive point that humanity is TEH SUXXOR" and/or take swipes at whoever they don't like -- such as Max Brooks' World War Z, which was basically one big F*** you to everyone from religious Jews to Christians to everyone whose politcs were to the right of Michael Moore's -- combined with the utter nihilism and authorial egotism at their heart ("Humanity and human civilization is DOOMED because they didn't do what I want! And they deserve it, too!") just worsens the situation.
Then again, for some people the idea that everyone around them is a lumbering mindless hulk that does nothing but eat and deserves to have its brains blown out may be the attractive part.
Really, given how antisocial and unobservant I am, if I'm capable of seeing all this, I have to wonder why no one else does. Or is it the same mentality you find among some extreme fundie Christians looking forward to the Apocalypse and radical Greens who drool over the idea of "Gaia's Vengeance", the dream of seeing all your enemies die knowing that you were right. And not only do you live, you get to whoop it up over their mass grave?
*sighs* If you enjoy this stuff I'm happy for you, but I really hope that this trend dies its long-overdue death soon and the poor old boring zombie shuffles back to its grave.
Basically, I just want to know: what the heck makes zombies popular as monsters? They have no personalities, no intelligence, no nothing. They're lumbering mindless shells of humanity that do nothing but kill and eat. Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, and the other Universal classic monsters had that whole tragic villain vibe. The Hammer Horror monsters were at least colorful if they weren't very angsty or sympathetic.
Heck, even Pinhead from Hellraiser had a personality. He had goals and wants and even weaknesses. Zombies? It boils down to "Lurch ahead. Groan. Rip people apart in cheap SFX-fueled mayhem. NOM NOM NOM their flesh. Repeat as needed."
When your main monster has less personality than Jason Freaking Voorhees, there is something very, very wrong.
The tendency of anvilicious hacks to use the Zombie Apocalypse to make "this great and incisive point that humanity is TEH SUXXOR" and/or take swipes at whoever they don't like -- such as Max Brooks' World War Z, which was basically one big F*** you to everyone from religious Jews to Christians to everyone whose politcs were to the right of Michael Moore's -- combined with the utter nihilism and authorial egotism at their heart ("Humanity and human civilization is DOOMED because they didn't do what I want! And they deserve it, too!") just worsens the situation.
Then again, for some people the idea that everyone around them is a lumbering mindless hulk that does nothing but eat and deserves to have its brains blown out may be the attractive part.
Really, given how antisocial and unobservant I am, if I'm capable of seeing all this, I have to wonder why no one else does. Or is it the same mentality you find among some extreme fundie Christians looking forward to the Apocalypse and radical Greens who drool over the idea of "Gaia's Vengeance", the dream of seeing all your enemies die knowing that you were right. And not only do you live, you get to whoop it up over their mass grave?
*sighs* If you enjoy this stuff I'm happy for you, but I really hope that this trend dies its long-overdue death soon and the poor old boring zombie shuffles back to its grave.