A Dawn of the Dead (1978) picspam/fangirly ramble.
I haven't slept in 24 hours. And so I made another epic picspam. This one's devoted to the immortal zombie classic, Dawn of the Dead (1978). Particularly to my favourite (non-romantic) OTP from Dawn: Peter and Roger. Beneath the cut lies spoilers, obvi.
TOO TALL, TOO SLOW, TOO AND THE MIDGET FORCE:
Peter & Roger: BFFs and heterosexual life-partners
(until zombiehood do they part)
Peter is the true hero of Dawn, and is definitely my favourite character in the film. He was a member of a SWAT team, and was in the thick of it when the zombie apocalypse began. He saw the chaos -- of the undead and of the uncontrolled living -- firsthand and actually took a stand against it, shooting a SWAT captain who had gone batshit and was firing at random.
Roger is also a member of the same SWAT team. Roger didn't fare as well as Peter when he first faced the insanity of the world gone to hell, but he did understand that what Peter had done was for the best. And though Roger froze when his captain Wooley was blowing innocent people away, he did come through in the clutch when Peter needed help exterminating the zombies in the hotel's basement.
Peter: You ain't just in here by yourself, boy!
[Roger aims his gun at Peter]
Peter: You was in Wooley's unit, wasn't you?
[Peter cocks his gun]
Roger: I didn't see nothing. I didn't see how he died.
[They lower their guns]
[The two look over the zombies in the basement.]
Roger: Why did these people keep them here?
Peter: 'Cause they still believe there's respect in dying.
After their first meeting in the hotel's basement, the two find themselves watching each others' backs. They're both former SWAT members who decide it's better to get out while there's still time rather than wait until society has completely collapsed; and when Roger tells Peter about his friends Fran and Stephen, who have a helicopter and are getting the hell out of dodge, Peter immediately signs on. Within 24 hours Roger has already saved Peter -- from a zombie and from an over-zealous Stephen, who makes the amateurish mistake of shooting wildly at the zombie while Peter was in the line of fire.
And Stephen should know better than to shoot at a GQ BAMF like Peter.
When the quartet first arrive at the mall, Roger and Peter are the ones who take the initiative and descend into the lower levels to find supplies and scope out the place. Already the two have a great partnership. Their similar training allows them to coordinate quickly, and Roger's flair for the dramatic and adrenaline junkie hijinks are tempered by Peter's cooler, more practical head. Working as a team, the two easily outmanuever the shambolic zombies.
I like Peter and Roger's relationship so much because it comes across as natural and organic. The two play off one another in a mixture of good-natured teasing, exasperation, and real concern. One of my favourite sequences in when the pair are moving semi trucks to block the entrances to the mall and are talking over the CB radios...
Roger: [over the radio while driving trucks] Hey, too tall, too slow, two, come back!
Peter: You look my size when you're sitting in a truck.
Roger: What I want to know is how we got to be in the same force with you being so large and all?
Peter: Well, they told me it was a midget force, and they needed somebody to look up to. Hey, where's Flyboy? What's his twenty?
Roger: He's probably up on the roof... with Flygirl!
The fact that this funny little moment of bromance and camraderie is immediately followed by Roger's death warrant, when he's bitten by a zombie after losing his head and showboating, makes it a bittersweet one for me. Every time I watch the movie, I still get a little sad knowing their friendship is coming to a close. You can tell Peter really cares about Roger, as he shows when he warns him to be more careful -- ironically just before he's bitten:
Peter: [stops driving the truck] All right trooper, you better screw your head on.
Roger: [hyped tone] Yeah, yeah, yeah, c'mon, c'mon c'mon, let's go!
Peter: [grabbing him by the collar] I mean it! Now you're not just playin' with your life, you're playin' with mine! Now... are you straight?
Roger: [subdued tone] Yeah.
Even though everyone knows Roger is doomed, Peter and the others do their best to make sure he's comfortable. Peter pushes him around the mall in a wheelbarrow, and Roger proves he still has some fire and usefulness left in him when he helps to clear the mall of zombies. As Roger's condition deteriorates, he continually calls for Peter, who spends much of his time soothing him or at his bedside.
Roger: Peter, where are you?
Peter: I'm right here, man.
Roger: Hey, we did it, didn't we? We whipped 'em, didn't we?
Peter: That's right, man.
Roger: Didn't we... Didn't we whip 'em?
Peter: We sure did, buddy.
Roger: We whipped 'em and we got it ALL!
When Roger feels the end approaching, it isn't Fran or Stephen he wants with him -- it's Peter. He asks Peter to grant his final request, knowing his friend will do his best.
Roger: You'll take care of me when I go, won't you, Peter?
Peter: Just rest, man. Save your strength.
Roger: I don't want to be walkin' around... like THAT!... Peter... PETER?
Peter: I'm here, man!
Roger: Don't do it until you are sure I am coming back! I'm gonna try... not to... I'm gonna try... not to... come back. I'm gonna try... not to...
Peter knows it's the right thing to do, and "kills" Roger when he reanimates. But it's clear that the entire situation is a struggle to him, and has effected him greatly. The surviving trio bury poor Roger, and while Fran and Stephen are enjoying a romantic dinner together, Peter spends the evening alone at Roger's grave, nursing a bottle of champagne.
Roger's death is a huge blow to Peter. He's much more serious and taciturn after Roger dies, and begins to see the error in their destructive, consumeristic ways. In the film's climax, there is even a moment where it seems Peter will certainly commit suicide -- Stephen has been zombified and killed (again), and Fran is the only other survivor of the original quartet. It's telling that for a long moment it seems Fran, the woman of the group, the woman who Peter has had some degree of a connection with, isn't enough of a reason for him to fight for survival. He'd already lost his closest friend, and without such a strong relationship to hold onto, Peter seems willing to give up.
And that, my friends, is the sign of a heartfelt and deep heterosexual life partnership.
*wibbly eyes*
TOO TALL, TOO SLOW, TOO AND THE MIDGET FORCE:
Peter & Roger: BFFs and heterosexual life-partners
(until zombiehood do they part)
Peter is the true hero of Dawn, and is definitely my favourite character in the film. He was a member of a SWAT team, and was in the thick of it when the zombie apocalypse began. He saw the chaos -- of the undead and of the uncontrolled living -- firsthand and actually took a stand against it, shooting a SWAT captain who had gone batshit and was firing at random.
Roger is also a member of the same SWAT team. Roger didn't fare as well as Peter when he first faced the insanity of the world gone to hell, but he did understand that what Peter had done was for the best. And though Roger froze when his captain Wooley was blowing innocent people away, he did come through in the clutch when Peter needed help exterminating the zombies in the hotel's basement.
Peter: You ain't just in here by yourself, boy!
[Roger aims his gun at Peter]
Peter: You was in Wooley's unit, wasn't you?
[Peter cocks his gun]
Roger: I didn't see nothing. I didn't see how he died.
[They lower their guns]
[The two look over the zombies in the basement.]
Roger: Why did these people keep them here?
Peter: 'Cause they still believe there's respect in dying.
After their first meeting in the hotel's basement, the two find themselves watching each others' backs. They're both former SWAT members who decide it's better to get out while there's still time rather than wait until society has completely collapsed; and when Roger tells Peter about his friends Fran and Stephen, who have a helicopter and are getting the hell out of dodge, Peter immediately signs on. Within 24 hours Roger has already saved Peter -- from a zombie and from an over-zealous Stephen, who makes the amateurish mistake of shooting wildly at the zombie while Peter was in the line of fire.
And Stephen should know better than to shoot at a GQ BAMF like Peter.
When the quartet first arrive at the mall, Roger and Peter are the ones who take the initiative and descend into the lower levels to find supplies and scope out the place. Already the two have a great partnership. Their similar training allows them to coordinate quickly, and Roger's flair for the dramatic and adrenaline junkie hijinks are tempered by Peter's cooler, more practical head. Working as a team, the two easily outmanuever the shambolic zombies.
I like Peter and Roger's relationship so much because it comes across as natural and organic. The two play off one another in a mixture of good-natured teasing, exasperation, and real concern. One of my favourite sequences in when the pair are moving semi trucks to block the entrances to the mall and are talking over the CB radios...
Roger: [over the radio while driving trucks] Hey, too tall, too slow, two, come back!
Peter: You look my size when you're sitting in a truck.
Roger: What I want to know is how we got to be in the same force with you being so large and all?
Peter: Well, they told me it was a midget force, and they needed somebody to look up to. Hey, where's Flyboy? What's his twenty?
Roger: He's probably up on the roof... with Flygirl!
The fact that this funny little moment of bromance and camraderie is immediately followed by Roger's death warrant, when he's bitten by a zombie after losing his head and showboating, makes it a bittersweet one for me. Every time I watch the movie, I still get a little sad knowing their friendship is coming to a close. You can tell Peter really cares about Roger, as he shows when he warns him to be more careful -- ironically just before he's bitten:
Peter: [stops driving the truck] All right trooper, you better screw your head on.
Roger: [hyped tone] Yeah, yeah, yeah, c'mon, c'mon c'mon, let's go!
Peter: [grabbing him by the collar] I mean it! Now you're not just playin' with your life, you're playin' with mine! Now... are you straight?
Roger: [subdued tone] Yeah.
Even though everyone knows Roger is doomed, Peter and the others do their best to make sure he's comfortable. Peter pushes him around the mall in a wheelbarrow, and Roger proves he still has some fire and usefulness left in him when he helps to clear the mall of zombies. As Roger's condition deteriorates, he continually calls for Peter, who spends much of his time soothing him or at his bedside.
Roger: Peter, where are you?
Peter: I'm right here, man.
Roger: Hey, we did it, didn't we? We whipped 'em, didn't we?
Peter: That's right, man.
Roger: Didn't we... Didn't we whip 'em?
Peter: We sure did, buddy.
Roger: We whipped 'em and we got it ALL!
When Roger feels the end approaching, it isn't Fran or Stephen he wants with him -- it's Peter. He asks Peter to grant his final request, knowing his friend will do his best.
Roger: You'll take care of me when I go, won't you, Peter?
Peter: Just rest, man. Save your strength.
Roger: I don't want to be walkin' around... like THAT!... Peter... PETER?
Peter: I'm here, man!
Roger: Don't do it until you are sure I am coming back! I'm gonna try... not to... I'm gonna try... not to... come back. I'm gonna try... not to...
Peter knows it's the right thing to do, and "kills" Roger when he reanimates. But it's clear that the entire situation is a struggle to him, and has effected him greatly. The surviving trio bury poor Roger, and while Fran and Stephen are enjoying a romantic dinner together, Peter spends the evening alone at Roger's grave, nursing a bottle of champagne.
Roger's death is a huge blow to Peter. He's much more serious and taciturn after Roger dies, and begins to see the error in their destructive, consumeristic ways. In the film's climax, there is even a moment where it seems Peter will certainly commit suicide -- Stephen has been zombified and killed (again), and Fran is the only other survivor of the original quartet. It's telling that for a long moment it seems Fran, the woman of the group, the woman who Peter has had some degree of a connection with, isn't enough of a reason for him to fight for survival. He'd already lost his closest friend, and without such a strong relationship to hold onto, Peter seems willing to give up.
And that, my friends, is the sign of a heartfelt and deep heterosexual life partnership.
*wibbly eyes*