I write “zombies” although I have no expertise or knowledge of ’em.
So, do I know a zombie when I see one?
Maybe. And today, walking down a crowded Seventh Ave sidewalk just below Penn Station, I ran into…zombies. Or, to be precise, rather tall characters, dressed in torn black garments with gray, moth-eaten face makeup. They were moving fairly slowly in what I fancy is a zombie-ish way. Or doing zombie tai chi. I think the word “whatever” should be entered here.
I zigzagged (quickly) through them. A bunch of relatively healthy looking real people were standing around in a vague circle, watching the zombies with amusement.
I did not stop to learn what was going on. I suspect it’s a PR stunt for either a movie opening or a TV show. And that brings up my question:
Why this invasion of zombies? What does it say about our pop, uh, culture if zombies are crawling all through it — which, if my peripheral notice of TV and film teasers is accurate, is the case?
Years ago I heard an interesting and touching analysis about old ghost films (specifically not horror films) made around and after World War II. So many millions of people were killed during the war, charming, sweet and touching ghost films became a cultural comfort to people who’d lost loved ones. Yes, their dead soldiers could still be around, albeit in hazy form.
But zombies? What do zombie films say about our culture? That young people feel goth and dead-ish but still alive and powerful in some sort of malignant way?
Shit, I hope not.