Are You Ready for the Zombie Apocalypse?

            In the article Terror in Horror Genres: The Global Media and the Millennial Zombie the author, Nichole Birch-Bayley, explains how the change in zombie films is directly related to the Northern American obsession with apocalypticism.  With the world operating in a global state any large scale crisis would affect the globe as a whole.  The article touches the topic of the media and what role it plays in the event of a global crisis.  It looks into the violence that occurs during a crisis and how people become survivors and conform to it or die.  The author evaluates movies released in the new millennium and explains the shift from the rise of the slow moving rigor stricken dead to the fast moving blood hungry dead of today's apocalyptic zombie flicks. 

            In the article Birch-Bayley directly relates the shifts in the films to the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11th.  The idea of the mass destruction in the United States brought fear and the films fed off that fear.  This fear invokes a "crisis mentality" that shows the concerns of a society waiting on the next terrorist attack, the next outbreak, or next pandemic (Birch-Bayley).  Prior to the new millennium the films existed were strictly for entertainment.  They did not house the political and social tensions as today's films do.   Society that do not have the ways and means to deal with disaster are hardest hit in these films.  The separation of the classes proves to be detrimental. 

            The author touches on the media portrayal of the crises.  It is shown how the events are spelled out through news frames, and newspaper clippings.  The article discusses the government's role in the film and their role in the spread of information about the crisis and how information is interpreted by the governmental official sources (Birch-Bayley).  The author believes that in the films the government's poor judgment of downplaying the crisis played a role in the crisis.  In one of the films innocent uninfected civilians are exterminated for containment by the military. 

            The article also discusses how in the films eventually all infrastructure falls.  There is no government,  no media, no internet, and no electricity.  Everyone is left isolated to fend for themselves, from the zombies and from each other.  This feeling of isolation is apparent in any large crisis.  In the films the characters are left with the feeling that the everything is gone.  There is no one left to save them, not the government, the police.  The author discusses how this isolation leads the characters to resort to violence.  The fear is not of the violence, but the inability to suppress violence, and the inability to suppress a global crisis (Birch-Bayley). 

            Many have asked themselves if they are ready for an apocalyptic scenario.  Since the tragedy that occurred on September 11th, Americans are more aware of the threats that they face.  The possibility of a apocalyptic scenario occurring seems to be closer to home then it was over a decade ago.  The author of this article is correct in saying that in today's global world a crisis would affect all.  The ideas of the media being an outlet to document the spread of a crisis is right on and the possibility of the government minimizing details could contribute to its further destruction.  Furthermore the isolation and the dog eat dog mentality created by a crisis of this scale would lead to great violence.  The author is correct in her analysis of the isolation that is experience in the films.  Empty streets and vacant home leave a feeling of isolation and would only heighten fear.  This fear would grow into a constant need to protect oneself at all costs.  After it is all said and done the action becomes reaction and violence becomes normal.  Survive at all costs. 

            This article is very relevant.  With show like The Walking Dead, Revolution, and Dooms Day Preppers gracing the airwaves of television today, it is fair to say the United States has bought into the apocalyptic hype.  It opens eyes to the fact that the government can't always be there and maybe it can even make things worse.  Films and series that strip all of the mainstream  way makes people see what is really important, surviving with and protecting loved one's.

Reference

Birch-Bayley, N. (2012). Terror in horror genres: The global media and the millennial zombie. The Journal of Popular Culture, 45(6), 1137-1151. doi: ISSN: 0022-3840, DOI: 10.1111/jpcu.12001