AMC’s hit television show, “The Walking Dead,” dragged its way back onto TV screens on Feb. 10 after a mid-season break. The new mid-season has already kicked off with plenty of violence, drama and mental instability, and the show continues to see millions of views every Sunday night.
“The Walking Dead” is an adventure/horror show that’s based off the comic book series of the same name written by Robert Kirkman (who also helps with the show). It takes place in Georgia and follows the exploits of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), a police officer from Atlanta who was shot and hospitalized. When Rick wakes up in the hospital, a zombie virus has enveloped Atlanta. With everything around him being dragged into chaos, Rick sets out to find his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and his son Carl (Chandler Riggs).
Since its pilot episode, “The Walking Dead” has become increasingly popular and has amassed a huge fanbase.
“I believe that ‘The Walking Dead’ is so popular because it’s one of the most violent shows on television,” said English teacher John Bottiglieri, a big fan of the show, who sees it as his “guilty pleasure.” “It’s really violent for basic cable.”
As popular as “The Walking Dead” has become, zombies have been popular long before the comic was even written.
In this day and age, zombies have had a massive impact on modern culture. They have evolved into their own sub-genre and have been interpreted into various forms of media, from movies to books to video games and everything in between. Some people are even preparing for an impending undead invasion.
According to some, the “phenomenon” started back in 1968 when horror director George A. Romero released his cult-classic and controversial film “Night of the Living Dead.” The film is said to have revolutionized the horror genre and some even credit it for creating the “classic zombie.” The film interprets these creatures as risen corpses who move slowly and “live” on the “natural” drive to hunt humans.
Since then, Romero released more of the “Dawn of the Dead” films, from 1978’s “Dawn of the Dead” to the more recent “Land of the Dead,” which was released in 2005. The films have also inspired remakes such as a “Dawn of the Dead” remake in 2004.
Not all zombie films are meant to be taken seriously. “Zombieland” was released in 2009 and follows a group of survivors who travel together across a zombie infested United States. Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) wants to find his family in Columbus, Ohio. Sisters Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) want to go to an amusement park. Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) wants to find Twinkies.
Zombies have also been interpreted into literature, such as “The Walking Dead” comic series. One of the more popular zombie titles is “World War Z,” written by Max Brooks. A follow up to “The Zombie Survival Guide,” “World War Z” is a collection of (fictitious) accounts told through the eyes of a few survivors of a “zombie war.”
Zombies have shambled their way into the video game industry as well. “Resident Evil,” which was released in 1996 for Playstation One, Saturn and Windows, is a survival horror title that is said to have started the survival horror video game craze, with a foreboding atmosphere and fixed camera angle so the players won’t know where the monsters are coming from before it’s too late.
Activision is also going to release “The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct,” which puts the players in the shoes of brothers Daryl (voiced by his original actor, Norman Reedus) and Merle (also voiced by his original actor Michael Rooker) Dixon. The game showcases what the Dixon Brothers go through before the events of season one.
One upcoming title that takes a rather unique look at the zombie outbreak is “The Last of Us,” which releases in June and is made by Naughty Dog.
In most media, a zombie is created through a virus that causes the body to die but the brain to remain active, causing the body to move around and run on the basic instinct to feed. However, in “The Last of Us,” the virus is based on a real-world fungus that releases spores that cling onto insects such as ants. Soon, the spore takes over the ants mind, causing the ant to enter a zombie-like state and makes the ant try to infect other ants. “The Last of Us” takes this and puts it on humans.
Does an undead apocalypse have a deeper meaning?
“I believe it’s [the zombie idea] a political metaphor for the fact that this country is increasingly divided into two different groups,” Bottiglieri said. “The zombie becomes a metaphor for a group of people who are alike and who are facing a threat from another group of people who have the power to turn you into one of them.”