Posted on 12/13/2012 6:55:07 AM PST by FrogMom
Zombies are the new vampires in the entertainment world, but unlike pop culture vampires, they don’t sparkle, they aren’t sexy and brooding, and you don’t want to turn into one.
The most popular show in cable TV history is The Walking Dead. Dozens, if not hundreds, of zombies are slain in every episode. Head shots are taken with no more compunction than swatting as mosquito before it lands on your arm. An axe to the skull, a pick through an eye socket, blunt objects, arrows, daggers – anything goes. What’s more, it doesn’t matter if the zombie is a man, woman or child – it must be killed immediately as it staggers hungrily towards you.
(Excerpt) Read more at shtfplan.com ...
You’re absolutely right. Even if they’re not technically dead, they’re not really human. And even if they were human, they’re trying to eat your flesh. So it shouldn’t be desensitizing viewers to mass murder. Until such time as magically undead monsters start roaming the streets it won’t have any practical effects.
A government or governing/ruling class which intended to engage in mass killings might wish to precondition the populace to accept mass killings.
How that applies to the present world situation, in this Year of Our Lord MMXII is, of course, a matter for discussion or debate.
That makes sense, though true of all of us, not just with people infected with a zombie disease like on the show. However, the characters do refer to the monsters as “walkers” instead of zombies.
“you have to let the zombie reanimate before you kill it.”
I shouldn’t think so. Why not chop off its head or burn it while it’s not moving? Not only did Andrea keep the others from handling her sister’s corpse at gunpoint, she cradled her in her arms before reanimation. Then she didn’t kill her right away when she woke as a zombie. Obviously Andrea was waiting for her to resemble her living sister to say goodbye.
Herschel didn’t have to repudiate his beliefs, except insofar as he believe he wasn’t living in a zombie apocalypse. I’ve seen nothing to demonstrate he’s nit a Christian anymore, except maybe while ye was crying into hus drink at the bar.
They weighed down the despair side of the scale last season. But they’re still alive, still fighting. The most negative character is gone. There’s new life. Herschel seems happier, etc.
For your edification the Governor is not experimenting on his daughter so far as we know. He can’t let go of her, is all. In fact the whole zombie study project, in addition to teaching them to kill better, may have been intended to bring her back to life.
“ain’t no struggle killing zombies”
On top of those situations already mentioned I recall Rick saying that upon seeing a zombie for the first time his instinct wasn’t to kill it. He had to learn what a threat they were, and he’s among the most aware and capable characters on the show.
Michonne is almost perfect a definite 9.75. Great looking woman that carries a sword and is ready, willing, and able to use it. If she drove a truck she would be a 10.
TSA is also conditioning the traveling public to tolerate any indignity.
We need to wake up.
ROFL!
For what it’s worth I enjoyed Betty for the first time when she got fat, because it was the first time I could sympathize. I don’t see her as very well rebelled. So she matured a little since season one, but mostly my opinion of her is the same as her two husbands: she’s like a child. Which could make for an interesting character, but even knowing that I have a hard time following her motivation.
Take the episode where she started modelling again. She’s a bored housewife who hares her kids and whose husband is a cad. Getting out to work makes her feel special, independent, useful, appreciated. She’s flattered the guy saw something in her. Turns out it was a ruse to tempt Don, and she’s in his shadow again. So she’s sad, and what does age do? Shoots the neighbor’s birds. Okay, he was mean to her kids and threatened her dog, but that’s a bit psychotic. They were only just over the property line, and she didn’t even have it out with the neighbir beforehand.
Her being capable of such things doesn’t deepen the character for ne. It just means she makes less sense. The daughter is much better written, even with the similarly salacious things they have her do.
A lot of Betty needs to be viewed through Don’s speech about how ad men like him invented the romantic love the people he was talking to sought. She is a product of the Madison Avenue push, she wants to be the all American homemaker she used to portray in ads, she’s pretty, she has the hansom successful husband, she lives in the burbs, she has 2 lovely children. She has achieved everything she was taught (by ad men) she was supposed to achieve, and yet all of those things define her by other people, who she married, who her kids are, who turns their head as she walks by. So with it all she has no idea what she’s supposed to be herself. She’s a lost little soul, then the cracks start appearing. Don’s infidelity ramps up to a level she can’t ignore, life in the suburbs is boring, her daughter is openly rebelling against the lifestyle she lives. Then she finds out Don isn’t even Don, and it all falls apart. Even now she can’t manage to define herself as herself, she’s stepping into the role of “mean first wife”.
I loved her shooting the birds, it was one of her first big steps towards individual identity. None of what she’d been taught to be included shooting birds. The daughter is the anti-Betty. She’s also defining herself by what others think, but she wants go the opposite of what’s expected. She’s just as much the product of ad men, she’s just running the standard rebellion of zigging every time culture says to zag.
They may be hesitant to kill the zombies they know, but they're killing zombies they dont with relish by the hundreds. THATs the point of this article and the point I'm trying to make. You can belabor the point but they are NOT struggling with killing zombies by any stretch of the imagination.
So you're recommending killing a little girl thats suffering from some unknown malady. Congrats, yer special.
By the way, if we disagree about Betty, I hope you can agree female characters generally monopolize the roles most of the audience hates. It’s not in my opinion because we can’t accept women as flawed, complicated characters. I believe it’s because they’re mot written as well, though maybe I exaggerate. Whether or not it’s because mist writers are men, well, it’s just a theory.
There are plenty of unlikeable as human beings female characters who come off better than Lori. Andrea on The Walking Dead, for instance. Katy Sagal on Sons of Anarchy is an extreme example who gets away with it. I dislike Peggy on Mad Men not as much as Don, but enough. She’s nevertheless a great character.
The little girl wasn’t the first zombie Rick saw, though it may have been the first one we saw. I don’t remember whether it was necessary to kill that particular zombie. They do it to get them out of their way or to prevent being eaten, not upon sight.
I can’t swallow the ad man lifestyle interpretation altogether. She was daddy’s little girl and daddy hated Don and raised her to expect more. I think he was being literal when he called her a princess, as if she could’ve been Grace Kelly. That is a character I’d like to see. One who is perhaps Don’s equal, only in a different direction. I enjoy much less the spoiled little girl who lashes out at pets for her poor marriage choice.
You keep shifting ground. I don’t know what your point is now, but let’s agree they’re killing zombies by the hundreds. Not with relish, exactly, though Andrea certainly enjoys it. What does this have to do with desensitizing people in real life? Real life doesn’t have zombies. Zombies are not sick and underfed people. They are misters. This article is idiotic.
You keep shifting ground. I don’t know what your point is now, but let’s agree they’re killing zombies by the hundreds. Not with relish, exactly, though Andrea certainly enjoys it. What does this have to do with desensitizing people in real life? Real life doesn’t have zombies. Zombies are not sick and underfed people. They are monsters. This article is idiotic.
My one problem with WD, and we both love the show, is that it’s set in Georgia. Now think about it for a second. This is Georgia, folks, the gun owning population of Georgia would rank as about the 5th largest Army on Earth. And Georgia is a machine gun State IIRC.
If the zombie apacolypse does happen I’m fairly sure that Georgia would be one of the safest places on the planet, as would be Texas. Zombies wouldn’t stand a chance....
LOL. Nah, I didn’t shift anything. Have a good one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.