If you have ever been a member of the Boy Scouts of America, then you’d know that they’re main motto is “Be Prepared.”
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| Only the essentials. www.supervivencia.org |
It’s a good motto, and more people should be mindful of it. As I have mentioned before, the purpose of this blog is to explore why society has become so zombie obsessed in the last five or so years. I am doing my best to stay on the psychological aspect of our love of zombies, but with so much information out in the ether's, it’s difficult to find information that is not related to the animated corpses themselves.
One aspect did catch my interest is that Americans LOVE to consume.
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| abcnews.go.com |
Whether it is pizzas with cheese in the crust, sports cars, or television shows, we are a consumer culture. Unlike Dracula and the Mummy, there is little to buy in order to ward off these demons, aside from some garlic and holy water furnished by your local priest.
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| This beats garlic and holy water, any day.www.hdwallpapers.in |
Zombies on the other hand are a perfect creature that not only scares us, but engages us in our baser instincts of excess.
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| www.facebook.com |
We all have that creepy uncle, or know that weird guy that’s always wearing camouflage that’s prepping for the end of the world, zombie or not.
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| Yeah. These people.vimeo.com |
There is an entire cottage industry to help outfit you for the coming zombie plague. There are survival guide books, home defense kits, and all manner of goods that can be had (for a price) to help aid your survival in the event of a plague of the stinky rotten beasts.
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| REI has no shame. www.infographicszone.com |
A quick Google search or a look at Amazon will yield pages upon pages of gear and supplies for just such an event. Heck, a group called the Zombie Research Society (http://zombieresearchsociety.com) has an entire website dedicated to exchange of ideas on how best to plan for an outbreak. They even have an outbreak map (http://www.mapofthedead.com/) to help determine the feasibility of your survival based on your location!
The firearms industry isn't letting this fad go by without making a few bucks either. Hornady, one of my favorite brands of ammunition has a line of munitions dedicated to the elimination of the walking dead. They even have a commercial for them.
Zombies are the perfect monster for a consumer culture such as ours. They provide us with a common enemy, and an excuse to buy lots of stuff to stop them. It almost boils down to the original intent behind Romero’s 1978 classic “Dawn of the Dead” with mainly takes place in a shopping mall.
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| Orange Julius, anyone?www.tumblr.com |
People are definitely consumers; We are instinctually motivated to consume in pursuit of becoming the alpha being. I love Romero's interpretation of how this can be a represented literally by way of a hideous dis-figuration of a person's physical self. I'm glad you have brought to my attention something that goes against the initial intent of Romero's focus. A new breed of cannibalistic zombies!
ReplyDeleteThe new contracted zombie virus forces us to feed on our own!If the continuation of the zombie culture wanted to resume the legacy that Romero had created, maybe they would promote tips for prevention of a zombie apocalypse? Do you or anyone you know have the urge to splurge? Then they're probably about to turn into a zombie.
I love your comparison between consumerism and zombies. I have never made that connection, even after watching both the original and the new version of Dawn of the Dead. I especially like your link to the Zombie killer ammunition by Hornady. That really is "classic" American consumerism. Do you think people buy Zombie killer ammunition in Iraq?
ReplyDeleteI like the picture you found by REI. This is even more proof that there is a link between Zombies and consumerism.
I typically dislike any non-standard fonts for any web documents and as this is the first time I'm reading yours I'd like to comment on that. Your font choice is a sans-serif but bolded. I think your blog would be easier to read if it wasn't bolded.
I'd love to see some psychological references to consumerism and a link between that and Zombies. I'm not sure there is existing work that has done that, but it would have been a nice way to synthesize your point.
Great Post! Looking forward to the next.
I think you hit the nail on the head. Zombies have always been an allegory for consumerism, they are a mindless, shambling creature that only wants to eat your brains. Thinking doesn't matter as long as you buy the next big thing.
ReplyDeleteI am guilty of owning the Zombie Survival Handbook and in the past I had a zombie contingency plan, but I never stockpiled ammo or c-rations for the zombie apocalypse.
There seems to be a lack of sources though, I'm sure there is a research paper on the psychology of consumerism out there that could be cited.