The Effectiveness of Zombies

As we have discussed throughout the semester, using zombies to teach about

real life issues has been, and will continue to be, highly effective. Zombies are such a

pop culture phenomenon that nearly everyone can enjoy, if not at least appreciate.

Given that fact, it’s easy to understand why many artists and producers would use

zombies to portray different messages. As it’s been discussed in class and by many

before us, most sensitive social and economical issues can be depicted in a zombie

text or film and will not receive the same critical feedback that it would should it be

a more “real life” picture. The television series, The Walking Dead, shows numerous

issues such as race, gender, age, etc. Avid viewers of the series may have noticed

that nearly every black male character gets killed off and the core group contains

one Asian person and the rest are white (Source: “The Walking Dead”). Surely fans

are upset with this possibly racially motivated pattern, but is this an example of the

Walking Dead portraying how our society works? While the producers are

defending their casting decisions, it gives us an opportunity to discuss the issue in a

less sensitive (maybe) manner than if we were to discuss why, for example, the

majority of the General Authorities and General Officers of the LDS church are white

men (source: General).

Another example of how zombies can be effective teaching tools is in

emergency planning. The CDC and National Security Forces may be the largest

organizations to formally create zombie preparedness plans although many others

have followed suit. The CDC and National Security Forces may be the largest

organizations to formally create zombie preparedness plans although many others

have followed suit. In the Spring of 2012, nearly 100 emergency responders from 8

different counties participated in a field training test using zombie attacks as the

scenarios. The director of Northeastern Maine Regional Resource Center stated

“This gives us the opportunity to do something a bit different, but it still has the

same principles that would apply in a real life situation” (Source: “Drills of the

Dead”). Emergency planning with zombies can be translated to domestic or foreign

threats, but definitely less scary.

Overall, zombies are a big part of our culture now and will continue to be so

it makes sense to take advantage of the different learning and teaching

opportunities available.

Works Cited

"‘The Walking Dead’ Finale Recap: Black Man Survives." Washington Post. The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.

"General Authorities and General Officers." General Authorities and General Officers. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.

“Drills of the Dead: Maine Prepares for Zombie Attack.” – RT USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.