Zombies in America!

An examination of the popularity of the Zombie in

American Culture

By Amy LaZerte

Consider the Zombie…

Invading Movies!!!

Invading Literature!!!

Invading Comics!!!

Invading Video Games!!!

What has Become of POP Culture?

Why Zombies? Why Now?• Zombies are versatile!

– Scary– Funny– Social Commentary

• Zombies as “the other”!– People of Color– Nazis– Communists

• Modern Day Gladiators– It’s okay to kill zombies!

• Zombies as US!!!– The ultimate consumer– Unrepressed

• Fascination with Death• Community

– “When they aren’t eating us they’re bring us together”

The Voodoo Zombie!

– The Magic Island by W.B. Seabrook in 1929

– H. P. Lovecraft’s Novellas in the 1920s and 1930s

– White Zombie (1932) starring Bella Lugosi

– I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

– Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)

The Grandfather of the Modern Zombie

• George A Romero• Night of the Living

Dead (1968)• The ”New” Zombie• Zombies as social

commentary– Post- Civil Rights

Movement– Vietnam War– American Counter-

Culture Movement

The First African American Hero in American Cinema!

When There’s No More Room in Hell…

• Dawn of the Dead (1978) George A Romero

• Post Vietnam• Rascism• Feminism• “The ME Decade”• Zombies as the

ultimate consumer.

Dawn of the Dead Movie Trailer

The Moral Dilemma

• Day of the Dead (1985) George A Romero

• What makes a zombie not a human?– Bub

• What makes a human not a human?– The Military

Zombies get a Sense of Humor• Return of the Living

Dead (1985) Dan O’Bannon and the subsequent Return of the Living Dead Series

• The Evil Dead (1981) Sam Raimi, and The Evil Dead Series

• Sean of the Dead (2004) Edgar Wright

• Zombieland (2009) Ruben Fleischer

Zombies in Print

• The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z by Max Brooks

• The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman

• Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne

• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

• Library of the Living Dead Press

In Conclusion….

Zombies are the dismembered, half gnawed

fingers on the pulse of America’s

prejudices', anxieties, and

desires. “They’re coming to get you,

Barbra…”

Bibliography•Dawn of the Dead . Dir. George Romero. Perf. Ken Foree, David Emge and Gaylen Ross.

1978.

•Document of the Dead. Dir. Roy Frumkes. Perf. George A. Romero, Tom Savini and John

Amplas. 1985.

•Greene, Richard (Editor) and K Silem (Editor) Mohammad. The Undead and Philosophy:

Chicken Soup for the Soulless. Peru: Open Court, 2006.

•Harper, Stephen. "Zombies, Malls, and the Consumerism Debate:." 2002. American;

The Journal of Popular American Culture. 15 March 2010

<http://www.americanpopularculture.com/journal/articles/fall_2002/harper.htm#2>.

•Night of the Living Dead. Dir. George A. Romero. Perf. Duane Jones, et al. 1968.

•Wikipedia: The Evil Dead. The Evil Dead. 8 March 2010. 8 March 2010

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evil_Dead>.

•Wikipedia: The Return of the Living Dead. The Return of the Living Dead. 8 March

2010. 8 March 2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_the_Living_Dead>.

•Wikipedia: Zombies in Popular Culture. Zombies in Popular Culture. 15 Febuary 2010. 1

March 2010 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombies_in_popular_culture>.

•Zombiemania. Dir. Donna Davies. Perf. George A, Romero, et al. 2008.