Z is for Zombie

Really? Is there any more fitting way to end this? I mean, for reals, "Z?"

Of course, for me, it's going to be zombies.

And I can never explain it, that fascination.  I will admit, as of late, my interest has been wanning. I mean, seriously. I've been such an avid watch of The Walking Dead. But this season? I gimmicks kept coming and coming it was less about creativity and more about broadcasting 101. I remember hearing about how soap operas only got interesting before a commercial.  Made sense, so you'd not walk away. But their storylines were in the 100s and they were always evovling.  TWD? Look, three "almost deads" in six weeks!

And then they did it as a season finale.

After a much ballyhooed exit from the season that promised an hour and half of the show. I later realized, it was the same fifty minute program, stretched out over commercials. Yeah, broadcasting 101. Not only that, the commercials! The same ones! Over and over! Like we're idiots!

I seriously contemplating leaving the show. I constantly end days at Disney World on Sundays to race home and make dinner so I can watch it, since we're a bit too cheap to actually have DVR. But we figured it was okay, given I had to get up at the crack of dawn every morning as it was the next Monday.

As this tirade does attest, I like me some zombies. I mean, I just started whining about commercial television.

I had heard, once, that during times of GOP dominance, vampire movies reign. And when Dems are in control? Zombie movies. Now, that doesn't go so far into my belief system, but I kinda giggle at the thought process behind it. And, yes, the craptacular "Twilight" tales did really get some traction during the Bush tyranny.  So that could mean something. Look at the symbolism. Night creatures that suck the livelihood out of normal humans:  GOP and their ideals.  Zombies? Blind followers who don't think things through under an unknown agenda.

LOL. Seriously.

My love for the horror genre of "zombies" comes from the great Night of the Living Dead. Saw it when I was in high school, still in black and white, a late night rental. I used to actually work on Saturdays nights, when things like renting movies were popular in the 80s and it made sense to me. I didn't have to go on dates like all the straight folk. I could be alone with the movies that fascinated me. If my mother was going to be home I tried to find something wonderfully black and white and written about, expanding my mind on the classics-a boon with her ongoing narration. This night, she elected to go to bed early and so I hit up the nightmare of a monster movie.

It struck a cord with me. Given my horror movie chops, understand, I cannot, possibly, swallow disaster movies. They freak the living heck out of me, for some reason. 2012 sent me into spasms. Even the beauty that is the Dwayne Johnson in San Andres, no matter how tempting, could not draw me in.

I even tried to author a screenplay for an Earthquake movie that would be in 3-D and on Imax. Even that gave me the whoozies.

However, this little zombie movie, about one horrific night during a zombie outbreak struck a cord. It almost reminded me of a play, the way it worked itself out. The tale of a single farmhouse were survivors were trying to get through the night. Of course, it was a microcosm of the world; single woman; African-American gentleman; nuclear family; old school farmer with many guns. The symbolism was palpable, but due to the onslaught of potential violence, even in an underground movie from 1968, kept it from becoming overt.

Like Psycho, the movie cut new ground with certain realities that hadn't been shown on screen before, making this a cult film before the critics really got a good hard look at it. The dead were shown as our forgotten folk, the first to suffer from this 'affliction' and people no one would acknowledge. Homeless people who had died in the cold of the night and such. Also? The first body seen has his clothes merely strapped on in the back. No one to that point had realized that, when rigor mortis had set in, clothing is difficult to place on the body, so it's usually just laid across and strapped across the back.

In fact, this becomes a point in the film. Most of the dead cannot move quickly because of this, a fatal flaw that leads to wonderful dramatic tension. You have time to fight as they advance. Leaving long periods of the audience saying things, like, "aw, fuck, DO SOMETHING."

Grant you, time flew and eventually, they moved quickly, if they were 'newly dead.'

They made a wonderful sequel, Dawn of the Dead, where the Dead, having finally consumed so much of the population, basically went to mall, because they were wired to do that, socially congregate. More delicious symbolism. SIDENOTE: There's an awesome remake, too, of course, they go there because there's survivors. And, yes, those survivors make up a composite of humanity.

There's also a really cool book, Monster Nation, by David Wellington, that even elaborates more for the zombie ideal. Those zombies just seek LIFE, and will eat anything LIVING. They even start to eat grass at one point, because it's the only life-sense. It's actually kinda cool how the concept works. There's sequels, but I found the originality is really only held to that first tale.

I also totally devoured the book World War Z, because, like Orson Welles' famed War of the Worlds, it's told through news reports and paperwork about the zombie attack. What's better? They made a movie that was loosely based on the book and it was just as good, using the same ideals from the literature.

Yes, I like zombies. Seeing them on television, well, that's been a short lived boon, but a boon, nonetheless. I think it's a wonderful way to see the world. Heck, I think I see zombies every day. Have you see the Tea Party? Brainless brain-eaters? Have you see the GOP? Talk about mindless....

....and, well, I guess that little saying about zombies being seen during the dem years might actually go the other way, too.

Sleep with your lights on.

AND????

That's it. That's the end of the month. I did it and I survived, even with sweltering fevers and the flu, I made it through the month. I give myself credit, yes, I can, if I want to, live the author's life. I don't think I want to do it daily, but I can. I might be more motivated if I were getting payment for it, other than kudos-which are deliciously rich, but doesn't put bacon on the table, as it were. Tonight is Beltane, tomorrow the symbolic first day of spring and it's rebirth. I think I like what I've accomplished here and I think I need to keep writing. Not daily, but weekly. I'll try to give it a go and see what's happening. If I can do it nightly, why couldn't I do it weekly? 

We'll see. Thanks for the notes and the kudos. 

Please, KEEP WRITING.

Peace!