The early morning news story of a Miami man, naked and growling, biting off the face of a sleeping homeless man, on a city causeway, was not only horrific, but was also the first Urban Legend come true that I have experienced. As if the homeless do not have enough strikes against them...now they must worry about drug-induced zombies prowling in broad daylight, walking over the freeways in search of helpless human flesh...
Everywhere I glance, it seems I am encountering zombies. From video arcades to my students' hand-held gaming devices--there are zombie stuffed animals and zombie dolls--both ironic--as well as zombie comic books. For those with a longer attention span, there are zombie graphic novels, zombie classics, zombie spy and zombie romance books. There are zombie movies (where the first zombies I ever encountered originated) and zombie television/cable series (now going into third seasons!). There are zombie aliens, zombie religions, zombie chatchkes, zombie jewelry, and zombie music.
Why are we so taken up with flesh eating humans who rot their violent ways into our lives? Why do we dream of our loved ones turning on us and trying to get a viable piece of our brains? (Weren't vampires enough?)
My sisters gave me a zombie manual (How to survive the incoming...) and gave my nieces a zombie board game. My brother plays zombie video hunts with his two teen-aged daughters and their friends. My brother is a cop...(another irony manifested)...There are zombie-themed parties and zombie cocktails..(probably a cookbook somewhere in cyberspace waiting to be born)...But why?
Frankenstein's monster was never sexy. The dead smell. Their teeth are bad--imagine their breath--or the insides of their mouths (since they don't actually breathe anymore). Zombie fashion isn't a big hit, either. I haven't seen a single Cannes runway show covered by TMZ featuring zombie couture, nor zombie models. So why the infatuation?
The need to control others, it seems, is why Voudon culture first came up with the idea of the undead. (Since we cannot seem to control ourselves--why not get some peaceful slaves?) Current zombies, however, are less amenable to spiritual powers. They have no religious beliefs. They are immune to all suggestions. They simply want to feed--on us. (And then, it seems, they don't really finish a meal. They always are moving on to the next new thing--much like TMZ...) I guess that's one way they keep their numbers up.(If you eat too much of your mother-in-law, how's she going to help you take down your father-in-law?)
Perhaps it is the issue I struggle most with: judging one's neighbors.
If you are a zombie, there's nothing left to judge. You don't give a rat's ass about anybody, except where the next brain is coming from. You don't worry about make-up, fashion or your weight, do you? (And who the Hell asks a zombie what their political affiliation is?) Secretly, maybe we are all craving relief from the constant judging we inflict on each other and this is the best answer we can come up with.
What happened in Miami is (reportedly) due to drug use--they are saying in the news, based on cops and doctors, that both men were using. What they are not saying is what led both men to that horrendous confrontation. (Who had they lost? What socio-economic curse was upon both of them that they have found each other and danced this karma out, together?)What was the meaning of the stripping off of the clothing of the homeless man, who had little enough as it was, by the naked attacker? Did race motivate or accentuate or ameliorate the act? (What about age? Territory? Spirituality?) What were the real reasons this brutal feeding frenzy played out on that bridge?
And why didn't more people help?
Why did the police immediately fire? ( Did they think it WAS a zombie movie, for reals?)
Have we walked over the edge of the abyss into our own nightmares? What now? What next?
Zombies are real, people.
( Just say "no"... )
Everywhere I glance, it seems I am encountering zombies. From video arcades to my students' hand-held gaming devices--there are zombie stuffed animals and zombie dolls--both ironic--as well as zombie comic books. For those with a longer attention span, there are zombie graphic novels, zombie classics, zombie spy and zombie romance books. There are zombie movies (where the first zombies I ever encountered originated) and zombie television/cable series (now going into third seasons!). There are zombie aliens, zombie religions, zombie chatchkes, zombie jewelry, and zombie music.
Why are we so taken up with flesh eating humans who rot their violent ways into our lives? Why do we dream of our loved ones turning on us and trying to get a viable piece of our brains? (Weren't vampires enough?)
My sisters gave me a zombie manual (How to survive the incoming...) and gave my nieces a zombie board game. My brother plays zombie video hunts with his two teen-aged daughters and their friends. My brother is a cop...(another irony manifested)...There are zombie-themed parties and zombie cocktails..(probably a cookbook somewhere in cyberspace waiting to be born)...But why?
Frankenstein's monster was never sexy. The dead smell. Their teeth are bad--imagine their breath--or the insides of their mouths (since they don't actually breathe anymore). Zombie fashion isn't a big hit, either. I haven't seen a single Cannes runway show covered by TMZ featuring zombie couture, nor zombie models. So why the infatuation?
The need to control others, it seems, is why Voudon culture first came up with the idea of the undead. (Since we cannot seem to control ourselves--why not get some peaceful slaves?) Current zombies, however, are less amenable to spiritual powers. They have no religious beliefs. They are immune to all suggestions. They simply want to feed--on us. (And then, it seems, they don't really finish a meal. They always are moving on to the next new thing--much like TMZ...) I guess that's one way they keep their numbers up.(If you eat too much of your mother-in-law, how's she going to help you take down your father-in-law?)
Perhaps it is the issue I struggle most with: judging one's neighbors.
If you are a zombie, there's nothing left to judge. You don't give a rat's ass about anybody, except where the next brain is coming from. You don't worry about make-up, fashion or your weight, do you? (And who the Hell asks a zombie what their political affiliation is?) Secretly, maybe we are all craving relief from the constant judging we inflict on each other and this is the best answer we can come up with.
What happened in Miami is (reportedly) due to drug use--they are saying in the news, based on cops and doctors, that both men were using. What they are not saying is what led both men to that horrendous confrontation. (Who had they lost? What socio-economic curse was upon both of them that they have found each other and danced this karma out, together?)What was the meaning of the stripping off of the clothing of the homeless man, who had little enough as it was, by the naked attacker? Did race motivate or accentuate or ameliorate the act? (What about age? Territory? Spirituality?) What were the real reasons this brutal feeding frenzy played out on that bridge?
And why didn't more people help?
Why did the police immediately fire? ( Did they think it WAS a zombie movie, for reals?)
Have we walked over the edge of the abyss into our own nightmares? What now? What next?
Zombies are real, people.
( Just say "no"... )
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