Zombies

If you're an avid reader of the content on this site, you're probably aware that while I write about many serious topics, every now and then I like to take a step back from that and write about something a little bit lighter. This is one topic that I'm not actually sure if it meets the criteria of "lighter". Obviously zombies have become a huge topic in popular culture, but when you really think about the concept of the undead, it's quite disturbing. However, I think that's precisely what makes people so interested in them. I think it's safe to say that we regard the barrier between life and death as a sacred thing. Death is treated as an especially somber and serious matter. It's regarded as the event when a soul is lost, passing into oblivion. Life on the other hand, is treated as the ultimate good. Staying alive for as long as possible is the end all and be all of everything we do at the end of the day after all. So given all that, it only makes sense that the barrier between life and death, between existing and decaying, is regarded as such a powerful thing. Zombies spit right in the face of that sacred barrier, and that's why I believe they are regarded as so foul. The concept of the "undead" is inherently terrifying because it undermines one of the most basic tenants everything that we hold to be fundamentally true: once something dies, it stays dead. Anything that goes against nature, is unsettling, but that's far from the only reason zombies are thought to be repulsive. Obviously if you've ever seen a zombie in any movie, television show, or book, they are rarely pleasant in appearance or demeanor. They're almost always monsters. That's something that I've always seen as more of a means to draw attention to them. The idea that they are these bloodthirsty husks that used to be people is of course chilling, and while there are often variations on the traits of zombies based on different renditions, they rarely differ significantly from the description I just painted of them. However, in my personal opinion, the idea of the undead as always being horrible monstrosities, and an indispensable component of the horror genre, is something of a waste of potential. The idea of a loved one coming back from the dead as a monstrosity bent on consuming you is fantastic for the horror genre, but I think there could be many other ways to employ the concept. After all, a loved one returning more or less as who they were when they were alive could be a fantastic plot for a romance novel, as it would make for many compelling conflicts and would introduce so many possibilities for a story line that I feel has been seriously neglected. That's just one example, but if we put more thought into it, I don't think it's a huge stretch to say that there are so many more ways that the idea of the dead returning to life could be used more in a more versatile fashion. For the sake of fairness, it would definitely be incorrect of me to assert that this doesn't happen at all. After all, there have been many creative uses of zombies employed in popular culture, whether it be comedic, dramatic, or the typical horrific. I just personally think that type of thing could happen more frequently. Now let's talk about the historical aspect of zombies. I feel as though people who aren't especially privy to history may be under the impression that zombies are some kind of new concept, which is absolutely not the case. Many cultures have their take on the undead and zombies in some form or another have featured in all sorts of mythology across the world. However the case could definitely be made that the concept of the zombie is most intrinsic to Haitian folklore. The word "zombie" after all, does come from Haiti. After doing a bit of reading a bit more into the topic, I came to understand that the idea of the undead that came from Haiti is a bit different than how zombies are typically portrayed in popular culture. My understanding of the folklore is that zombies aren't actually just mindless monsters that do whatever they want, but are actually brought back by a specific person, a sorcerer of sorts, for the purpose of being their servant and doing their bidding. I believe they're still regarded as being an abomination, but the idea that they are an agent of chaos is all but completely absent. I remember reading something a while back, about a supposed real life zombie and it was in Haiti of all places. The event took place quite some time back, but it involved a man who was thought to be dead, confirmed to be buried, later found toiling in the fields. When approached, he supposedly said that he had been brought back from the dead by a sorcerer to work. I can't recall how the rest of the story went, and I'm very skeptical as to whether or not the events detailed were actually what happened, since I have the natural tendency to assume that it was more of just an instance of group hysteria fueled by superstition, but the concept is interesting none the less. I've also read other articles that detailed how a possible "zombie outbreak" could actually happen in real life. If you've read any such articles you may be aware that some of the most common things mentioned are biological warfare, a mutation of the rabies virus, and a specific kind of fungus that actually does turn ants into "zombies" of a sort, but when I read anything like that, I do so with the awareness that such material is for entertainment purposes more than anything else and should be taken with a significant grain of salt. That, however, doesn't change the fact that the concept of the undead is fundamentally fascinating. Zombies are terrifying, unnatural, and existentially unsettling, which in my opinion, is why they will most likely not be departing from popular culture anytime soon.