The Walking Dead Analysis

CMNS 221 Popular culture paper from 2020

The Walking Dead is a popular American horror and survival series directed by Frank Darabont on October 31, 2010. The series currently has a total of 11 seasons along with several prequel series streaming on various platforms. It stars Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan, Melissa Mcbride, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Danai Gurira, Steven Yeun, and many more actors who play the main group of survivors throughout the series (2010). The Walking Dead plays with the conventions of horror because the elements of fear, survival, and escape are seen throughout the series.

If someone were to watch a zombie film or TV series like The Walking Dead, they would usually expect mindless hordes of zombies with an endless desire to consume human flesh and brains and an inability to speak (Bishop, 2010). Survival is one of the elements found in horror genres where there is this struggle that exists between human versus human or human versus nature or human versus supernatural in the case of The Walking Dead (Bishop, 2010). There is this struggle between who survives and who perishes (Bishop, 2010). The people who survive would be forced to group up and defend against those who were once part of their own but have turned against them (Bishop, 2010). The main group constantly is challenged by zombies, and sometimes even other people who fight over territory as shown in fighting over the farm in season 3 (Darabont, 2010). The characters in the series were created from the original book, and each unique character has a unique back story to soften the hearts of many and leave them feeling hopeful for their survival (Darabont, 2010). In The Walking Dead, the character’s goal is not only to escape and survive zombies but to meet their basic needs from scavenging empty houses to taking supplies from others. The survivors all have a choice as their subconscious instincts of fight or flight kick in; to turn around and face off against the zombies or safely escape from them. Another problem arises from this post-apocalyptic genre; each person's own dilemmas and struggles against themselves as they do what they believe is the correct choice. Many have to suffer and watch as their loved ones turn into the undead, while those people have to decide whether they should continue as themselves, as a humans, or cause others to face the consequences after they turn into zombies and become threats to humanity. There is this struggle for survival when the character’s desperation and frustration are shown through their actions or what they say, for example when one of the characters of the main group is left to face a zombie and often without any bullets left. Their situation draws the attention of the viewers very quickly and gives them hope that this character survives (Bishop, 2010; Darabont, 2010). The struggle is also seen in fighting against zombies the group encounters and the zombies' pursuit in tearing apart those that are alive creates a dynamic, action-packed series that leaves the audience on the edge of their seats. The Walking Dead is extremely popular among audiences because of its survival aspect, it gives a realistic envision of survival if their own ordinary lives turned upside down someday.

Fear is another theme found in The Walking Dead, including having zombies and leaving the audience feeling moments of fear (Bishop, 2010; Darabont, 2010). In every horror film or series, there is usually a monster that disturbs the normal life of the characters and creates a stir for them. The characters usually struggle to fight off the monster or try to hide from it (Wood, 1978). In The Walking Dead, Darabont (2010) creates this idea of a plague that has dominated the human world, with the zombies being the monsters in this horror and survival-based TV series. For someone to turn into a zombie, they must have an infected injury according to Darabont (2010, Season 1). This could be a result of having been bitten by a zombie, both of which can transfer over many infections or diseases that can lead to death and zombification(Darabont, 2010). Without access to the correct medical treatment for diseases or injuries, it can rampage and kill the victim (Bishop, 2010; Darabontm, 2010). After death, the virus “reboots” the brain and turns regular corpses into “the walking dead” zombies (Darabont, 2010). However, if a person receives damage directly to the brain and dies that way, they cannot become infected and, in turn, become a zombie (Darabont, 2010). Zombies in The Walking Dead move fairly fast, are attracted by light and sound, and feel no pain (Darabont, 2010). They move only for their one primal urge to feed. They are different from the zombies in Dawn of the Dead, who were drawn to the mall with their supposedly subconscious memories (Bishop, 2007). The directors and producers have perfectly portrayed this existing character of how a zombie should look and sound (Darabont, 2010). There are many different types of zombies, also known as “walkers”, they range from “roamers”, the most common type who walk around, to “lurkers” who wait in hiding and play dead (Darabont, 2010). Even with the different types, walkers all have one thing in common just like any zombie; they feed on anything alive, especially humans (Darabont, 2010). Zombies in The Walking Dead also move fairly fast and are easily attracted by noise whether it is a gunshot or when a person talks too loud (Darabont, 2010). The sound zombies make and the way they move gives the audience “feelings of fear and suspense,” as Robin Wood (1988) mentions. The “walkers” need to consume the flesh of the living is an example of consumerism according to Bishop (2007). zombies have become one of the many basic formulas of the horror genre (Wood, 1978). The basic formula is “where normality is threatened by a monster,” as defined by Robin Wood (1978, pg. 26).

Realism is the idea of accepting the situation and acting accordingly (Williams, 1983). This series is an example of a realistic perspective being applied to a post-apocalyptic world where humanity must adapt to the drastic changes in its surrounding environment. The idea of survival and a real perspective of what a person would do when a zombie apocalypse occurs throughout the series become very clear, and the choices the main characters make to protect their kind (Bishop, 2010; William, 1983). This series also brings a realistic perspective of what a person would do if they were trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world, the extremes they will go to to ensure their own or their people’s survival. The loss of humanity is present throughout the series, where characters are forced to choose what they believe is right. For example, when Rick chooses to kill two strangers who had asked him where the farm was located during Season 2 of The Walking Dead because the farm belonged to Hershel, who is allowing Rick and his people to stay (Darabont, 2010). This was the result or more of a consequence of a lack of trust, a major problem that characters must overcome various times when they meet other strangers from a different group during the zombie apocalypse (Darabont, 2010). Given a realist perspective, it is hard for people to trust a random stranger with an unknown background (Williams, 1983). They are forced to defend their new-found territory or welcome new survivors. This ties into the fictional survival idea of humans becoming endangered by zombies that have taken over the US, where the characters are forced to survive by scavenging houses and having to choose who they can and cannot trust (Darabont, 2010).

The characters and zombies each play an important role in the genres of horror and survival. The series starts with Rick, a former sheriff deputy, who gathers up and leads the remaining survivors of the apocalypse. The survivors struggle to fight off and survive the hoards of zombies against them (Darabont, 2010). The genre of this tv series is action-horror because the survivors have to determine whether they should fight or flee from the zombies they encounter with their wits and gun power. The premise of The Walking Dead is that a strange virus lays dormant in every human, with death becoming the trigger to a zombie outbreak (Darabont, 2010).

In conclusion, The Walking Dead has shown a strong emphasis on the horror elements of survival, fear, and realism in this horror and action-packed TV series. The decisions each of the characters makes to ensure the group’s survival becomes evident, and each pursues a scene of them escaping from a zombie horde. In each episode, the characters are struggling harder than before, and doing what it takes to survive. The realist perspective of the horrors of what a post-apocalyptic can bring to its survivors, forcing them to adapt to their new changes and environment, straying from their humanity to survive sometimes.

Sources

Bishop, K. (2010). The Idle Proletariat: Dawn of the Dead, Consumer Ideology, and the Loss of

Productive Labor. Journal of Popular Culture, 43(2), 234–248. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2010.00739.x

Darabont, F., (Director) (2010, Oct, 31). The Walking Dead. [Television series]. Georgia, United

States: AMC Studios. (2010-Present) The Walking Dead Netflix. [TV series]

Williams, R. (1983). Realism in Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. (Revised

Edition). pg. 257-262. Oxford University Press, New York. Retrieved from: https://canvas.sfu.ca/courses/54051/files/12273373/download?download_frd=1

Wood, R. (1978). Return of the Repressed Film Comment. [Canvas Readings] Vol. 14 no. 14 pg.

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