2010-06-23

The Walking Dead.

I am incontinent with excitement about AMC's "The Walking Dead," based on the graphic novel of the same name. I'm excited for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that if it takes off, zombies will wrest some much-deserved attention from all these candy-assed vampires on television right now. But also, thus far, the network is treating the original material with great care and respect, and with every bit the attention to detail as they lavish upon "Mad Men."

In many ways, "The Walking Dead" is very much like "Mad Men," in its portrayal of people in desperate situations. They lie, cheat, and betray those closest to them. It's just that in one show, everybody wears really, really awesome clothes. And in the other, well, they're dealing with hordes of ZOMBIES.

Most people who know me know that I've been fascinated with zombies since I was a kid, when my mother (a decades-long horror buff herself) allowed me to watch George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead." I am sure that there are people who gave my mom the side-eye for letting her kids watch all manner of cinematic ghastlies at all hours. Most nights she was sitting right there with us, laughing her ass off. And I think she saw in her middle child a kindred spirit, one who could handle the fright factor and see the story in the midst of all the gore. Any truly frightening tale frightens us because of what it forces us to confront within ourselves. And a good zombie story frightens us not simply because of the flesh-eating ghouls.

Zombies are terrifying to us because of what they represent: resurrection of the body, but not the divine spark. The brain is reanimated, but only the most base, impulse-driven portion. It lacks language and complex rational thought. It's entirely reptilian, concerned only with the satisfaction of one fundamental thing: hunger. A zombie has no memory of what it was, what it did, or who it loved when fully alive (although Romero, in recent years, has been exploring the possibility of the undead retaining some memories, particularly in "Land of the Dead," and "Survival of the Dead"). You may have been married to that zombie for 25 years before it got all undead and maggoty, but it'll still want to tear you limb from limb and devour your entrails.

But with that all said, a truly good zombie story is almost less about the undead, and more about what being thrown into that environment does to the living. Romero himself has said that in his movies, the zombies are secondary, "like mosquitoes." Sure, you have to worry about them trying to eat you, but ultimately, it's the people with whom you're forced to survive that you have to worry about more. A post-apocalyptic wasteland brings out the worst in people, whether it's Dennis Hopper's Trump-esque mogul in "Land of the Dead," offering security (and luxury) only to those who can afford it, or the psychotic "Governor" of Woodbury in "The Walking Dead," pitting the living against the undead in gladiatorial matches for entertainment. In both cases, atrocities are overlooked by the remaining living who benefit from tyranny. A good zombie story therefore asks: Who's more human?

I got hooked on "The Walking Dead" for that reason. It's risky stuff, what AMC is taking on here. From the production photos they've been generously sharing thus far, the effects are not in the least bit toned down for a television audience. I can't imagine that this show will air earlier than 11 p.m. And it's obviously not going to be for everybody. It may even be hard for ME to watch, but watch it I will. I have grown very attached to these characters. I am looking forward to seeing them "fleshed out," if you will. Like any comic book geek worth her weight in back issues, I will yell at the television if anything seems to stray even a millimeter from my own ideas of how the story should be told. But I'm thrilled that AMC has seen beyond the potential shock value of airing a weekly creepshow, and is dedicated to telling a good zombie story.

lisamcc at 9:51 p.m.

1 comments so far
Michelle
2010-06-25 18:30:52
I adore "yell at the television if anything seems to stray even a millimeter from my own ideas of how the story should be told." Couple weeks ago I yelled at a karaoke screen because it didn't know the lyric in "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is "sitting on a powder keg and giving off sparks." I dunno WHAT it tried, something like "sitting with the sparrows on a dark back porch" or some shit. Having said all that by way of agreeing with you, I have always wanted to know: do zombies poop?
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