Zombies: Popular Beliefs and Icons

Assignment 1-4-2: Written Analyses 1

As a child I was terrified of zombies and other supernatural creatures. I watched Night of the Living Dead, Return of the Living Dead, and my brother and sister liked to tease me and say zombies would eat my brains. If you look around you today, you will see that zombies have invaded many aspects of television, movies and books.

Modern day zombies are creatures created in the twentieth century for the purposes of horror fiction. They are human beings who are exposed to some type of virus that causes them to die. Once dead, the zombies feed on other humans and eat brains and other body parts. They are typically portrayed as unintelligent and can only be killed if you remove their head or brain. Once bitten, you will die and become a zombie too.

The popular belief and icon theories apply to the idea of zombies and the perceived zombie apocalypse. Because of the rise of zombie movies and television shows in current culture, and their realistic views on how zombies are created, there are a large group of individuals with the popular belief that zombies will walk the earth in the near future. These groups are preparing stores of food and learning survival techniques to survive the zombie apocalypse. Zombies are also a current icon. You can see them in several movies and the hit television series, The Walking Dead (2010). Most everyone has either heard of or seen this television series that depicts pockets of individuals surviving the zombie apocalypse, and turned it into quite the popular icon. The show stands for survival and ingenuity. Not only does this series show realistic scenarios, they even provide zombie survival techniques that those believers relish.

Since zombies have become popular belief and an icon of our culture, it has created quite a few fanatics. I had never thought of The Walking Dead as an icon prior to my readings, but it is just that—a current trend. However, zombies have been an icon since Americans have fallen in love with horror fiction. 

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Reference

Darabont, F. (Creator), Kirkman, R. (Writer), & Dickerson, E. (Director). (October 31, 2010). The Walking Dead [Television series]. New York, New York:AMC Networks, Inc.