Cooler Dirt

We had an interesting discussion the other day about horror movies.  More specifically, the Zombie Movie.  One of us recently read the Max Brooks book World War Z, about a future where zombies almost wipe out the human race and the leftover people have to fight back against them.   Though we all liked zombie movies to one extent or another, we did come up with an interesting observation about the zombie genre in particular.

1.  Zombie survivors make shelters: In pretty much every zombie movie we’ve seen, the non-zombie people wall themselves up, bar the doors, build barricades or otherwise create a fortress to keep the hordes of zombies from getting inside and eating their brains.  (Or something.)

2.  Zombie survivors have immediate needs: Apart from food, shelter, weapons and maybe a zombie-escape-mobile, zombie survivors don’t really have a lot to do.  They don’t have to pay bills, don’t have to study, don’t have to worry about getting the girl.  It’s pretty much basic survival needs with none of the complications of modern life and socialization.  Conversations revolve around how to get away, where the ammo is and what needs to be done to stay alive.

3.  Zombie survivors use violence: It goes without saying that if you are attacked by a zombie, you’re going to defend yourself using whatever you have available.   Chainsaws, swords, bats, and of course, as many guns as you can get your hands on.  If you are cast into a world of zombies, you gotta fight, and fight well.

As we see it,  zombie movie people use violence, build forts and think of nothing other than meeting their immediate survival needs.  Does this sound like anyone you might know?  Or, to be more specific, is there a certain group of people who’s desires closely match those of the people in zombie movies?

How about pre-teen boys?  How about teenage boys, or those on the verge of sexual maturity?  In other words, are zombie movies fantasies of the pre-teen boy inside of all the fanboys, film makers and otherwise adult men who flock to them?

Look at it this way:  If you survive a zombie attack, you have to build a fort to wall yourself off from the outside world. (Very boyish).  You have to find all the weapons you can.  (Ever seen boys play war?)  You have to get food and concentrate on staying alive.  You don’t have to deal with school, or parents, or complicated relationships,or, god forbid, sex! (Sure, there are sexy women in these movies, but aren’t they too just fantasies?)

The zombie fantasy offered by these films caters to the regressed or psychologically stunted impulse to wall yourself off from the world and not grow up.  You don’t have to worry about any big, emotional, complicated stuff that adults have to deal with.  All you have to do is play soldier and stay alive.

Of course, we haven’t found any direct evidence that the people making these films or books believes this, or is using the zombie setting as a metaphorical tool to explore these ideas.  We could be completely wrong about it.

But we don’t think we are.   After all, who are the biggest fans of zombie movies?  When the next zombie movie comes out  (the movie version of World War Z is set to be made soon), go see it in the theater.  Pay attention to the ratio of men to women.  We’re guessing it’s going to be fairly male heavy.  We’re also guessing those men are either adolescents or a little regressed.

(Photo courtest Ateo Fiel’s Flickr site through Creative Commons.  Thanks, Ateo Fiel.)

Books, Movies, TV, Music and Art book, books, brain, conversation, conversations, life

Every Friday, we’re going to post a brain teaser of sorts. We don’t want to go so far as to call what we do philosophy, but we are going to ask the kinds of questions you usually only ask when under the influence of substances that aren’t exactly legal. (Which, by the way, is the only reason we ever wanted to go to grad school.)

So, consider the following hypothetical situation.

1. Last night, and unbeknownst to you, a group of mad scientists snuck into your bedroom and removed your brain.
2. Fortunately for you, they didn’t leave you hanging. Instead of letting you die, these scientists placed your brain in a vat of super-awesome science liquid that keeps your brain alive. (Ever seen that Steve Martin movie, The Man with Two Brains? It’s kind of like that. Here’s a clip.)
3. Further, in all the places where the nerves of your brain connected with your body, they placed microscopic radio transmitters. These allow your brain to communicate with your body even if it is no longer there. So even though you believe your brain is still there, it is really in a jar somewhere in the dark lair of the evil scientists.

So, here is the question: Where are you?
Though your body is currently where you are, your brain is in the hideout. It could be millions of miles away on a distant planet. And everything you think, feel, see, taste and perceive are going on in that hideout. So are you in the hideout, or are you where you are now?

Here’s another question. What if your body is destroyed? Are you dead? You would no longer be able to perceive anything, but you could still think. You’d still have all your memories, still dream, still have desires.

We’ll let you think about that one for a while. What do you think? What do your friends think?

If this question asks anything, doesn’t it ask what it means when we identify ourselves?

In other words: Who, or what, makes you, you?

(Photo courtesy sirtrentalot’s Flickr page, rights granted through Creative Commons license. Thanks, sirtrentalot!)

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