Warnings of a “zombie apocalypse” have been circulating for several years now, but when Miami police found a naked man chewing off the face of another unclothed gent — well, it really seemed as if the rise of the undead was upon us.
Even the administrators of the federal Centers for Disease Control felt compelled to issue a statement: “CDC does not know of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead (or one that would present zombie-like symptoms).”
Hmm, I’m not reassured. I guess I just don’t expect the CDC to be on top of this.
Thankfully, I don’t spend much time thinking about zombies. Depictions of them are disgusting. Their chewed-up faces are way too reminiscent of meth addicts’ mugs. Even werewolves are more appealing. Given my choice of supernatural evil characters, I always gravitate toward the debonair vampire.
Did I just say, “supernatural”?
Although I can enjoy this zombie mania as the phantasmagoria it is meant (I hope) to be, I fear the borders of reality are not as well-defined for some who walk among us.
I remember a middle school student I had about 15 years ago who couldn’t decide on a topic for a research paper. “You can pick any era you want,” I said. As a history buff, the assignment looked as appealing as a pastry buffet to me. “Are you interested in the Vikings? How about the Civil War?”
“I like dinosaurs.”
The book and film “Jurassic Park,” I suspected, had given him the idea that geological history was analogous to human history. Or maybe his residual memory of “Barney” was the problem. Whatever the media influence (and I was sure there was one), he simply wasn’t interested in the development of civilizations and cultures, or even wars. The lad was a virtual resident of (dare I say it) “The Land that Time Forgot.”
Time passed, and I noticed more young people immersing themselves in dream worlds. The Harry Potter series didn’t initiate fantasy fiction as the top young adult genre choice, but it certainly propelled it into a genuine craze. The popular Japanese graphic novels — manga — and their cinematic counterparts — anime — are also frequently fantasy themed.
Video games drew youngsters more deeply into make-believe lives. Most recently I’ve noticed this phenomenon: kids who have no idea who Sophocles or Tiberius were, but are completely familiar with the stories of Demeter and Juno.
Why? Because, through pathways, such as games like “Kid Icarus,” fiction once again trumps fact.
All educated people have a grasp of classical mythology, of course, but in our current cultural climate, it seems that ethereal gods and goddesses are infinitely more interesting than flesh and blood philosophers and emperors.
As are dragons, vampires, werewolves and, of course, zombies.
This all stands in stark contrast to the genre that was most popular in my 1970s youth: the problem novel. These books featured teens getting pregnant, running away from home, smoking dope, and, always, facing the consequences. I swear I was a good girl simply because I read so many of these books that I was afraid to do anything wrong.
Interesting, especially considering that I was probably listening to Jimi Hendrix singing “excuse me while I kiss the sky” at the same time.
People wanted to “tune out” back then, but nowadays it’s a lot easier to disappear into virtual worlds. Ten percent of us take anti-depressants, which may, indeed, zombify us. Denial is practically an American art form.
I’m still a realistic gal, with a profound, albeit irrational, dislike of dragons. The virtues of escapism, frankly, escape me.
I look around and see foreign economies failing, Americans losing job and personal wealth, our middle class disappearing, our climate deteriorating. Daily I read about people starving, children murdered, governments run amok.
I’m tempted to see, in these ominous developments, evidence of a zombie apocalypse. This is true especially when I read accounts of people losing limbs to flesh-eating bacteria. Still, I must conclude that we need to hold living beings accountable for the state we’re in. We need to face the facts, as scary and painful as they might be.
We need to act, to make change, not to transform our fears into the gory imagery of ignorant, illiterate ancestors who blamed the ills of the world on monsters.
After all, what if Abraham Lincoln, as portrayed in a recent book and current movie, really focused his attention on vampires?
Silly question. Or is it?
Liz Soares welcomes e-mail at lsoares@gwi.net.
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