BryanMaloney
Premium Member
The classic American 1950s monster invasion movies were metaphors for the Red Scare and the Cold War. America was under siege by very obviously alien/foreign powers that sought to destroy "our way of life" by what amounted to large-scale military invasion.
What is the current zombie craze a metaphor for?
Not "terrorism", because, while insidious, terrorism does not have the "infectious" element. People killed by terrorists do not, themselves, become terrorists. Metaphors for terrorism would be closer to more recent "bug" movies, where the goal is still extermination of humanity, but by sneaking around and jumping out of holes rather than coming over the hill in a big wave.
Not "AIDS" or "disease". It's too obvious a parallel, and, let's face it, AIDS doesn't scare most people, anymore.
I would say that, and this is going to get me into some hot water with somebody (as if that bothered me), the zombie craze is a metaphor for immigration. Look at the rhetoric of the nativists: Immigrants are going to destroy our culture by undermining it. They are going to supplant our language, "Para Espanol, oprima dos.". They are going to "infect" our children with their food tastes, their music, their dress, and their attitudes along with "infecting" us all with their language. The result will be the extermination of humanity and its replacement with a subhuman (non-Anglo) existence. Unlike the Cold War invasions, the zombie plague starts small, a little trickle, but then it spreads, and from across the countryside come ever more and more of them, until the last remaining pure humans are holed up in gated communities, shooting down anyone who walks differently.
Of course, nativism has been with the USA since the USA was founded, when the rule was that only "Englishmen" were true Americans--the Irish, for example, were a different race, not really white and genetically unsuitable for American citizenship. However, fear of invasion is also very old for the USA. What matters is whether a specific fear is very widespread in general cultural consciousness.
What is the current zombie craze a metaphor for?
Not "terrorism", because, while insidious, terrorism does not have the "infectious" element. People killed by terrorists do not, themselves, become terrorists. Metaphors for terrorism would be closer to more recent "bug" movies, where the goal is still extermination of humanity, but by sneaking around and jumping out of holes rather than coming over the hill in a big wave.
Not "AIDS" or "disease". It's too obvious a parallel, and, let's face it, AIDS doesn't scare most people, anymore.
I would say that, and this is going to get me into some hot water with somebody (as if that bothered me), the zombie craze is a metaphor for immigration. Look at the rhetoric of the nativists: Immigrants are going to destroy our culture by undermining it. They are going to supplant our language, "Para Espanol, oprima dos.". They are going to "infect" our children with their food tastes, their music, their dress, and their attitudes along with "infecting" us all with their language. The result will be the extermination of humanity and its replacement with a subhuman (non-Anglo) existence. Unlike the Cold War invasions, the zombie plague starts small, a little trickle, but then it spreads, and from across the countryside come ever more and more of them, until the last remaining pure humans are holed up in gated communities, shooting down anyone who walks differently.
Of course, nativism has been with the USA since the USA was founded, when the rule was that only "Englishmen" were true Americans--the Irish, for example, were a different race, not really white and genetically unsuitable for American citizenship. However, fear of invasion is also very old for the USA. What matters is whether a specific fear is very widespread in general cultural consciousness.
