We're Dead!

The first book I asked from the school's interlibrary loan system, Annalee, Newitz's pretend We're Dead: Capitalist Monsters in American Pop Culture, came in and I have to say that I am pretty pleased. The book covers just about every horror movie villain from serial killers to robots. Newitz makes some interesting statements in her writing about society and the use of undead. She explains that the undead are often used to explore race relations in our society. She speaks specifically of Night of the Living Dead, which features a middle class black man, Ben, as the level-headed leader of a group of humans surrounded by flesh-eating zombies. It was rare at the time for a movie to feature a protagonist black male and Night may very well have become the precursor for the 70's era blaxploitation films. Unfortunately, Ben is killed in an ironic death, by white men who think him to be a zombie. These men, wrangling up the dead as if they were hunting prey, conjures the racist white mob like the KKK.

Newitz also makes an interesting relationship between brains and economic wealth. It is true that brains or intelligence often equates to economic freedom and prosperity. A perfect example would be any major Bond villain. They are not feared for muscle, but intelligence and the wealth of men and technology that the villain controls. Yes it seems that intelligence and wealth go hand in hand so what does that mean when zombies crave brains for food? I'll answer that in my research paper but I'll say it has something to do with class and the need for wealth.