Papa’s Basement 11-8-10-The People vs. John Papageorgiou
I learn that there have apparently been several complaints about my show content from what I can only assume is a pack of cantankerous, sexless old gray hairs. I used […]
A few days ago I finally fired up the two episodes of The Walking Dead I had waiting for me on my DVR. I wasn’t even aware of the show until the night it premiered, when I saw tweet after tweet about it flooding my TweetDeck. (As an aside, doesn’t “flooding my TweetDeck” sounds like a euphemism for some filthy act akin to an Angry Dragon or Cincinnati Bowtie?) I had never seen so many tweets about the same topic all at once, even during the World Series or Super Bowl (in fact, the closest second in terms of Twitter popularity I could think of was probably Sharktopus), and I felt I had to catch the show or I’d be missing out on something meaningful and culturally significant. Well, I watched both episodes that have aired thus far, and I have to say…you guys need to get a life.
I’m not saying The Walking Dead is a bad show at all. It’s acted well enough and the budget is obviously pretty large. It’s just…Christ, do we really need another show or flick about humanity on the brink of survival after a mysterious zombie virus reduces 99.9% of the world’s population to shambling undead?
Out of all of the horror genre’s monsters, the zombie definitely ranks close to the bottom on my list. Because you can only do one type of movie with a zombie: The band of plucky survivors who are trying to keep it together in the face of insurmountable odds. That’s it. There’s a lot of screaming at each other as the stress mounts, always at least one person we come to care about who bites the dust and always a cute chick that everyone wants to raw dog to propagate the human race. I can experience two-thirds of that with a family trip to The Cheesecake Factory as long as the waitress is hot.
So, if you have some spare time and you dig zombies or just want a tv show to dull the pain of your life with, The Walking Dead is a perfectly fine option. Just don’t expect the goddamn undead Sopranos or anything. Zombie Sopranos. Now that’d be a show. “How do you whack that which is already dead?” It practically writes itself.
Tom on November 10, 2010
Agreed. Zombie drama is not high on my list. Its amazing how much material filmmakers can pull out of a group of slow moving, rotting corpses. Then again Joan Rivers still seems to find work.
Mrs Payrez on November 10, 2010
Two zombie movies that go outside of the usual plot:
Highly recommend:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457572/
Kind of “eh”, but somewhat interesting:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765430/
dont sweat the stereo on November 10, 2010
Hi! I follow your twitter feed! I’d just like to say that if you’re going to rag on something like this, you might want to do a little research; I mean, shit. You really put nothing into this.
Last year my girlfriend introduced to the Walking Dead in graphic novel form (because I’m sure with all the research you did maybe you found out that it’s actually a comic book), she had books 1-9, so obviously I was thrilled.
In the same boat as you about Zombies being the low-end of the horror spectrum I was quite skeptical. All I can say, without a million spoilers is: I was dead fucking wrong. All I can say to you is you should read through the comics; they’re easily accessible via bittorrent, so it’s not like you’ll have to invest anything other than a little time into the series.
That being said; I feel that the weak point of Zombie movies or media is that usually it has to end. Either everyone dies, or they ‘escape’ or it just ends. Either way, it’s over. Typically, with this formula most Zombie movies go like this {Introduction of Characters} > {Outbreak} > {Survivors do what they can, lose members along the way} > {Everyone dies, or the main characters ‘escape’} > {Roll credits}. The Walking Dead is relatively genius with the way they deal with this, most people might consider the opening of the Walking Dead in the comic books a page ripped out of 28 Days Later, but I immediately understood /why/ they chose to start it this way. The writer wanted to ignore the initial outbreak, the panic, everyone getting infected & just get onto the part of the story that is actually interesting; what these people have to do to survive.
It’s too bad you’ve given up this soon, you’re going to be missing out on a lot. I know that the show & the comic are paced differently (mostly just for time & filler purposes) but I mean, shit… By the end of this season Ricks son Carl, will have killed Shane. Whoops, spoilers.
So read the comic books, they’re worth the read & slightly more fast paced. Not to mention theres damn near 80 issues by now. Read the series & be amazed; you’ll see every single character undergo major changes physically, emotionally & mentally. It’s not supposed to be for those people who just want to watch a cheap zombie movie for kicks, it’s for people who are actually interested in the aftermath, which to me is where Zombie flicks always fall flat.
Oh & it looks like I wrote a longer article than your own about why you’re wrong; so suck on that, papagorgio.
Busty LaRue on November 10, 2010
@dont sweat: srsly, i’m a nerd/geek/weirdo who masturbates to Ben Templesmith’s art and i think you’re investing way too much into ragging on Papa Bear. it’s his opinion. he’s obviously not into the genre.
that said, i used to love me some zombies (ok, still do) but to be painfully hipster about it, the wave has crested. the thrill of the zombipocalypse is over. time to find a new geek fad.
Nyssa23 on November 10, 2010
Fuck zombies & vampires, I’m waiting for werewolves to make a comeback. What can I say? I dig hairy guys with impulse control problems.
Brian on December 16, 2010
I’ve been a fan of zombies ever since I walked Night of the Living Dead against my parents wishes way back at the tender age of 7. Scared the hell out of me then and is still one of my favorite movies.
I agree, the plots are relatively limited. But, if the story is crafted by a master – say, George Romero – the possibilities are limitless. For example:
Night of the Living Dead – this was metaphor for the anti-Vietnam and civil rights movements. The film was angry. Lots of black vs. white venom. Hell, the lead character, Ben, who was black, smacks a white bitch.
Dawn of the Dead (the original, not the shitty remake) – The zombies were a metaphor for the dawn of consumerism. They were mindless beings flooding a mall. They didn’t know why they were going there, they just knew that they wanted to be there.
Day of the Dead – The survivors are in living in a military fallout shelter, where the scientists are being controlled by a dictator like band of military folks who want to just blow everything up. I would suspect that was somehow a metaphor for the arms race and our approach to the Cold War.
Land of the Dead – A metaphor for our current economic system of the haves vs. the have nots, and the drastic disparity between the two groups. On one hand you’ve got the haves you live in a heavily guarded penthouse. On the other hand you’ve got the have nots, who do all of the crappy day to day activities that allow the haves to sustain their lavish lifestyle.
Maybe I should be taking all of this stuff literally, and just admit the story is more or less the same throughout the three movies – a band of survivors trying to do what they can to stave off impending doom and being eaten by the undead – but my brrrrraaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnsssssssss won’t let me do it.
PS – I’m a nerd.