I was watching last night this joyful program called Dead Set (and here), which basically consists of "Big Brother" meets "zombies", when I decided to write this small note.
What else can you find which is so fun, gory, and, at the same time, illustrative of how human psychology works?
Episode 1 does a presentation of the house per se, like one of those big brothers "let's kick the most moron out of the house" night. But, this time, the magical word zombie outbreak (which even has an entry on the wikipedia!!!) comes into play. However, the people from inside the house don't know, and they believe it's a trick played by the big brother to see how they react.
Spoilers aside, I love zombies. I love how, regardless of how many monsters, aliens, zombies, werewolves, zombi-alien-monster combined you throw at us, humans, we will probably end up destroying ourselves. Of course, you have that every day (switch on tv, look at news, receive proof), but it's more fun to watch how zombies (or "aliens", such as the ones from District 9) serve as catalyst for us to start murdering each other.
Plenty of zombie movies show that: 28 days later shows how the survivors are not enjoying themselves with the military (after "I promised them women"). Dawn of the Dead (the 2004 version) shows how teamwork can be fun (playing chess across rooftops, anyone?), whilst at the same time a one-off in a team can lead to its total destruction (more when you talk about zombies!). Going WAY back in time (1968) we find Romero's Night of the Living Dead, in which (SPOILERS HERE) the KKK kills the last survivor of the zombie horde, which happens to be out of the standard white-caucasian-american male. As commented in the documentary Zombiemania, Romero stated that they weren't expecting the sort of controversy from a simple, low budget movie. Of course, who would have imagined in 1968 a black, young male, leading a team of white young men and women to survive the zombie apocalypse? Nobody! And, who would have thought that the KKK would kill the only survivor of that horrific (because of the zombies!) experience? Nobody! This is why that movie is so good. The best part? It's available FOR FREE (and without the need of using dubiously-legal methods!)
Disaster movies, horror movies, zombie movies, big brother, all those are good examples of how people behave in groups when faced, and confronted, with the unknown (and danger!). Who would believe the crazy-looking woman from Dead Set when she enters the Big Brother house covered in blood, screaming "there's one of them outside!", and such and such? Nobody. And then that person, well, doesn't make it to the end of the show. I hope you have learnt the lesson, matey!
Disclaimer: Zombie movies may contain traces of violence, nuts and other bodily parts. Enjoy responsibly.
2 years ago
