zombies are not the only Walking Dead
what do they (“they” defined as that shadowy globe controlling organization) know that you don’t?
you are warned…
we head into Easter weekend with our thinking through the course of events that led to His rising, and it’s anniversary Sunday. we understand He sacrificed his mortal body so He could be a great example of our collective, and greater potential. so, there is always that hope.
meanwhile… and, possibly grimly at the other end of the spectrum…
what do they (“they” defined as that shadowy globe controlling organization) know that you don’t [the secret series: in pursuit of They]?
so… the AMC television show, “The Walking Dead“ is great.
not the flesh-eating monsters that eerily represent their prior existence… the show, itself.
better still, is the not less than brilliant and far-flung World War Z – by Max Brooks. NOTE: go with the Audiobook. trust me on that one. do it!
mind you, the zombie theme remains a consistent favorite for TV and movie fans and in a few months the mother of all flicks in the genre – Brad Pitt’s World War Z - will hit theaters.
Pitt’s version of World War Z is more of an abomination than the ghouls themselves portrayed in his movie. in fact, the trailer makes me think in terms of “dead man walking”. In the film, Pitt portrays a United Nations crisis specialist battling a deadly zombie-creating pandemic in a bid to save humanity.
“The book focused on slow zombies. We chose to be more dynamic in that we wanted to base all of this on science. So it’s ‘What if we had them move like ants? Or a swarm of bees? Or birds or a school of fish that’s being chased?’ One of the first [questions] we asked was how to portray the zombies and how to do it differently because it’s been done so many times and been done pretty damn well. “This unprecedented threat comes along, and it’s going to end everything and everybody unless someone comes up with an answer. The interesting thing is how different those answers are and the way those choices lead to power shifts and life-and-death consequences.” – Brad Pitt
that seems reasonable, I suppose. however, I wish he had made creative changes, as in license, with another story-line. In my view, Brook’s effort is sublime.
Max Brooks created a narrative story about society and the genuine human condition as it evolved through a historical event later known as “the Crisis”. the “Zombie War” came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, travels across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. he recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.
however, Pitt makes the movie about the narrator himself. he completely lost the point of pathos that Brooks ingeniously engineered.
that said, where the two classic efforts vitally differ from other zombie faire is in the ultimate message. what is both cool and noteworthy through “The Walking Dead” and World War Z is how they manage to make zombies the back-story.
clever.
so are the efforts of…
the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response Zombie Preparedness
what do they (“they” defined as that shadowy globe controlling organization) know that you don’t?
in any event, I believe this is about the devolution of man or humankind when faced with the unimaginable. while some people rise up – just not as the reanimated dead [sic] – most others channel the abyss and literally lose their humanity through endless examples of depravity. they exchange their souls for a kind of survival. they lose their way of life, and become literal dead men walking.
as most of you know, and now even more of you do, I coach youth Lacrosse. These kids are fifteen, fourteen and thirteen. they love zombie stuff. they eat it up. seriously. and, they would think me saying that was funny. hell… my wife would roll her eyes (so would both of my daughters), but the lads think their coach is hilarious. in any event, one of our assistant coaches, Jake, is a star on the reigning state high schiool championship Lacrosse team. we were discussing Dawn of the Dead, one of the zombie-fan-nation favorites al-la George Ramirez, himself. but, he had to make the point that if the zombie apocalypse came about he would forget the mall and head straight for Home Depot. “there is noting you can’t do once you have control of Home Depot“. You have all the tools (they can be weapons) you need. they even have hydroponics”.
absolute genius. there is hope for the latest generation yet. they are full of life, hope and promise.
let’s be grateful this weekend, for what we have, and can have. and, don’t be surprised if you see me strolling purposefully around Home Depot taking careful notes that have nothing to do with finishing basements.
by the way… remember what Hemingway said, “you can always defend Spain”.
peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.
brian patrick cork
Special NOTE: Brooks is also the author of the determinedly straight-faced parody The Zombie Survival Guide (2003).
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- better Safe than hypocritical
- Walking In Circles
- Movies, Life and Stuff
- arbiter of the Abacus
- singing to the end with the Queen of spain
- 2012 and the World goes Round
- brian’s new WHEELS (and osama bin laden is dead)
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