Friday, January 21, 2011

Zombocalypse





Mami Athena used to be the one who gets hysterical whenever a person talks about the undead. She's an ardent believer, and even claims that a reanimated corpse scares her more than the appearance of ghosts.

Her nerd factor about the subject is unbelievable: she knows all the zombie movies directed by George Romero; she reads literature that centers around Zombie Apocalypse. (World War Z, Zombie Survivalist Guide, etc.) Whenever we take our office break and decides to stroll around the neighborhood, she knows if a house could hold out against a zombie onslaught or not.

For a long time, I was a quiet witness to the Patroness' fancy. When she and her cohorts talk about the subject, I fill my thoughts with images from Plants and Zombies. Deception plays a role behind the apathy. I may not be a believer but the nerd in me tries to explain the concept behind the living dead.  

From the science point of view, which I saw in National Geographic, the idea of a reanimated corpse walking among the living came from Haiti. They say a sorcerer called "bokor" hypnotizes the victim. When the helpless soul offers no resistance, the bokor makes a small cut on the person's skin. Toxins in the form of powder is sprinkled around the wound. It induces death-like state on the victim.   

With the family informed of the victim's passing, funeral preparations lead to a hasty burial. It only takes three days to create a Hatian Zombie. After the mourning had passed over, the bokor will secretly dig his victim. He will then reanimate the creature, who is now partially paralyzed due to toxin and then makes him believe that he is already dead. 

In Romero's canon, a bite from a zombie infects the victim. The organs cease to function while the brain retains control of the muscles. The spread of such infection triggers a global epidemic. The struggle for humanity to exist with the undead driving them to extinction became the inspiration for many zombie movies.    



Despite my exposure to the culture, my nerdy fixation never got hold of the idea "of the undead bringing down the living."  I saw the Dawn of the Dead remake, but instead of getting terrified of being chased by living corpses, I pirated Richard Cheese's lounge version of Down with the Sickness. I was teary eyed after watching I Am Legend, but instead of embracing the idea of a viral outbreak turning the planet into a world of the undead, I began downloading Reggae songs from the Internet.

It  was only when Baabaa accidentally (?) included some episodes of  the Walking Dead did I finally take notice.  The episodes were bundled together with Battlestar Galactica, which I asked originally. I watched the pilot episode at past midnight. Despite the gory details and excellent treatment of the story, sleep came without a hitch.



the bicycle girl


In my dreams however came the staggering corpses. I wasn't scared, really, but then and there did I realize,

I am already hooked.
 





11 comments:

Carlo said...

ang pinaka takot ko sa zombies pag lumalabas sa binatan tapos nanghahabol. a la resident evil.

claudiopoi said...

five things:

1. The Haitian zombie, I think, was merely made to appear as though it were the closest thing to proving that zombies exist, because there has been no sufficient matter yet that can affirm their existence.

but i think their 'zombie' needs to be juxtaposed with the history of haiti and the culture of its people. (something which the documentary did, yung peasants chenes, etc.)

2. george romero is the personification of everything hollywood. the usual blah when it comes to commercialization and hollywood.

3. i cried in i am legend, because i felt more sad than scared. (especially yung sa aso incident, shet yun)

4. i think zombies are projections of the human mind. they constitute everything bad and smelly and stenchy about our race. dati ko pang theory yan, hayskul pa ata and im sticking to that. hehe.

5. pasenxia, at napahaba ang comment ko. kasi naman, i've watched that docu thrice na ata! hehe. super love!

red the mod said...

It boils down to immortality, creating an alternate scenario that rationalizes the inefficacy of this dream. To live forever, in a hollow shell mindless and forever-starved. It modern society's method of forcing unpalatability on an idea that has been the unattainable until now.

Anonymous said...

The photo is actually that of the "Bicycle Girl", one of the first zombies encountered by the protagonist, Rick Grimes.

The Walking Dead TV Series is actually based on the comicbook series of the same title.

Read the comicbook series and you will get hooked more.

:)

Mugen said...

Anon:

Kainis ka! Yun kaya ang pinaka-lasting image sakin ng TWD! Bicycle girl pala yung pangalan nun! Hehehe.

Sige, will try to ask mami if she has a copy of the comic book.

Red:

I'd rather download the contents of my head in a sort of computer then wait for my new, customized body to be cloned.

We all have ideas of immortality, and btw, zombies die.

Mugen said...

Carlo:

Exciting nga yung mga scenes na may habulan.

Claudiopoi:

Mami Athena thinks that I am Legend deals more with vampiric creatures. However, we have grown used to the idea of neat vampires kaya mas associated yung mga kalaban sa zombies.

Anyway, ganda nung ending ng I am Legend. Kung yung alternate ending ang sinunod nila, the entire movie would be a flop.

Ms. Chuniverse said...

I just finished watching the first 6 episodes of The Walking Dead and i love it!!!

I just love zombie movies. Hihihi!

Bloiggster said...

payn, manunuod na ako ng the walking dead. wala kasi nyan sa jakarta dati eh. first episode lang napanuod ko tapos wala na.

may mga pirated dvds ba everywhere?

Seth said...

Still scares the hell out of me just in case some bioterroristic lab releases such a virus and can make people eat people...

Resident evil is love ^^

Mugen said...

Miss ChuniTech:

Yup, first season yung nabuo mo. Hindi pa ako pinapahiram ni baabaa ng last episode eh. Hehehe.

Bloiggster:

Magdala ng teddy bear habang nanonood ng Walking Dead. Better yet, magsama ng boylet.

Seth:

Watch those movies. Swear, matatanggal ang takot mo. Hehehe.

Haven't seen Resident Evil.

Nimmy said...

28 Weeks Later, and 28 Days Later are super nice zombie movies. kakatakot na nakakaadik na nakakasabik panuorin. heheh