random zombies – banks, governments, insurers, pensions, journalism, ballerina, ants
A few days ago, this humor piece JOHN CARLSON: Hint to Hollywood: Enough with the zombies already wonders if zombies are “supposed to be cool? [and] If so, cool by whose definition?” and he argues he can’t understand it. Then he provides the answer in his final sentence: “They creep [us] out big time”.
But that’s really it, they are scary, and they reveal our fears about a lot of other things. And despite Carlson’s plea, zombies don’t seem to be going away anytime soon — and if they do it will be because they have become meaningless empty floating signifier for every part of Western Civilization:
See for example just today:
“government staffed with over-the-hill zombies” – “Zombie government”
“zombie insurers” and “pension zombies” –
“Attack of the pension zombies: How dead insurance funds are holding your life savings hostage”
“idea that negative ads work” zombie – “Zombie Journalism: Rerunning the 2004 campaign”
“zombie voters” – “Eugene Robinson | Republican war on voting fraud is a witch hunt”
And even the Wall Street Journal is referring to “zombie banks” in “Bubba’s History Lesson” by James Freeman
And see also, a cosmetic color named Zombie Ballerina
And finally, a parasite may be the key to fighting off the zombies….at least in the case of ophiocordyceps unilateralis – surely more about zombie ants in the future
If zombies represent our fears and we as a society are becoming desensitized to zombies through over exposure, now embracing them as something “cool”, does that mean we are also embracing or becoming desensitized to the things they represent? Isn’t that as bad as if they just went away?
thanks for the comment, it’s a good question. I will have to think more about it.