# My 2-cents on Zombies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [March 22, 2013, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623 "2013-03-22T12:20:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kneegrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3d9bf3/32.png) [@kneegrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kneegrow)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/21 "2013-03-23T11:20:58Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Sorry, I’m only familiar with the Milla Jovavich set. lucky you, there are still 2 films then, that you haven’t seen! and since Milla is schtupping Paul, she’ll return. \*Resident Evil (2002; Paul W. S. Anderson) Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004;Alexander Witt) Resident Evil: Extinction (2007; Russell Mulcahy) Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010; Paul W. S. Anderson) Resident Evil: Retribution (2012; Paul W. S. Anderson) Resident Evil 6 (2014) \* **animated** \*Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008; Makoto Kamiya) Resident Evil: Damnation (2012; Makoto Kamiya) \* thanks to you, I stumbled on this \*stand-alone short film, Biohazard 4D-Executer (2000). \* which i will watch now.:D:D:):)⭕p ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/22 "2013-03-23T17:41:07Z")
Bzzz. Wrong. The answer is no. 4. > [@](#): > > We need zombies because they are, after a manner of speaking, relatively fresh. Ten years from now, we’ll be talking about something else and asking why the sudden spate. And there’ll be the same after-the-fact “answers” and “explanations” that don’t answer or explain anything. Because it will have just happened. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/23 "2013-03-23T20:55:20Z")
> [@Whammo72](#): > > I believe this all started its major upswing after the release of the video game left 4 dead in 2007 and the 2009 of the movie Zombieland. Nah, those were just riding the wave already well in motion. I think the real upswing was the Dawn of the Dead remake in 04 or maybe 28 Days Later in 02 (even though THERE ARE NO ZOMBIES IN 28 DAYS LATER). ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/24 "2013-03-23T22:50:24Z")
Because all societies eventually break down. I suspect the Germanic hordes looked an awful lot like the zombie apocalypse to the citizens of Rome in 400s and many feel the tremors of the past in the events of today but feel it more socially acceptable to speak of the zombie apocalypse than of the downfall of western civilization. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/25 "2013-03-25T10:34:27Z")
The reason we have so many zombies is because we have too many necromancers. The zombies are just the symptom. What we should really be asking is, where did all of these necromancers come from? My guess is AOL. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/26 "2013-03-25T15:53:06Z")
> [@El\_Famous\_Burrito](#): > > I posit this with the assumption that these “postcolonial considerations” include exploring deserted cities, buildings, countryside, etc. Vampires and werewolves and witches don’t provide for that. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say that zombies have more or less taken the place of nuclear war as the apocalypse-causing-McGuffin in after-the-end type fiction. The idea of an all-out nuclear shooting war between the US and another superpower seems quaint and unrealistic these days, and so there needs to be another way to get all of those cities emptied out. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_Astronaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bad\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/27 "2013-03-25T23:32:46Z")
[QUOTE=Cecil Adams] We’re compelled to wonder: What’s behind it all? Or has the ZA become — one shudders — a self-sustaining meme? [/QUOTE] No Uncle Cecil - the zombie meme cannot sustain itself. It requires a constant supply of BRAINS!!! ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/28 "2013-03-28T15:11:09Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I’m compelled to add my two cents > > I think the popularity of zombies is that they are universally acceptable to kill with violence to the head. There is no moral squeamishness that is associated with killing actual real ‘enemies’ (insert nationality of your choice here). Everyone is ok with killing zombies. > > The other reason is that its fun. THere are funny movies, there are more kudos for accurate shots (headshot!!), everyone can laugh and have a good time. > > The last reason is a bit more socialogical. The increase in interest in preparing for the social and economic collapse of society is directly correlated to the interest in Zombies (no citation given). The (perceived) needed skillset, talents, and activities associated with the zombie apocalypse are virtually identical to those perceived to be needed to survive the economic/social apocalypse. Watch the zombie TV shows…they deal with issues that are identical to what the viewers believe to be issues of the impending economic collapse. > > The zombie apocalypse is just a veiled allusion to the concerns of the economic/social apocalypse. > > Note: I don’t claim to believe the economic/social apocalypse is at hand…or that it will play out like a zombie apocalypse. I’m just making the observation that there are those who believe the scenerio to be true and inevitable. [Adam Baker of HuffPo agrees with you.](http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/adam-baker/zombies-popular-culture-blood-money_b_1573119.html) ---
**Author:** ![kneegrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3d9bf3/32.png) [@kneegrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kneegrow)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/29 "2013-03-28T15:31:32Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > [Adam Baker of HuffPo agrees with you.](http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/adam-baker/zombies-popular-culture-blood-money_b_1573119.html) sigene said it waaaaaay better, huffpo guy was kinda vague. ---
**Author:** ![Maxcat12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Maxcat12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maxcat12)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/30 "2013-04-02T23:14:54Z")
While I agree with much of what was said in the column and in some of these messages, I would only add that the _popularity_ of a zombie apocalypse is because everyone thinks it is survivable! Whereas with plagues, nuclear war or a cataclysmic event; your survival is based on the luck of the draw. Zombies are slow, relatively stupid humans; they are easy to kill, outrun and out think! Everyone thinks they would be the hero in such a scenario! There were no “this is my nuclear war survival T-shirt” for sale during the Cold war! ---
**Author:** ![TychaBrahe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ad7895/32.png) [@TychaBrahe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TychaBrahe)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/31 "2013-04-10T21:41:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > This also explains the rise in popularity recently. In the latter half of the twentieth century, we didn’t need zombies for our apocalypse scenarios: We had the very real Soviets. Nowadays, though, while we might still worry about terrorists or small rogue states somehow nuking a city, there’s no one who really has the capability and inclination to nuke us coast-to-coast, so some other threat has to take over for that role. Bryan Suits, who does a weekly talk show about global security issues ([Redirecting...](http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dark-Secret-Place-on-KFI-Los-Angeles/251484178221420)) makes the same connection between zombies and terrorists. Terrorists look like normal people, but they are driven to kill you for reasons we don’t really understand, and no amount of pleading or bartering can protect you. A vampire can be turned away by religious totems (i.e., by faith, by being reverent and good) but a zombie must be killed, and killed violently and messily. (In other words, to deal with the threat, we must become monsters ourselves.) ---
**Author:** ![mfdent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7c8e57/32.png) [@mfdent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mfdent)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/32 "2013-04-17T17:37:52Z")
I have this suspicion, which I cannot prove, that the whole zombie thing started as a derisive riff on mainstream religious end times stories. Starting (as far as I know) with Zoroastrianism, many religious mythologies have stated that at the end of the world, at the time of Final Judgement, people would be raised from the dead. Someone, somewhere, thought about this promise of the dead returning to life as a reward for a well-lived life and thought with a fit of snark: ‘hmm, the dead are reanimated–we’ll all be zombies’. So I think the whole discussion has this element of rubbing it in to the people who would take a fundamentalist tack on these end times myths. And the reason there’s been this dramatic increase in interest more recently is because the whole attention on the idea of an imminent apocalypse came to a head with the noise over 2012 and the Mayan prediction. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/33 "2013-04-17T18:19:19Z")
> [@Maxcat12](#): > > There were no “this is my nuclear war survival T-shirt” for sale during the Cold war! I think perhaps there is an element of recognition of fantasy at work. In other words, the Cold War was a real threat and perceived as a real possibility, whereas the Zombie Apocalypse is largely recognized as being fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/34 "2013-04-18T02:21:16Z")
Why not just assume that it’s real (folklore) zombies amplified to be scarier? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/35 "2013-04-18T18:33:57Z")
Because folklore zombies are now largely recognized to be fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/36 "2013-04-18T23:11:44Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Because folklore zombies are now largely recognized to be fantasy. As opposed to vampires, werewolves, and the like, which are all known to be real? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623/37 "2013-04-19T00:18:00Z")
There has been apocalypse fiction based on genetic-plague versions of vampires (_The Passage_) and for all I know werewolves too. But I guess zombies are more popular because in a sense they’re almost more funny than scary. Their over-the-top repulsive appearance combined with the fact that they’re so stupid and clumsy that they’re only a threat enmasse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-2-cents-on-zombies/653623.md?page=1)