I have always loved zombies. As a little girl in the 1950’s, I was expected to like romantic stories in which Prince Charming rescued the sweet and demure princess. Instead (probably due to having two older brothers and a live-in grandfather who was named after Edgar Allan Poe) I loved gruesome tales. I can remember drifting off to sleep as my grandfather read me The Tell-Tale Heart and the Fall of the House of Usher as bedtime stories. My brothers collected Famous Monsters comics, and later Creepy and Eerie. I know the first time I stayed up all night to read a book (at age 9) it was Frankenstein (arguably a type of zombie).
So, even though my reading tastes did expand as I grew up, it’s no surprise that I have over 100 zombie novels on my Kindle, and read many more in my pre-Kindle days. I was never a huge fan of the movies – sure, I saw Night of the Living Dead, 28 Days and others, but somehow missed The Walking Dead series.
After the November 9th election, I knew I needed something to take my mind off the results. I began watching The Walking Dead from the beginning. I found it to be cathartic, and after each episode I could say to myself “It could be worse. At least we aren’t dealing with ravenous flesh-eating zombies.”
Well, after the first week (and it’s not even Friday yet) of the Trump “Presidency” it dawned on me that we might as well be. Characteristics of zombies and the zombie apocalypse include: an overwhelming desire to consume and a mindless attraction to the desired object (living flesh), a rapid spread through contact with other zombies, and disregard for self-harm (zombies seem to walk straight into pits or impale themselves on sharp sticks).
Am I about to compare Trump supporters (and most Republicans) to zombies? You bet.
An overwhelming desire to consume – I think this is part of the whole “Trump exemplifies what poor people think rich people should act like” problem. It’s really not all Trump’s fault, our consumer culture has created a monster – just check out Wal-Mart on any “Black Friday.” It does explain why so many people were taken in by his entire shtick – just as many were taken in and lost all their saving to Trump University. There’s no logic, it’s just unreasoning need. “I want what he has.”
A rapid spread through contact with other zombies – Faux news, Rush and his ilk, Steve Bannon, etc. The more time people spend with others who spout the lies, hatred, misogyny, racism, etc. of “President” Trump, the more they are infected, and the more likely they are to infect or harm others.
Disregard for self-harm – this one really upsets me. Take the ACA for example. Even people who did realize that the ACA and Obamacare were the same thing (and there were definitely those who did not) voted for Trump and other Republicans who have vowed to destroy it. Nice job impaling yourselves on those sticks.
Here’s part of a review of the movie World War Z written by Kallie Plagge in The Daily Californian in June of 2013:
Popular culture has become undeniably fixated upon the zombie apocalypse phenomenon for a reason: Zombies are the ultimate enemy. They’re frightening, but they all start out as normal humans, and the loss of their humanity renders them pitiable. Their blind lust for living flesh makes them a force to fight against, but their existence is lonely and somewhat sad. … zombies do far more damage psychologically than physically — even if we see characters devoured by a horde, the living always suffer more than the dead.
And to me, that is what is so unacceptable about the entire situation. The entire world will suffer because of the Intolerable, rapacious greed of the Trump, his Cabinet, the Republican Congress and (I shudder to think) an eventual majority right-wing Supreme Court.
Of course, what is so gripping about the Walking Dead is how the surviving humans react to the destruction of everything they once held dear. Even when their most beloved are eaten alive, those remaining find the strength to go on, and fight back. Which is why we need to do the same. It’s the people who see reality who are most likely to survive.
Those who keep telling themselves, with unrealistic optimism, that “it’s not that bad, the Republicans zombies won’t really get me” will be eaten alive. Resist!
