Just to add a few points to what has already been said. (1) One position that one could take with respect to zombies is what I would call the "dog with rabies or maddog defense". Rabies is a good analogy if one take the "zombies produced by infection" viewpoint as rabies attacks the brain, produces significant changes in behavior, and is transmitted through bites (acceding to Wikipedia [yadda-yadda] about 97% of human rabies cases are based on dog bites; see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabies ) Given the immediate danger posed by a rabid animal, the best strategy is to contain the animal or killing it on sight (I'm reminded of Atticus Finch killing the rabid dog in the movie version of "To Kill a Mockingbird" -- he took no pleasure in it but it was something that had to be done). So, one can justify killing of zombies on public health grounds though this might not explain the attitude of the person doing the killing.
(2) I was a little confused by the original post on the "inexplicable pleasure of killing zombies" especially since the inspiration for the post was the series "The Walking Dead". The main character in the series, sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes, does kill zombies but he doesn't do it out of bloodlust or a sense of vengeance or the attitude that the only good zombie is a dead zombie. I believe he still sees the humanity in the zombies but, like the rabid dog, has to put down the zombies because of the immediate danger they pose. Consider the first scene in the first episode of the series, I quote from the episode summary on the AMC website (see: http://www.amctv.com/originals/The-Walking-Dead/episode-101 ) |On a deserted road, Sheriff's Deputy Rick Grimes pulls his police |cruiser past overturned cars to a gas station. Vehicles filled with |dead bodies litter the grounds; a sign hanging nearby declares "No Gas." | |As Rick searches, he glimpses a little girl and calls to her. Her lips |and right cheek have been torn away, blood dripping. She starts |toward Rick, growling. As she approaches, Rick draws his gun |and shoots her in the head. This description does not adequately represent the scene. Rick initially sees the child's feet in bunny slippers by looking below one of the cars. She picks up a soiled teddy bear. She walks away with her back to the viewer as Rick calls to her, with the tone of voice that perhaps he has come across someone who has escaped infection. She turns around and Rick sees that she is a child zombie; he has a facial expression that might be interpreted as "Oh God, no!" As she starts to run to him it is clear that he really has only one option but it is not one that he relishes. There is emotional pain in having to perform this act but it is also an act of mercy, to put the child out of her misery. I think this first scene is an acid test for the viewer: if you can stand watching a child zombie getting shot in the head, you can probably stand everything else in this series. There are terrible things that have happened and will have to be done, but Rick Grimes will do what he needs to do with humanity and compassion. This might be best shown in the scene where Rick, after being nursed to health by Morgan and his son, looks for a zombie he encountered before he met Morgan. It was a miserable creature who had had the bottom half of their body torn off and now doomed to crawl on the ground until it dies from starvation -- the real horror is the realization that no matter how mangled a zombie's body may be, they won't be dead until their brain is destroyed. Quoting from the AMC website: |Rick returns to the park where he found the legless walker. "I'm |sorry this happened to you," he says, shooting her in the head. Rick represents the antithesis of the person who takes "inexplicable pleasure in killing zombies". Daryl and his brother Merle Dixon might take such pleasure killing zombies but the other characters in the series seem to do it because they have to, just like putting down a rabid dog. But, because we are talking about humans here, it is also a small act of mercy. Of course, such points might be lost when involved in a kill crazy frenzy when attacked by a large group of "walkers". So, this is why I was puzzled by the statement of "inexplicable pleasure of killing zombies". This might be true in other films or media but I don't really think it is supported by "The Walking Dead". (3) While browsing in bookstores I've become aware that there is a new genre of fiction, that is, taking classic novels or characters and putting them into a horror context. Of relevance here is "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" (available on Amazon along with a lot of other books on zombies, many on how to survive the coming zombie apocalypse); see: http://www.amazon.com/Pride-Prejudice-Zombies-Classic-Ultraviolent/dp/1594743347/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293205750&sr=1-14 Another title in this genre is "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" but I digress. Since I don't read books about zombies, I don't how they are presented in print. Perhaps there is where one would find people who take "inexplicable pleasure in killing zombies". Maybe not. But I think it is only a matter of time before some wag publishes "B.F. Skinner and U.S. Zombie Project": after Skinner's work on Project Pigeon, he is asked by the military to supervise a project using zombies to counter the Nazi program to develop super-Aryan Nazi zombies. Can "Fred" discover the process of creating zombies and then use behavior modification to make them controllable engines of destruction? Perhaps, but does this project plant the seeds of the ultimate zombie apocalypse decades later when the U.S. military's secret zombie projects fall out of control and unleashes death and destruction on those who would use the undead in such unwise ways? Tune in next week. -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu ----------------------Original Message-------------------------------- On Fri, 24 Dec 2010 04:24:00 -0800, Michael Britt wrote: Given the relative lack of response over my request for ideas regarding zombies, I shall conclude that it may be only me and Mike Palij who find the topic fascinating (either that or everyone is understandably busy). At any rate, I did a lot more "noodling" on the topic and came up with a list of 6 reasons why we like to see zombies get killed. I attribute 2 of them to Mike P. Here's my list: 6 Psychological Reasons Why We Like To Kill Zombies Freud: we all have an innate aggressive drive, so killing zombies allows for that instinct to express itself. Evolution: We all seem to be fascinated with dead things (dead bugs, dead animals on the side of the road), and when you hear about someone dying you always want to know why and, admit it, you wonder a bit if that’s something you might be susceptible to. Death both scares and fascinates us. as we involved, if you weren’t curious about why other creatures died you probably didn’t survive yourself. Curiousity about death is probably built into us Social Roles: Every day we have to restrain ourselves from expressing our true emotions. Perhaps our desire to kill zombies is an expression of our desire to break out of our roles for just a short while and to express (especially angry) feelings we normally must keep inside. >From Mike P: Just World Belief: the undead are clearly the bad guys and they >deserve to die >From Mike P: Fear of Scientific progression: (ex: nuclear bombs Godzilla) Terror Management: zombies are reminders of our own mortality which we don’t want to be reminded of, so we kill them in a symbolic way of overcoming death. I vote for #3. Anyway, a little bit of fun. http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2010/12/episode-138-zombies-6-reasons-why-are-we-so-fascinated-by-them/ Happy Holidays TiPSters! --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=7466 or send a blank email to leave-7466-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
