Comments | mimicucumber: How and why things are popular

mimicucumber

How and why things are popular

Jan 13, 2012 15:49

In a 2008 essay that I still refer to because I am too lazy to read new things, Rana Dasgupta speaks of the 'brick wall of the imagination' in reference to the unceasing trend for disaster movies. In discussing the two versions of The Time Machine, he notes how the newer version cannot imagine a future for us or a moral order in which things could ( Read more... )

vampires, culture, zombies, ethics, werewolves

Comments 8

springheel_jack January 13 2012, 14:26:26 UTC

I don't get the zombie thing either. At first I assumed it was just to kill them. Aggressive impulses. But then people started seeming to want to be zombies, zombie--walks, etc, and I became confused.

mimicucumber January 13 2012, 14:31:24 UTC

Yeah. Maybe to provide something that it is merciful to be brutal towards. As for being them, yeah I dunno. I don't think people desire to be them - that's just a laugh, a public generosity, like volunteering to be the 'indian' in a game of cowboys and indians.

_cherryvanilla_ January 13 2012, 18:27:40 UTC

Zombies are popular because they are stupid and funny. End of.

I'm sad to hear your life is falling apart :(

fwing January 13 2012, 22:14:49 UTC

I enjoyed this a lot. Not the part about shit happening in your life. Virtual hug :(

bangalorian January 14 2012, 00:25:05 UTC

Zombies: I enjoy the films because it's constant action and tension and occasional comedy moments. As for the zombie mobs, it's just fun(ny), I think.

Anyway: this link won't tell you why zombie films are popular, but it is an excellent essay about how zombie films reflect political philosophies:

http://sites.williams.edu/cthorne/articles/the-running-of-the-dead-part-1/

(I know it sounds dull, but it's really interesting.)

mimicucumber January 19 2012, 20:34:47 UTC

Reading - this looks fascinating, thanks!

sabotabby January 14 2012, 01:01:39 UTC

I'm sorry to hear that things are shit. I enjoyed the hell out of this post, though. I'll have to read that essay-it sounds up my alley.

Somewhere I have a post about the appeal of vampires. Which is not an appeal that I've related to, personally, since I was a teenager (I loved Buffy, loathed Anne Rice novels, which were the original source of the sparkly fangless crap that passes for vampires these days ( ... )

mimicucumber January 19 2012, 20:37:45 UTC

most zombie films do have this undercurrent of human networks vs. consumer capitalism (hence the frequency of mall settings).
That's pretty interesting. I can also imagine the appeal to basic aggression. But I definitely hadn't reflected on the flipside of the phenomenon, that it enables a fantasy of a certain type of community. I mean, I have post apocalyptic fantasies all the time (but ones where life is actually mostly livable, not The Road-style)
Thanks for the really considered answer!