Passion of the Zombies
So I went and saw Land of the Dead, and let me first say that it did not disappoint. Excellent zombie movie all around - George A. Romero does it again. With that out of the way, I'd like to provide my analysis of the film. If you haven't seen it and don't like spoilers, stop reading. Entirely. Never look at words again.
The thing that stood out most was how the movie paralleled the Bush Administration and our current situation in world politics. It was like a giant, partially decomposed allegory. Let me explain.
The city of Fiddler's Green was representative of the United States (of America). The most basic comparison can be drawn from the stratification of the residents into upper and lower classes, with the upper class exploiting the lower for its own gain (specifically, using the lower class to fight their war). Further, the rich residents of the city wanted to remain totally insulated from the rest of the world while still being able to take whatever they want from said world. This greed has its victims, and when those victims fight back, the rich residents are incredulous, saying that the zombies have "no right" to fight back. ¿Does any of this sound familiar?
With that said, Dennis Hopper's character of Kaufman was obviously representing our resident redneck, President Bush. As the man in charge of Fiddler's Green, his role mirrors that of the president of the United States. And much like our president, Kaufman felt that defending the country was his responsibility alone - not acknowledging the efforts of the lower classes. And his line, "We don't negotiate with terrorists" was a blatant statement of Shrub's idealogy.
The terrorists he was referring to were led by John Lequizombie's character, Cholo. These terrorists very closely matched the Islamic terrorists we are fighting today. Cholo threatened to "go Jihad" on Fiddler's Green if he didn't get what he wanted. Why else would Romero use the Islamic term "Jihad" if not to invite the comparison? And a less obvious similarity, pointed out by my genius girlfriend, is that the terrorists used weapons supplied by Fiddler's Green (Dead Reckoning) against Fiddler's Green. ¿Didn't the same thing happen with both Hussein and bin Laden?
So with all these similarities, what is George A. Romero trying to say? What kind of warning is this movie meant to offer? To me, it seems quite obvious. The US is distracted by terrorists around the world. Terrorists are spending their time attacking the US and other countries. With each side focusing their attention on the other, both factions are ignoring the real menace. A menace which threatens the world and the future of humanity as a whole. That menace: zombies.
The thing that stood out most was how the movie paralleled the Bush Administration and our current situation in world politics. It was like a giant, partially decomposed allegory. Let me explain.
The city of Fiddler's Green was representative of the United States (of America). The most basic comparison can be drawn from the stratification of the residents into upper and lower classes, with the upper class exploiting the lower for its own gain (specifically, using the lower class to fight their war). Further, the rich residents of the city wanted to remain totally insulated from the rest of the world while still being able to take whatever they want from said world. This greed has its victims, and when those victims fight back, the rich residents are incredulous, saying that the zombies have "no right" to fight back. ¿Does any of this sound familiar?
With that said, Dennis Hopper's character of Kaufman was obviously representing our resident redneck, President Bush. As the man in charge of Fiddler's Green, his role mirrors that of the president of the United States. And much like our president, Kaufman felt that defending the country was his responsibility alone - not acknowledging the efforts of the lower classes. And his line, "We don't negotiate with terrorists" was a blatant statement of Shrub's idealogy.
The terrorists he was referring to were led by John Lequizombie's character, Cholo. These terrorists very closely matched the Islamic terrorists we are fighting today. Cholo threatened to "go Jihad" on Fiddler's Green if he didn't get what he wanted. Why else would Romero use the Islamic term "Jihad" if not to invite the comparison? And a less obvious similarity, pointed out by my genius girlfriend, is that the terrorists used weapons supplied by Fiddler's Green (Dead Reckoning) against Fiddler's Green. ¿Didn't the same thing happen with both Hussein and bin Laden?
So with all these similarities, what is George A. Romero trying to say? What kind of warning is this movie meant to offer? To me, it seems quite obvious. The US is distracted by terrorists around the world. Terrorists are spending their time attacking the US and other countries. With each side focusing their attention on the other, both factions are ignoring the real menace. A menace which threatens the world and the future of humanity as a whole. That menace: zombies.
posted by Montgomery at 5:53 PM
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