As a human being, I'm deeply sorry for the horrific loss of life in the above case. As an action horror writer, I'm fascinated.
For the record, I don't believe that we're seeing the rise of undead. If we do have an apocalypse, I imagine it's going to be something we've never heard of before; an 'unknown unknown' if I feel like being topical circa 2002. But this does lead me to some interesting questions.
What would it take you to believe that we were in a zombie apocalypse? What about a different form of societal collapse?
How much information/chatter would you need to hear? What kind would be the most persuasive?
At what point do you stop showing up to work? Pack up the car and head for the hills? Convert your dollars into three ounces of gold and a double armful of guns and ammo?
What's your own personal timeline of fear?
When faced with these kinds of questions, I don't know when and what exactly I would do. But one of the things I love about zombies is that whenever we talk about them, we're actually trying to get at something else. In this case, these same sorts of questions could be applied to jews, gays and roma in proto-nazi Germany, to 'intellectuals and bourgeois' during the Khmer Rouge, to any member of a targeted demographic on the eve of genocide.
When do you leave? When do you give up on your old life? And what finally pushes you over the tipping point?
I don't have any definite answers, but right now these are the questions that are fascinating me.
2 comments:
I have to say, John, this is what I've always really liked about you. You take something like this that's gone viral and people are joking about and you spin it into a really fascinating question that actually takes some thought, and you look at the deeper meaning and implications of it. You're always the one to ask "can I ask why you feel that way?" or "okay, but what if..." I've always really admired that about you. I also think that's what pushes you to write (or possibly it's that you ask because you're a writer), and its a big part of why you're good at what you do. Thus endeth the weird comment on the zombie post that doesn't even answer the question.
Aww shucks Blythe. That's very kind of you. And it's ok if you didn't answer the question in your comment because I made a post about zombies that's not really about zombies. :D
Post a Comment