Zombie Cliche Lookout: On Your Own?
Conventional wisdom holds that there’s strength in numbers, and that wisdom should certainly hold true in the zombie apocalypse. Of course, the inverse would also be true: being on your own makes you particularly weak. Being a sole survivor has a sort of romanticism about it. It’s something that a lot of people daydream about without ever thinking about what it actually means.
Being a sole survivor means that you’ve got no one else to count on. Everything from getting a good night’s sleep to being able to relieve yourself comes at a tremendous risk. Never mind what happens if you managed to get sick or injured. That weakness is something other survivors could use against you as well. They could take the obvious route and just overwhelm you, but that could also play on the fears that would come with being alone in the zombie wasteland. They could coax you into joining them or helping them out, knowing that refusing would be suicide.
About this Episode:
I’ll have to remember in the future not to use too many characters with baseball hats. They’re quite nice for casting a shadow over the character’s face, but they also limit the available shooting angles. You can basically photograph them at eye level or below. Anything high obscures their face.
Discussion Question: Macho Characters
I meant to use this question in the last comic, but it slipped my mind for whatever reason. As we’ve discussed many times before, zombie and other genre stories tend to make liberal use of character archetypes. This made BrickVoid wonder how the traditional “manly-man” macho stereotype would actually fare in a zombie survival situation. Will their gung ho assertiveness be a boon, or put them in jeopardy? Will they be able to work well with a mixed group of people, or will they upset the balance of the group by being too insistent and impetuous?
“Just passing through.” Wouldn’t be a pair of bank robbers who don’t particularly care who they have to kill off in order to find somewhere safe, would they, by any chance? 😀
I’m interested to see if Stewart decides to tell them about where he and his friends are, because these two sound mighty suspicious. One doesn’t normally wear sporting attire in a zombie apocalypse. I’d think that once you’ve been in an apocalypse scenario of any kind for a length of time, the lack of opportunities to maintain it properly should make it look rather ragged and torn. 😀
Yes indeed, what will Stewart say to them?
Concerning the caps; I don’t think this will be too much of a problem if you don’t change heads all too much. Nothing much changes in the expression of the minifigs so if you got one panel were the face shows, You can figure out the rest.
Besides, if necessary, it could help you get a sinister feeling if you don’t exactly know the expression… or you could use that to mislead readers… (in a good way 😉 )
Excellent points, FL.
Machos would not be widely respected by the members of the group, because they hold themselves so high above others. They would probably be killed by zombies because they underestimated their numbers, or just pick up a 12 gauge and be all; “I can take on the world”.
As for Micheal and Joy, I think a lot more will become clear once Dave has posted bios on the site, though the ambiguity is very nice and helps the story.
Good thoughts on the macho people.
As far as bios are concerned, I’m not going to post those right away.
The machos would die off quickly because of overconfidence. They would throw a few cans of spam, a flashlight and some shotgun shells in a backpack, then pick up their 12-gauge and think they could do anything and take on anyone.
That seems to be the consensus view at the moment.
I think the (most) macho’s would drop their act quickly (after realising it’s really a ZA) because there will be no social need for being a macho in the beginning and they need to focus all their attention on the Z’s.
They might surprise you all… and survive 🙂
So your thought is that the macho this is an act, for lack of a better word?
Depends on context. Most of the ‘macho’ dudes I’ve interacted with are fairly intelligent and sensitive. The macho aspect generally is a defense mechanism. Some people see the world as threatening and lash out, some see the world as threatening and try to be friendly, like myself. Others put on a tough-guy act to intimidate the world. It just depends on the individual.
I tend to think of “Macho” as an affectation. I’ve known some real tough guys, and they don’t put on a show of it.
Well of course. But again, context.
Always.
Yes I do. I think being a macho is (in most cases) a sort of coping-device / front / act and when it doesn’t work anymore… you need to loose the behavior or suffer the consequences.
I like this. That coping mechanism could be applied to lots of stuff, including social concerns.
Forces of habit. Larger group, hot / smart survivor, etc… Let the storm cauldron turn & bubble.
Oh, and by the way, Dave, while you forgot to capitalize the ‘V’ in my username from this comments system when you inserted it into the text, this page is unofficially 99.99% error free! 😀
Oops, fixed that.
Thinking we need a clarification of “macho man”. I have three. NOTE:While I use the term “man” I am referring to both male and female, straight and gay, any race, any creed because I have met alot of people who fit these types)
First is the real “macho man”. I worked with many of these people in the military. Our elite units (Special Forces, Ranger, Delta) are full of them and the number one requirement is that they get along with everyone even the enemy when needed. They will be fine. Seek them out and hope they take you in.
Second is “wannabe macho men”. Don’t think I need to go into a long explanation here. These are the ones who are going to not only take themselves down but everyone else around them. One hint, if your new companion has fifteen weapons on their person but you have to show them how to load them, get away from this macho man very quickly.
Third is “The Macho Man Randy Savage” He will be elected Prime Minister of the New Earth and personally lead the retaking of the planet. Follow everything me and his Secretary of State Chuck Norris say and you will be fine.
Hah, if on Randy Savage was still with us.
Don’t be fooled. Prime Minister Savage and Secretary of Beat the Zeds Down Elvis are at the former NORAD bunker preparing for the coming of the Zeds.
Hah!