Zombie Cliche Lookout: Reassurances
I am, once again, stepping outside the zombie sub-genre for this episode’s trope. This one is more at home in action movies, wherein a character or characters are being interrogated, and the interrogator’s motives aren’t terribly clear. Now, it might be that the interrogator has perfectly benign reasons for questioning people, or it may be that he or she has some nefarious plans and needs certain information to move forward. Either way, the interrogator needs the cooperation of the other characters, and that usually means he or she is going to start by offering some sort of reassurance.
Generally speaking, these reassurances do a couple of things. First, they point out that the interrogator is just looking out for the best interests of everyone involved. The idea here is to ensure that the characters being questioned don’t assume any sort of ulterior motives. The other goal of the reassurances is generally to stress that the questioning is going to be just that: questions. The implication being that this isn’t a torture session. Often, the interrogator uses a bit of humor to underline the point, which might later become ironic if torture is indeed applied.
About this Episode:
I’ve had an issue with the last couple of episodes with Stewart just walking around with Michael’s gun. It’s a little strange; it’s not Stewart’s, and he really has no cause to continue using it. It’s also more than a little threatening, which isn’t my intent. Hence, the first two frames of this comic.
Of course, I think this is still pretty in character for Stew. He is, after all, a sixteen year-old boy, and most likely very interested in weapons. At sixteen, I doubt I would put the gun down without being asked.
Discussion Question: Looking for Meaning in Zombie Movies
I’ve recently been reading some books that deconstruct zombie and horror movies to look at the meaning and subtext hidden within. They’ve been very interesting, but it’s made me curious about how often people really do this. Watching a zombie movie (or reading a book, playing a game, etc), do you find yourself breaking down the narrative to look for hidden meanings? How about when those meanings aren’t terribly hidden, like in Romero’s later works? Do these things interest you, or do you find them distracting from the story?
Typo alert: Zombie Cliche Lookout, second paragraph, last sentence: “is torture is indeed” Change bolded word to “if”. 😀
Fixed, thank you!
One might very well wonder why Brent is wandering around with a gun, perhaps they heard the shot on the way back to the cabin and he’s understandably nervous. Or maybe he’s the kind of idiot who would try to help someone inside whilst holding a gun in one hand. Methinks he’s going to have to surrender his firearm to someone he trusts! 😀
Perhaps it makes him feel safer since there’s always the chance of running into zombies.