Zombie Cliche Lookout: There Are No Sides
Of course, there are always sides, even when people should try to unite and cooperate in order to survive the zombie apocalypse. People are petty. They hold grudges. They’re selfish. They crave power. They’re mistrustful and biased. These, and many other human frailties put us at a distinct disadvantage against the zombies, who don’t have to worry about infighting.
Thankfully, people can turn this around if they’re able to spot the problem and work against their baser instincts. That means teaming up with people you might not like. It might meaning cooperating with people you outright hate. That said, there are certainly limits here. If you can’t trust a person, no matter how much you might like them, you simply cannot work with them if there’s no one else there to back you up.
About this Episode:
This is a situation where I can easily see both sides of the argument. Cheryl did what she could, although you can argue that Stewart should have been able to save himself. On the other hand, if I was in Inez’s shoes, I would definitely feel resentful that my friend was infected rather than someone I barely knew. She’s also a reporter, which means she’s trained to be looking at potential ulterior motives everywhere.
Discussion Question:
We got today’s discussion question from BrickVoid: Do you think zombies should ignore dangers people would ignore if it would mean they might chase down someone who might not ordinarily get chased down during a crisis?
Since this isn’t my question, I’m going to take a crack at answering it. I like my zombies good and stupid, so I see them completely ignoring any and all hazards in their way. Not because they choose to focus more on potential prey, but simply because they lack the intellect to comprehend a potential danger.
It’s going to take a while before the realization sinks into Inez’s head enough to penetrate that reporter mentality she has firmly entrenched in her mind. Hopefully within the next episode or two! 😀
Hah, I suppose we’ll see how quickly she comes around, if at all.
Regarding my discussion question, and Dave’s answer: Does that mean a zombie would risk taking damage if it could see that it would be an obstacle in it’s path towards it’s victim? For instance the zombie sees a victim it might be able to get to but there’s a fiery wreck of a car burning fiercely with flames and heat that’s enough to kill a zombie going right across it’s path. For this example’s sake, let’s say this wounded victim is trying to take cover where they are and shelter themselves from zombie attacks until their friends can deal with them. Also, the zombie’s got no other visible paths to this victim other than the one that takes it too close to the fire. So will it just dumbly burn itself or might it consider looking for an easier target, and if so, in what way would this be triggered from the zombie’s perspective?
I think it would burn. It sees a victim and only one path to get to it. The zombie’s only motivation is the need to feed, so it goes after food.
In TWD, they will walk straight ahead, even if it means impaling themselves or catching fire. I suppose it’s possible that they lack even the animal intelligence of, say, a squirrel, but I’d like to see them slightly smarter than that, even if they are incapable of slightly more complex reasoning. For instance, in the example BrickVoid gives, I’d like a story where the zombie doesn’t charge through the fire, but rather continues pacing around it, keeping the prey in sight, but not “getting it” that there’s no safe path no matter how many times it walks around/past the obvious hazard. Of course, the benefit is that the zombie has all the time in the world, so, eventually, the fire will burn itself out and the zombie will find the passage for which it was looking.
I think that’s a very workable solution in zombie stories too. They’re still not smart, but have slightly developed self-preservation instincts.
This weeks question makes me think of that scene in the remake of days of the dead,(Don’t read ahead if you haven’t see it) where that beefed up zombie picks up and holds the propane tank with the flare tapped on it over his head(You can read again) I felt that was just so stupid and hilarious. So yeah I say if you’re going for a bit of light-hearted comedy with your zombie story then having your zombie hurt themselves can help. Also I’ve to say I like both smart and dumb zombies, but I prefer dumb ones. So with that, I do feel they would hurt themselves, but only to get at prey.
Every time I see that it reminds me of the Orc with the torch from The Two Towers.
Also, that was the Dawn of the Dead remake. The Day of the Dead remake should be watched by no one.
Damnnnnnnn Cheryl 😛
I read that in my very best 1990s Martin Lawyence voice. It was glorious.
Oh right, yeah I agree with you there on the Day of the Dead remake. I heard Romaro is working on the last dead film, Survival of the Dead. Kind of looking forward to it.
Survival of the Dead came out a few years ago. It was a sequel to Diary of the Dead, and it was awful too.