When one thinks of the word zombie, they probably associate the term with a flesh eating dead person who shambles the earth looking for something or someone to eat. Nonetheless, I will have to admit that I have often stereotyped people who like zombies as gothic atheists. However, my stereotyped views have changed, as a former coworker of mine is someone who loves zombies and he is not gothic. Actually, his name is Jeff and he is a real down to earth, "normal" family guy, who happens to be infatuated with zombies. From working alongside Jeff, I have learned many different things about zombies and I have learned that zombie movies are often not about zombies. Therefore, I have chosen to conduct a journal article review on an article titled The Idle Proletariat: Dawn of the Dead, Consumer Ideology, and the Loss of Productive Labor.
The article starts out with the four survivors of George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead escaping the pandemonium of Philadelphia via helicopter. While flying in the helicopter, the group discovers an abandoned shopping mall. The mall is presented as a large structure uniquely secluded from the rest of civilization; encircled by the safeguard of a vacant parking lot which is inhabited by slow moving zombies. Thus, the survivors land on the mall and scrutinize the building's amount of safety, and potential supplies offered. Via the skylights, they perceive a contemporary-day shopping mall with fully stocked stores, vast electrical power, and minimal zombies (Bishop, 2010).
Romero then hints at an aspect of the movie as Fran, the only female of the survivors, asks why the zombies are coming to the mall and shambling around. Fran's boyfriend, Stephen, states that the zombies are acting on some type of remembrance or impulse. He then goes on to state that the mall was an important place to the zombies when they were alive. Hence the real focus of Dawn of the Dead, to present Romero's view on modern-day consumer culture (Bishop, 2010).
Romero purposely located the majority of the movie's action in a shopping mall to focus the viewers’ attention on the affiliation between zombies and consumerism. Twentieth-century Americans have come to possess an unquenchable want to acquire, own, and use. Romero reiterates this idea via the zombies; as the zombie's reanimated corpses are so deeply entrenched with consumerism, that they are persistently motivated by the same instincts and desires. Romero's simile is uncomplicated: Americans in the 1970's have become zombie like in that they are servants to the ideals of consumerism-mindlessly wandering to the malls for the impulsive use of possessions (Bishop, 2010).
The movie's focus then shifts from the attacking zombies to the four survivors who take refuge in the higher floors of the mall. The survivors are so ingrained with the culture of consumerism, that they almost seem to forget about the devastated world around them. The survivors become so consumed with material possessions that it ultimately costs all of them their lives. The author of the article then goes on to explain that the zombies are not just a metaphor; the zombies are also the mechanism that exposes the real problem plaguing humankind: persistent consumerism (Bishop, 2010).
Due to the fact that the mall provides the survivors/consumers with all the materials that they could possibly want, they no longer have the need/ability to produce the goods themselves. The purpose of all labor/production is shifted towards pure survival tactics-creating blockades for protection, rummaging the stores for food/clothing, and searching for activities to pass time. The loss of labor reverts the survivors back to a more primitive state, as productive labor is vital for one to achieve a certain level of consciousness and a sense of self awareness (Bishop, 2010).
Obviously, I was way off the mark when I thought that the movie; Dawn of the Dead was strictly about attacking zombies and humanity’s attempt to survive. It is now clearly obvious to me that Romero’s movie is about societies’ obsession with consumerism, and not just about zombies. I think that Romero did an excellent job in presenting his views on America’s struggles with consumerism. Even in the wake of a world that is experiencing pure chaos via a zombie apocalypse, the survivors continued to place their lives in jeopardy due to their focus on consumption instead of survival. Not only does the group become infatuated with consumption, but they lost their ability to produce; which in essence causes them to lose their sense of self as human beings. In conclusion, I agree with both Romero and the author of this article in that society has become so focused in consuming objects that they almost seem zombie like (Bishop, 2010).
References
Bishop, K. (2010). The Idle Proletariat: Dawn of the Dead, Consumer Ideology, and the Loss of Productive Labor. [Electronic version]. Journal of Popular Culture, 43 (2), 234-248. Retrieved January 3, 2011, from Academic Search Complete.
