Introduction When I watched the first episode of The Walking Dead, I remember being completely captivated by everything it had

to offer. It had everything I thought of when I pictured a zombie apocalyptic landscape. The blood, the zombies, the psychological changes in the characters, and the realness it had really had me hooked from the get-go. I chose to observe the show not only because it is my favorite T show, but because movies and media are starting to have a zombie theme more and more. I then realized that after finding out about !zombie viruses! on computers and watching some of "eorge #omero$s zombie movies, that the zombie is not only a scary plausible reality to the viewer but it is also used a metaphor for capitalism in many areas of television.This paper is going to investigates our recent over fascination with zombies and postapocalyptic landscapes in film and also how zombies are used as a metaphors for capitalism.. This is what I found.

Literature Review: Zombie: %mbry and &auro says that a zombie is a slave-like body who ultimately is a metaphor for capitalism. The Walking Dead represents a zombie as a physically functioning although decaying body who is not alive mentally. Walker: In The Walking Dead, the cast of the show gives the term !walker! to the zombie because although it is seemingly alive, the zombie is in fact dead in mind and is 'ust walking around aimlessly. They become rabid when the hear noise and devour any flesh they can smell out. In the T show, they walk with a growl and their skin and organ are decaying if not already e(truding from the body. Capitalism) * way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and

transport products +such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc., are owned by individual people and companies rather than by the government. Fascination of the Zombie in Film: The Walking Dead franchise has rocked the primetime slots of television putting itself in a category of its own. *merica has gone crazy for the popular television show becuse it undoubtedly causes an addicting type of fear in its viewers like nicotine to a cigarette smoker. &auro and %mbry suggest that the idea of death and, more importantly, the fact that the zombie in a sense mocks our mortality is what hooks the viewer. They recall an interview with zombie movie producer "eorge #omero when he was asked what he would do if he gotten bitten by a zombie. -e simply answered that he himself would go out and get bitten by the zombie so he could live forever. That intrigued %mbry and &auro at the fact that death is so scary to some people that they would want to unconciously live forever. Modern Zombie: In today$s society, an actual threat of a zombie apocalypse does e(ist and this is partially due to the heightened awareness made by the rise in zombie media. *llan .ameron says that the modern zombie is the media zombie. -e also references "eorge #omero$s zombie movie series.+/ost of the movies follow the same plot where there is an over taking of zombies and the unaffected group must escape to some town or military base of safety,. .ameron says that role of actual media and news in the movies draws the viewer to get the sense that an actually outbreak could really happen. Zombies and Capitalism: &auro and %mbry propose that the role of a zombie is actually a metaphor for capitalist drone and all it is representing is capitalism in media. They talk about a character named 01uidward in the popular children2s T show,0pongebob. 01uidward2s character is very dramatic, depressed, and always does what he2s told even though he does it very unhappy.&auro and %mbry recall an episode where 01uidward is at his 'ob working as a cashier and points out his slave-like attitude and actions. They show this as a big metaphor for capitalism.

.apitalism is a way of organizing an economy so that the things that are used to make and transport products are owned by individual people and companies rather than by the government. In the same way, a slave is a victim of a form of capitalism. That is why &auro and %mbry associate the two together. What Are he Chances! With the recent e(plosion of zombie media in this world now, it is inevitable that society would actually e(plore the thought of an actual zombie apocalypse.3ut was this idea popular way back when and if so, how did they take action to it4 3ack in the 56782s, the mentally ill and language impaired were looked at as physically alive but mentally deceased. They could not survive independently and therefore were a seen as zombie-like because they were without consciouness and speech. These so-called 9incurable idiots:+&auro ; %mbry, <88=, made it to the very top of the >azi list of e(termination because they could not themselves 'ustify a will to live or die and were seen as the perfect lab rats for the brutal e(periments the scientists conducted. >ow in <857, what is the plausibility of it happening4 &et$s take a little lesson on the human body for a second. Think about flu shots. They are made of strains of different viruses and build up your immune system to fight off the newest germ that is affecting the poulation. 3ut there seems to be a different sickness every season. >orovirus, swine flu, and the bird flu are some of the many viruses that rocked the world with its strength. To kill each virus you need a mi( of different strains to build up your immune system to fight it off and if you get a flu shot every year, think about what that is doing to your body. Is it actually strengthening your system or causing harm and morphing your body into something that you are unaware of4 * somewhat unsettling thought is that we release these viruses into the world unknowingly. 0cientists worldwide have been studying the polar ice caps for years. #ecently, #ussian scientists started drilling in *ntartica$s freshwater lakes and uncovered close to 58, 888 new species of virus. Ten thousand. 3irds or animals could easily pick one or many of these strains up and spread it over

the world. .ould a virus make a person become dead mentally but stay alive physically4 ?uite frankly, when the general population is asked what a zombie looks and acts like, they are going to illustrate a picture of a decaying body who wanders aimlessly until provoked by the sight@smell of meat and blood. They then become angered and delirious to their target until they are satisfied. When I try to associate that with some type of sickness already identified, my mind goes straight to rabies. /erriam-Webster define rabies as an acute virus disease of the nervous system of mammals that is caused by a rhabdovirus usually transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal and that is characterized typically by increased salivation, abnormal behavior, and eventual paralysis and death when untreated. In The Walking Dead, the only way to become a 9walker: is to get bitten by one. Doesn2t that sound like a way that rabies are transmitted4 In all, there actually is a zombie virus in this world today even though it is often overlooked by many. &ike the ever changing viruses in this life, whose to say that rabies can$t mutate into something that we watch on primetime television4 "o What! 0o what does this paper have to do with anything4 Well, as our fascination of the zombie continues to grow in media, the metaphors for which it is used will continue to change as well. 3ut why is this important4 Well, as you$ve seen, the influence of shows such as The Walking Dead and the "eorge #omero movie series cause viewer to worry about an actual outbreak. *long with that, more and more people are starting to catch on that the zombie is a metaphor for capitalism and that may start to cause controversy. I believe that medicine is so advance and has revolutionized the world in such a short amount of years that it2s only a matter of time before a strain or mutation is spread throughout the world and things change forever. I encourage everyone to at least research what scientists are finding now about the possibility of a zombie outbreak and their results. It most likely will shock you. 0earch the terms 9new findings in actual zombie outbreak: and you will find articles ranging from conspiracy theories about the governments

activity in the matter to actual reported cases of small villages destroyed by odd behavior by its people. Aou may think this stuff should stay in the comic books but in reality, some new sickness is spreading across the world everyday and we are totally unaware of it. Who knows when that sickness is gonna be the one that changes the face of the world as we know it4

.itations)

&auro, 0. C., ; %mbry, D. +<88=,. * Eombie /anifesto) The >onhuman .ondition in the

%ra of *dvanced .apitalism F%lectronic versionG. . B 3oluk , 0., ; &enz, W. +<858,. infection, media, and capitalism) Hrom early modern

plagues to postmodern zombies. B B B B B .ameron, *., ; , +<886,. Eombie media) Transmission, reproduction, and the digital dead. &owenstein, *., ; , +<88=,. &iving dead) Hearful attractions of film. Hrankish, D. +<88I,. The anti-zombie argument. Deggans, %. +<85J,. Eombies and hope on $the walking dead$. #etrieved from npr.org +<85<,. In Dirkman, #. +%(ecutive Kroducer,, The Walking Dead. *tlanta, "eorgia) */..