Don’t fear the zombies, fear Hollywood

Science fiction, when done well, can be an entertaining way of addressing the worries and concerns of a society with intelligence and subtlety.

The zombie is enjoying most of the popularity in current pop culture. It’s understandable, zombies force audiences to confront their fear of death. Zombies reflect worries that consumerist society has removed our individuality and left us members of a mindless horde.

Like many others in the past decade, I fell under the siren song of the zombies.  
One of the outgrowths of the current “zombiemania” is creating survival plans for the zombie apocalypse.

This phenomenon can likely be traced back to “The Zombie Survival Guide” and “World War Z,” both books written by Max Brooks. Zombies and the resulting apocalypse were a fun hypothetical to think about, but enough is enough. Let’s find something else to cynically exploit.

Yes, zombies are cool, but it’s time for them to take a little bit of a break lest they become as stale as the fruitcake from the Christmas of 1994 that has developed sentience in the nearly 17 years of neglect. Keep an eye on your toes when you go for your morning bowl of Cap’n Crunch.

There are far too many zombie-focused pieces of pop culture, and it’s reached a saturation point. It’s time to put the zombie concept to bed for a while, lest it lose its luster, or as much luster as a reanimated, cannibalistic corpse can have.

The popularity of zombies is threatened by the same downfall of so many other cultural artifacts: audience fatigue.

The formula in the entertainment industry seems to be that if you discover something popular that also makes lots and lots of money, bleed it dry. Start producing items of poor quality and it leaves the audience jaded and uninterested in anything involving the idea, even if it is executed in a novel and entertaining way.

This is the fate that awaits zombies unless the people creating our entertainment take a step back and think, “You know, maybe this sci-fi western doesn’t need zombies. They’re two great tastes, like Skittles and beer. But like Skittle Bräu, it doesn’t necessarily taste great when combined.”

“Cowboys & Aliens” aside, combining too many genres result in a pop culture turducken, an item only someone filled with regret and self-loathing would dare consume.

That being said, there are many medias that use zombies in a novel and interesting way, such as the 2004 film “Shaun of the Dead,” the 2009 film “Zombieland” and the ongoing comic-based TV series, “The Walking Dead.” 

What made those pieces of work so interesting is they took a fairly tired concept and infused new life, whether through the use of humor or in the case of the comic, exploring the darker side of humanity and how humans behave when society crumbles.

I’m begging you Hollywood, from the bottom of my fanboy heart, please find another concept to cynically exploit until a newer more profitable one comes along to repeat the cycle of boom and bust.