Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin in the Woods, offers a different kind of interpretation to horror films which I have never seen before. Through the film we see humans controlling supernatural entities, making me question the fact if it is supernatural. The supernatural is when the natural laws of the real-world does not exist, but in this reality the natural laws exist it is just the supernatural is controlled by humans. This reminds me of Philip K. Dick, which reality can is distorted by different outside forces. But I am having a hard time calling this film supernatural. I mean it does have supernatural entities such as zombies and ghost, but they are all man made which questions the reality of the situation.  

Cabin in the Woods

For this movie, the Cabin in the Woods, I was more mind-blown than any other emotion. It was not as scary as I thought it would be, even though it was a horror film and I greatly dislike things that pop out. It was kind of predictable on how each person would go, except near the end when everything just became very complicated and confusing. The characters themselves feel very stereotypical: the jock, whore, fool, scholar and virgin. I personally would have added a sixth person to make things even, like “the fake” or “the pretender”. What I thought was interesting was that the jock could have also been the scholar because in the beginning of the movie, he made a book suggestion to Dana (which suggests he does keep up with his school work and knows his stuff). The movies does have its stereotypical horror film moments but it was a bit more on stranger since once all the monsters come flooding out of the elevators. There were also lots of supernatural elements to this film, especially with the monsters and such. It also became stranger that “gods” would be involved in all of this. Aren’t “gods” suppose to be good and protect people? Not keep monsters that are dangerous to the humans of earth? Overall, I came out of watching this film very intrigued on how it all played out… and kind of grossed out by all the violence.

Cabin in the Woods

This story surprised me as a horror film. It had a lot of supernatural elements in the story that it did not completely turned this movie into just a "horror" film. The fact that the whole plot was based on a cultural ritual, made the movie more realistic. Aside from the supernatural elements, some of the comedic elements that happened throughout the movie made me, as an audience sit on the edge of the seat because I never know when the next scary scene would be. But overall, the horror film made me question whether it really is just a horror film because if one thinks about just the supernatural element, there is a purpose in a film rather than just gruesome deaths of college students.

Cabin in the Woods

I thought that the film Cabin in the Woods was a great film. The men working in the office reminded me a lot of the Boneys from Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies in the sense that they both seemed to powered or working for some dark, mysterious, and unknown force.  

I thought the film was very thought provoking because it wasn’t about some psychopath killer in the woods, it actually showed some force at work and a reason for the need of the characters to not just killed but also tortured, the need for the characters was for them to be sacrificed.

Cabin in the Woods

Cabin in the Woods was not a movie that one would expect to watch just by reading the title. This movie surprised me with it's super-supernatural elements and being that were introduced to us as the audience. The movie portrayed supernatural elements, that originally were thought to possess their own spheres, and mashed them into a pot all at one time. With this, us as the audience, become later confused as to the nature of the storyline. In the beginning, there are two narratives that follow in the same footsteps. There is one narrative that is in control of all the actions and the other that have somewhat control, but are put into the position where they feel helpless. I feel that this movie, in a sense, broke down the fourth wall when the college student realized they actually had the power to control the outcome of the world's destiny. And I think it's and interesting perspective, especially given that this movie is intended to be a horror film (where the victims feel utterly helpless and have predestined end). I wonder what would have happened if they knew before that they were in control they whole time to the supernatural being they were being sacrificed to?

Cabin in the Woods and the Supernatural

The film we have been watching in class, "Cabin in the Woods" displays an interesting take on how we normally see the supernatural in film. Usually in horror stories, the supernatural is something that is uncontrollable and thats what makes it terrifying. However, this film shows the exact opposite because the executives are controlling what beasts will be released. The effect this has on the audience is that we are no longer terrified or shocked by the beasts because we know they are coming, and we are not shocked by the fact that people are dying because we know that is the plan. Therefore, the supernatural is no longer the terrifying aspect of this film, instead it is the blood and surprise factor that makes this film scary and also the underlying fact that there are humans deliberately putting other humans through such gruesome trials. This film overall makes us question our view of human nature because this ritual could have been completed in a much less terrible and gruesome manner and with less fun involved.

Cabin in the Woods and Metafiction

What I loved the most about Cabin in the Woods are the metafictional aspects of the movie and how they function at different levels. First, we get the metafiction that creates the reference to The Evil Dead. Having that reference in the movie makes you think about the genre of horror movies in general. But then, taking a step back, we have the metafiction that the second narrative of the story creates (the narrative about the scientific creation of a horror movie). And this element of metafiction makes us think not only of the genre in general, but also HOW it is that horror movies are formulated. We get the stereotypical characters, settings and plot and we, as audience, become aware of the structure of a horror film. And finally, we get all the monsters of horror movies together, which adds another layer of metafiction. This time we get to think not only of horror films but of fantasy films in general and how we use mythology to create stories.

The Cabin in the Woods

When we started watching The Cabin in the Woods, I thought it was going to be scary. After watching it though, it turned out to be more comedic than scary. I enjoyed the movie because it had a lot of comedy relief, even at times when it wasn’t expected. The zombies in this movie were very different from the zombies in 28 Days Later. A major difference is that these zombies were summoned from their graves, while the zombies from 28 Days Later roamed around the entire city feeding off humans. As we talked about in class today, the audience is made aware that they are watching a movie; the use of metafiction makes the audience become aware of the characters’ situation and their fate. I think that metafiction made the movie more enjoyable to watch. 

Cabin In the Woods

I felt like the movie, The Cabin In the Woods, was definitely meant less as an actual horror movie but more of a critique on the horror film industry and genre itself. It took overly used and abused plot points characteristic of all cliche horror movies and spun them into a satirical commentary. The use of traditional archetype characters in this movie (who all seemed to have come right out of the Scooby-Doo cartoon) underscored the utilization of the cliche horror movie mold. The "whore" dies first and the "virgin" is meant to survive plays upon the differences between the pure and corrupt, which usually does factor into who is essentially doomed to die early on in most horror movies. The movie starts out a cliche, but begins to evolve into a narrative of its own, taking a less tradional twist away from what one would normally expect from a movie like this, with the introduction of the control room. The control room seemed to be a commentary on people's need or desire to control the supernatural and basically control what they dont understand.

Monsters

Cabin in the Woods was hilarious. It referenced lots of different typical monsters in horror. The film also utilizes the typical horror camera angles in the beginning. Everything is tilted on its side, characters are not centered, and the viewer has a sense of wonder as to what exactly is going to happen next. However, during the scenes with the group responsible for unleashing the monsters, everything is still. We know exactly what is going to happen next.

The film also satirized many typical horror elements. When a character was about to make, or made, a terrible decision for the specific situation, another character, typically Marty, would call them out on it. The film also poked fun at all the gore found in modern horror movies. The ending scene and most of the deaths of the characters all included a large quantity of blood loss.

Cabin in the Woods

I felt like the movie, Cabin in the Woods is more of a commentary on traditional horror films than it is supposed to be a horror film in and of itself. For example, the characterizations of the jock, whore, scholar, fool and virgin, are the ones often used in scary movies. However, at the beginning of the movie the characters had more depth than their stereotypical portrayals. For example, before they went to the cabin, the jock was giving Dana advice on school, and he seemed like he had much more substance than what the average jock is portrayed as. After only a few hours in the house, they began losing all of their other inhibitions and simply embodied the characteristics that they were supposed to. The control room needed to set the people up this way in order to complete the ritual, but I saw it more of a way to almost satirize the characters typically seen in horror movies. 

Cabin in The Woods

What I find interesting about the movie as we watched in class was how it was able to to blend it many different elements and genres into one movie and somehow retaining each of the genres authenticity. While incorporating many different horror themes and cliches, it still maintained a very strong genuine horror in the viewer. On the other hand, when the film unravels its comedic side, it stays true to the comedic theme and manages to not hinder the horror genre as a whole. Being one of the very few films that seemingly incorporates both elements without coming off as a failed amalgamation makes it a very rare and impressing feat. As we see more films being released, I hope there are more that are able to do such and balance the themes while maintaing an amazing plot line.

Dark Gods Below: The Cabin in the Woods

The distinct cheesiness of a horror film is intentionally created in The Cabin in the Woods as a distinct subplot of a much larger story arc. Beneath the Earth, demons sleep, and governments across the world manipulate staged deaths in a ritual to keep the dark gods asleep. The classic horror film plays out, as the teenagers are hormonally manipulated into the typical stereotypes associated with a truly awful horror flick, and then are killed by a combination of chemically induced bad-decision making, and any of a random assortment of supernatural monsters donated courtesy of said dark gods. While the horror movie style, and the complete lack of ethics on the part of the governments are sickening, they do pose an important philosophical question. If the world is indeed supernatural, do the ethics of the past really apply? If the government does not conduct these rituals, will the world really burn? Its also a question of whether the primitive beliefs that these sacrifices are necessary or not that drives this. It appears the demons are real, which makes the whole thing seem like a sickening, but important process. But how powerful are they? Could humans challenge them and win? Or are they just a figment of our imagination, a relic of a bygone age?

The Cabin In The Woods: A Study in Horror and the Supernatural

When The Cabin In The Woods came out in theaters last year, my intolerance for (by which inability to watch) horror led to completely ignore it. Thus, I rolled my eyes at the mere mention of the movie or the sight of the poster. Perhaps, however, I should have paid attention to it. The trailer and description fools one into thinking that this is a typical scary movie but, if one pays more attention to the poster it's housing floating because of it's puppet strings. If this realization in itself isn't indication of its purpose, then the beginning minutes of the film itself should. Essentially, The Cabin In The Woods is a study of humanity response to horror in relation with relation to the supernatural. This company of sorts takes a baseline plot of horror story in a computer-operated "woods" and purposely makes it so that unsuspecting kids (well, comparatively to the adults in the company) fall into play with. From what we know, none of those characters play into the stereotypes in their ordinary lives. But one has to note that people are watching these occurrences as they unfold and enjoying it. This fact in itself is nearly the writer's way of showing what illness goes into watching horror films. But the writer goes far deeper than that. He (as in the writer is human, not assuming gender) then shows the hilarity of the stereotypes, the way the character's choices are futile no matter the intellect behind, and the habit of humanity's naivety around the supernatural. In this film I like to think the company is the supernatural force for there not yet an explanation why they are doing all of it, who is making them do it, and how it all began. On the opposing side, the young adult who voluntary sauntered into the woods are stuck teetering between a fantastic and uncanny mentality because unsure (as any human, manipulated or not) what to make of all that is occurring around them. The most interesting part to me is that classic stoner character in this film is not the dim-witted first character to get killed off. To the contrary, he is actually the only one who catches onto the unidentified company's motive and manages to escape even after it seems his plot line is over. He is the only one who goes from fantastic mentality to supernatural and I hope that he can catch onto the entire truth and survive, as unlikely as those chances are at this point in the film.

Cabin in the Woods

This film that we watched in class was very interesting. It was different from most horror movies in that we can see that the "monsters" are created by the government in some sort of sick motive. The group of friends are a diverse group of students who fit into different social groups: nerd, blonde girl, jock, etc. As the movie progressed, I realized the plot was similar to most horror movies with a group of unaware teenagers going to a secluded cabin in the woods. There are many foreboding signs that the group ignores and disaster is only waiting to happen. It was a typical scary movie except we could see that the government was working behind the scenes to appease the "ancient ones" which is a reference to the audience. The movie as a whole was like a puzzle to me, keeping me wondering what was to happen next.

Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin in the Woods, if I may say, was absolutely horrifying. I thought the concept of the movie was interesting, yet quite sickening. The story of a group of government officials setting up a torture scene for a group of young people is very twisted, and it really plays on the idea of the debate of realities including both humans and monsters. While watching the movie, there were many questions unanswered, and this mystery really helped build up anxiety both in the characters and in the audience. This anxiety is key to horror films such as this one, and is created through multiple cinematic elements. Even though, I, as the third person viewer, knew of the government's control over the cabin in the woods, the story of the young group of people was still horrifying, because I could not establish a connection between the two realities. I am anxious to see how everything comes together.

The Cabin in the Woods

Cabin in the Woods, directed by Drew Goddard, tells the story of five friends who visit a cabin in the woods and are one-by-one killed by zombies. This is a horror film, so there is no doubt that there will be killing and torture. However, the film does some interesting things and says a lot about society’s desensitization to violence. Even in class as we were watching the film, people were laughing because it was humorous, but in a sick and twisted way.

The humor mostly comes from the fact that the audience never goes down beneath the bunker level occupied by ancient Gods, and stays with the agents as they watch the activity going on in the cabin. When the nightmare creatures are let loose in their scenarios to attack, they seem to be attacking the audience for enjoying horror films. The full implications of killing are never considered. I went ahead and finished watching the film (because we happened to end at a climax point, and I just wanted to see how the film ended), and even in the finale, it seems as if the director is asking the audience to question violence and death, beyond the film. Since the film was presented in this manner (the agents are watching people die as sport), violence has turned into something emotionally ambiguous. The end of the film, I felt strangely okay even with the signal of the end of the world. Violence was brought to us, it made us re-evaluate violence, and overall horror as a real thing.

The Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin in the Woods is a lot deeper than the cookie-cutter scary movie. Instead of being a simple horror film, it is more like a parody of one, in that it makes commentary on the creation of horror films. Before the movie was released, the description was "Five kids go to a cabin in the woods. Bad things happen", which is both hilarious and strange, but is similar to the description of every scary movie in existence. The film begins the way many horror movies begin - with a dumb blonde, a quiet and reserved girl, a nerd, a jock, and a burn-out. The five most diverse group of friends go to an ominous cabin in the woods, secluded, where the viewers know something terrible is going to happen. Even on their way to the cabin, there a specifically casted creepy old man who owns a gas station that gives them a warning. However, unlike a typical scary movie, it is a company - "puppeteers" - that is being forced to make these terrible things happen by controlling hormones, lighting, and enclosing the kids with a fate that they were to choose of how to die. They make bets, and are forced to abide by a set of rules in order to appease the "ancient ones", a metaphor for the every-day horror movie watcher. We, as the viewers, hold the power in to how scary movies are created and how they end.

Zombies and Mob Mentality

We have had many discussions about what these zombie stories are saying about the human race as a whole. The idea that resonated most with me was analyzing the affect of "mob mentality" or absence of it, in Warm Bodies. When all the zombies are together and acting as a mob in other stories we have looked at, it becomes impossible for the humans to really understand them for what they are. Instead, it is easiest to just classify every zombie as something negative and scary without looking beneath the surface filled with stereotypes. However, when R ventures away from his pack of zombies in this text, the humans are able to see something more underneath the zombie surface. This says a lot about how humans look at unfamiliar or frightening groups of people. I have seen it in my own culture where a lot of East Indians are classified as terrorists when in reality the people using these names do not actually know anything about our religion or our culture.

Brainnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnns

Warm bodies and 28 Days Later were interesting critiques on militaristic society and beliefs. Both the film and the novel focused on survivors who believed that living in a militaristic structured setting would bring safety. However, in the film, this false sense of security led to the closest encounter to death that the survivors had in the entire story. The dichotomy between military bonds and familial bonds were compared extensively. One of the soldiers fought against his superiors in an attempt to save the survivors from their purpose as breeders. However, not once do we see the bond between Jim, Hannah, and Selena falter like the soldiers' bond.

In the book, "R" calls Julie's home a "concrete tomb" (Marrion 210). This encampment did indeed protect the survivors from the zombies. However, the end message of the novel suggests that you need something more than bullets and death in order to save humanity. Because of "R" and Julie's relationship, they created the possibility of preventing any more deaths from acts of love rather than continuing to wage war between the undead and the living.

Warm Bodies

Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies left me with a mixed opinion. Although Marion's underlying messages of dehumanization and humanity were very well done, I felt like the Romeo and Juliet aspect of the story did not work for me. The humanization of R could still contain romantic elements, but I feel like it shouldn't have been done in such a cliche manner. However, R's internal narratives are engaging and amusing, and I believe it actually plays on our fear of the "other" being capable of thinking similarly to humans. Yet, we sympathize with R and root for him as he strives to question his own existence and physical self. However, if we were given the story from Julie's point of view, would our perspective change? Would we automatically be biased due to Julie's descriptions and impressions? Would we sympathize with R less and sympathize with her anguish over Perry's death? How we relate to R's character sort of challenges the Uncanny Valley concept that we discussed earlier in class, however, perhaps the Uncanny Valley never really addressed the question about whether or not the "other" was capable of advanced cognitive thought. If there was an Uncanny Valley constructed from the "other's" point of view, where would humans place? I feel like Warm Bodies asks us to question these ideas of humanity, cognitive thought, and how much similar we can really be through thoughts and emotions.

28 Days Later

 In 28 Days Later it clearly show the struggle of humanity verses survival through the main protagonist, Jim. Jim has to fight his internal morals with the exterior situation that he faced upon waking up from a coma. His mind set plays a key role in his attitude towards survival. Jim's character seem to try to find some humanity, but it is impossible to attain in the post apocalyptic world. But in the film we see the other side of humanity through the character of Selena whose character takes kin to the survival instincts. The film does a great job giving dual identity of humans and their approach to the situation. A key role in the situation is anxiety which can lead a person to go on survival mode with hesitating. Through these combination the film is able to portray humanity verse survival.   

Warm Bodies (pt. 2)

In Isaac Marion's novel Warm Bodies, I have recognized the similarities between the society we live in, and the society in which the Zombies in the novel, live in. For instance, the zombie R that is portrayed in Marion's novel, is an anxiety teenager. He strives to be understood, and to feel important in the beginning of the book. But, because he has no idea of what his future entails, he seems more apathetic towards living. It's similar to what a lot of teens feel when they go through puberty, and it kinda reflects this influx of love-based supernatural movies; though this is a novel.

In addition, the human side within the book don't necessarily feel like being in war-mode is living. They strive to feel pleasure (not sexually), but having fun and to be able to be free. The sense of being suppressed within yourself, anxiety building up and a lot of wanting, can definitely be seen on R and Julie's side of the spectrum. It's just a comment on the relation's within the novel that make me think, they're not all that different. And R is definitely something unique to his situation because he's more humanistic.

28 Days Later

I found the discussion regarding the cinematography of 28 Days Later as interesting as the topic of zombies itself. I never thought to analyze, let alone recognize, the important aspects regarding film making and editing. We discussed the formal structure which consisted of 4 major points: how the camera moves and positions, the cuts, what is included in the frame, and what is heard. All of these elements come together to create and communicate information that helps tell the story of the film. In 28 Days Later, Danny Boyle combines multiple techniques. One technique was his use of both close and far shots, making the audience aware of the third point of the formal structure, mise-en-scene, or where the character Jim was in relation to his environment. For me, this definitely created anxiety while emphasizing the abandonment of London. This technique, along with the contrasting volume of background music in the beginning of the film, really helped in producing a reaction that Boyle was intentionally seeking.

Retelling the Story of the Star-crossed Lovers

The "Romeo and Juliet" references in Warm Bodies are very hard to miss. From the moment I realized that 'R' stood for Romeo and 'Julie' for Juliet (a few pages after learning the girl's name), it was impossible for me to read the novel without constantly drawing parallels, and speculating about the way in which the story would end (given Romeo and Juliet's tragic ending). At the beginning it seemed like a nice touch, using these characters that everyone knows and giving them a tiny twist: Perry as Paris, Nora as the nurse (she is even studying to be a nurse), and M as Mercutio. But by the time I got to the balcony scene, I thought that it was too much. With the whimsy excuse that she was recording an audio journal, Marion has Julie speaking out loud out of a balcony, pondering about her Romeo and wondering "what's in a name". 

I think Marion found the need to add these very explicit references because the story of Warm Bodies -two star-crossed lovers from fighting households- was bound to be compared to the epic myth of Romeo and Juliet, so he might as well make that comparison himself. Although they annoyed me a little, the references really do not hinder the overall effect that the book has and how innovative the story is.

Warm Bodies Language

In Issac Marion’s novel, Warm Bodies, R transforms from a passive zombie into a lively human and we see this transformation manifest itself through his ability to speak. Speech in the novel plays a significant role as an indicator of humanity and livelihood, as demonstrated by R and M. Both are zombies, yet from the onset of the story, both at least attempt to express themselves in a manner other than just moaning and groaning, unlike their zombie peers. As the story progresses, so does R’s ability to communicate. He gradually improves his speaking capacity and this is quite obviously a symptom of his interaction with Julie. Prior to meeting her, he never really had a reason to attempt to vocalize the thoughts in his head because he was surrounded by other zombies who, with the exception of M, could not utter a coherent syllable. However, by the end of the novel, before he makes the full transformation into human, R is clearly much more articulate, which helps him pass as a human in the stadium and even have a phone conversation with M to strategize their action plan. In a way, R’s growth can be tracked by the evolution of his language skills.

Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies turns the traditional zombie narrative on its head, following R’s experience through love and life—both concepts that we rarely associate with zombies. Normally, zombies are depicted as emotionless, soulless and brainless beings who almost mechanically stumble through the world, devouring whoever they come across. Through R’s first person perspective, we see that he is different, he recognizes what he is doing and feels trapped in a body that doesn’t allow him to break free of his carnivorous nature. That is, until he meets Julie. With the help of Perry’s memories, Julie provides R with an odd motivation to better himself by fighting against his zombie instincts and embrace a more human side. Throughout the novel we see R evolving and redefining what it means to be a zombie, proving to the readers and to the characters in the book that life is quite literally what you make of it. 

Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies was a lot different that a lot of other texts we've been reading about Zombies. Most of the previous texts depict Zombies as lacking innate human qualities. Basically, they are seen to lack humanity, and not obey the basic constructs of life and death. In Warm Bodies, though there is still deviation from what life and death of a human should be, you see a return to humanity by the main character, R. This, I thought was very interesting. In the world of horror movies and scary stories, there is not much depiction of a good zombie or monster. Zombies are supposed to kill humans, and even though this is present in the book, an alternative side to what Zombie life is can be clearly seen. A juxtaposition between the good and the bad zombies lends a more humanistic quality to the entire fight taking place in the story. There is both good and bad in world, even in the zombie world, and Zombies are not all categorized together under the title of bad. Throughout the book you see an evolvement of what is good and bad, and you see that even in the Zombie population there are opposing sides and views, just as you would find in a human population.

The Zombie in Popular culture

There is definitely a bit of a zombie craze going on these days, but at its root lie authors and screen writers attempting to convey a deeper societal trauma than just the terror instilled in us by the undead. Zombies represent what happens when a human is hollowed out, when everything that makes a person a person is removed, and all that remains are the base instincts to feed, and to spread. In today's society, many feel as if they are being dehumanized by the increased competition in an increasingly material world. As progress become more important than humanity, and greed overcomes kindness, the zombie apocalypse represents the endpoint of a morally bankrupt world. Individuality is stifled, as citizens become nothing more than cogs in the machine that is progress, working mindlessly. Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies attributes the rise of the zombie plague to the decline of love, and of humanity between people. The "Boneys" of Warm Bodies are a meta-physical embodiment of an empty soul, of a body that still functions, but is utterly empty. 28 Days Later, the Danny Boyle film, is treated to its zombie apocalypse when the experiments of a mad-scientist exceeding all forms of ethics are accidentally let loose on the world, setting the infected into a state of rage. All other emotions, all other bits of self-conciousness are inhibited but rage, producing a still living form of zombie, but one that we can still identify with as an empty body. In both the book and the film, the character's persevere because they learn to love, to take risks for the betterment of all, and treat people as people.

The Evolving Concept of "Zombies"

It's fascinating to see the way this course can make one reevaluate one's view of zombies. From the conventional definition, one immediately thinks the walking undead creature that used to be human. Therein lies the big question in all the zombie-related texts and media samples we've seen thus far: what truly differentiates humans from monsters? Even going to the origins of Night of the Living Dead, we see the strains of humanity and how its defined. What happens to these humans when they are converted? Are they truly a complete monstrous creature? Or are they still the humans afflicted by a condition forced upon them? Danger Word was this first taste of questioning the zombie condition. It was the first time a reader might consider the possibility that zombies aren't totally supernatural and that perhaps one can still retain and use their most cherished memories once converted into a zombie. Warm Bodies took this possibility and went into a greater analysis of it. In the zombie apocalypse-stricken world Isaac Marion created, zombie can have maintain plenty of mental activity but lack the ability to act on such activity because of their body's infection. The main character R is especially susceptible to nostalgia of what the world used to be (e.g. his airplane of souvenirs, his consistent desire to obtain the memories of others, etc.). He is fully aware of the situation he is in and wants to fix it.

While love story between Julie and R may serve to show the two sides of the battle in this post-apocalyptic world, I view it as an insight into humanity. R may very well be attracted to Julie because of Perry's memories or the fact that she seems like a potential good meal. However, I think the reason why the chemistry between the two are far more legitimate then any Twilight-centric (which many have compared it to) romance is that R actually liked Julie for her stance on morality. Julie might have been bratty, talkative, and naive but she, like R, was a hopeless dreamer. Her biggest goal was to survive and revive the "corpse of the world" to it's former glory. R desperately wanted to change and help revert the condition his follow undead were afflicted with. He just wanted to enjoy the simple joys that human life used to offer. The same was shown in both Twenty-Three Snapshots and 28 Days Later, where the character would enjoy something as simple as a beer, a party, groceries, or a car ride. It brings about the wistful moral that one usually identifies with humanity: despite all the horrid occurrences in the world, there is always hope for a better future.

Simultaneously, this concept shows how a zombie apocalypse (which is a metaphor for any real catastrophe) can harden and damage some of the most kindred spirits. Despite all his faults, Perry was once a hopeful person like Julie, but the losses he suffered deeply damaged his vision for a future. Thus, he inevitably gave up on pursuing a future. General Grigio and Major Henry West are both military men so hardened by loss and dead-set on survival and restarting civilization that they become blind to their inhumane actions and, moreover, actually hurt their chances of rebuilding civilization. Isn't it interesting how all three of these characters are killed off by their own selfishness and lack of better judgment? It is the writer's attempt to show that a narrow-minded plan leads to disaster rather than survival. While survival is important, one needs to create an overall goal everyone can agree if they are all to function as a proper surviving community.

28 Days Later/Warm Bodies

What interested me in 28 days later was the speed of spread of the zombie virus. It made me wonder how our society would respond if it actually happened. It is interesting to think about and reminded me of the show The Walking Dead and how people cope with such a problem. In warm bodies it was also curious how zombies can absorb the memories of the brains of people they eat. It made me wonder if zombies can gain knowledge and actually become fully human after gaining other knowledge and wisdom from the victims. I hope to see more of this idea in other plots and expand on this zombie human relationship.

Warm Bodies

While I was reading Warm Bodies, I realized that it was different from the other zombie texts we’ve read in class. Other texts like “Twenty-Three Snapshots of San Francisco” or “Danger Word,” don’t give the zombies any human qualities, while Warm Bodies does. As the story progresses and R spends more time with Julie, he is described as becoming more human; he begins to have visions and have feelings towards her. I like the approach the author has on zombies, because it’s very different from what I relate zombies to. When I think of zombies, I never think of them as having human characteristics, but as dead things that have no control over what they do. Isaac Marion gives the zombies in his story human characteristics that challenge traditional views on zombies. He allows the reader to relate to the zombies, especially R, and to see them as more than threats or enemies. He also offers a different solution to the zombie issue, unlike the other texts we’ve read, where the only solution is to kill the zombies.    

Warm Bodies

After reading Warm Bodies, written by Isaac Marion, I was left unsatisfied due to the ending. I enjoyed Marion's message about humanity. He introduces to the reader a medicine-less "healing" of zombies, basically saying that being a zombie is a state of mind. The reader sees this when R chooses to connect with people and soon he is able to regain his humanity by force of will. Underlying the plot is Marion's commentary on people dehumanizing each other and isolating themselves through technology. This is a real epidemic of people losing their ability to relate to one another, resulting in a state of mind in people in society that is ultimately destructive. What I did not enjoy was Marion's use of the Romeo and Juliet metaphor because the plot is essentially two lovers on different sides of a conflict. I also saw a lack of characterization of the protagonists as the story progressed. R is only interesting because of his circumstance: a zombie who does not want to be a zombie anymore. His character does not develop beyond this fact. Julie is no different. Her character seems contradictory and on another note, there is truly nothing about her as a person that really draws R to her.

Warm Bodies

The fact that zombies cannot remember their life prior to being infected serves to reinforce the idea that memories are a human quality. This reminded me of Philip K. Dick’s ideas on memory, such as that memories make us who we are, therefore if there was the ability to alter them who would we be? In the case of Warm Bodies when R eats Perry’s brain and gains his memories he then falls in love with Julie and then he constantly experiences encounters with what might be Perry’s soul, so it makes me wonder if R takes on some of Perry’s qualities.

In Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, one of the first things I noticed was that the book is in the perspective of R, the zombie, which in the book he is referred to as a Dead. I thought this interesting because usually we never consider the perspective of the zombies, we just assume they have no thoughts, yet Warm Bodies challenges the usual idea of a zombie, by portraying R as victim of the disease rather than some thoughtless monster. Warm Bodies reminds us that zombies were once people too. Like many of us R is in search to find who he is, to figure out his sense of identity and belonging.

 

Modern Zombies

In class, we watched 28 days later. I did wonder why it was 28 days and not anything number, but I can’t really think of a good reason that kind of makes sense. The first thing that I found weird was that I always thought that zombies are not fast moving at all… but in the movie, they were able to attack and run very quickly. If the zombie apocalypse ever did happen, I actually really don’t know what to expect. Would they be like the zombies in 28 days later, slow moving ones that are from other movies or something else that no one really would expect? Well, whatever it would be… I’d hope it never happen because I wouldn’t want our livelihood to end.

In Warm Bodies, I found it very strange that a zombie was able to heal himself and become human again. Scientifically… I don’t ever see that happening. When one becomes a zombie, they are beyond dead. It’s like dead with an infection that turns one… another step deeper into death (If that makes sense). It was very interesting to see that the zombies were slowly changing back into humans when humans are so against the change that they kind of become zombies themselves (just killing anything that isn’t with them). The book itself was a very interesting read and I really hope I can find another book/story like this. I just need to watch the movie for this book now.

Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies places a lot of emphasis on the thin line separating humans from zombies. During death, R is still more human-like than live beings, thinking about words and colors and meanings and names. He falls in love, experiences emotions, and staves off his desire for consuming human brains. Some human boys, like Perry, have actually become more zombie-like by the plague, and have wanted to die. Perry begins to become more militant, wishing for an end, and losing his sense of wonder, faith in humanity, and passion for writing. In a way, Perry has become more dead than the zombie, R.

Zombies and their meanings

A huge part of sci fi and horror is based on the concept of zombies. These mysterious and mindless corpses instill fear and panic in people's minds. It is interesting to analyze how these creatures came to be. The idea can stem from the AIDS virus. When AIDS was first introduced many people that were infected were stigmatized and mistreated. This draws parallels to how zombies infect humans and how they are viewed as diseases. Another idea can be see in factory workers of modern age where they are just cogs in a machine, mindlessly focusing on one aspect of work such as installing a screw. Zombies operate in the same way in that they only focus on feasting on flesh mindlessly.

Zombie Manifestations

The conception of zombies that we have watched and read in class this past week have all been portrayed in slightly different ways, yet all maintain the same general idea of what a zombie is—an undead corpse. This is interesting because it shows how zombies are not necessarily all defined by uniform characteristics and manifestations, but rather are defined by the writer’s own experiences and interpretations. For example, zombies in “Danger Word” were seen as incredibly uncanny, whereas in Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead,” the zombies were not so much uncanny as they were explicitly dead and haunting. In contrast, the Haitian origin of zombies were used to express enslavement and resistance to enslavement because the zombies were puppet-like in order to represent the lack of human will. 

Night of the Living Dead

While watching Night of the Living Dead in class this week, it was interesting to note the major theme of individualism that is prevalent in the story. We see the combination of the characters personalities and how it effects the situation as a whole. Most interestingly, we see Cooper, a character that embodies the ideal of individualism and greediness. In being that way, he provides a stark contrast to Ben's communitarianism and his reliance on protecting the group as a whole and selfless ideology. The viewer can then see the multi-faceted problem that occurs within the story. It becomes not only an issue between the community and the zombies but also a problem that occurs within the community itself. As the story comes along, the viewer see's the dynamic interaction between the ideals of greediness and stinginess pitted against the effort to keep the collective whole safe and secure.

28 days later

As I came in expecting this movie to be all about zombies, I was surprised to learn that this movie revolved around a disease that spread through the world which is why people appear to be something related to zombies. The infected portray zombie features such as corpse-like appearances and that the only way to kill those infected is to burn them or brutally kill them. Besides that, the movie evolves more around the find of the "cure" more than the people infected. Since it focuses more on the infection, i feel that zombies were more neglected which made the movie, so far, bearable to watch. But with that, the feel of terror is not as great as i thought to be. But, without finishing the movie, I don't know what to expect as the movie goes on. But from what i see, I would assume that these zombies, unlike some of the readings i have been doing, are truly infected with evil and rage and that no incentive of goodness is within these people that are infected.

28 Days Later

This movie is not so much a zombie movie, as it is an infected people, biting other people movie. It can be argued whether or not these creatures are "zombies," but it can be universally agreed that they possess characteristics that people now widely associate with zombies. They are essentially a consciousness-lacking corpse, driven by rage and hunger for human flesh. Knowing this, one has to remember that zombies perform different acts of cultural critique and one has to be mindful and think about how zombies are functioning in the text (in this case the film). In the film, I think these creatures are functioning as a physical driving force of a human epidemic and how people react to these situations of terror. Essentially, a virus is being spread throughout England and it has spread to New York and other parts of the world. So, this raises the questions of, "how long does one live once one has the virus?" (In this case, the virus can be a substitute for any kind of terror that brings out a national or worldwide epidemic). The product of this "virus" is not necessarily a terror epidemic, it can be an epidemic of any sort, so the focus is more on people and how we deal with situations like these. Do we respond with logic, or with terror?

Zombies: A Study in Mental Activity

It is fascinating to discover how the notion of the "zombie" species came to be. I was always under the impression that it came from the concept of cannibalism and was somehow warped into the idea that a corpse of a human could eat other living humans. However, as we discovered in the last lecture, it's roots come from the U.S. occupation of Haiti wherein the darkness of voodoo and actual accounts of cannibalism. It's also curious that in the media there are different perceptions of what causes zombies to come about. Some texts and forms of media attribute zombies to virus, while others blame the cause on viruses.Either way, the cause has something to do with the blood, especially the blood that flows around the brain.

 This leads me to this week's reading, which has made me rethink the preconceived ideas about zombies. For example, I never once considered the fact that zombies still maintain their human side after their transformation. I, like a good portion of people, see zombies as a monster created out of a human. But after reading and discussing Danger Word, I realized that zombies are just humans turned undead against their will. No one wants to die and be brought back as a flesh-lusting "monster". That point really hit me when Grandpa Joe (in the aforementioned story) goes from determined to protect his grandson to determined to find the boy within seconds of reawakening. It also highlighted a common theme in these sorts of stories: memories and family (or simply sentiment). After Kendrick's mother is turned, she is still capable of remembering Kendrick and Joe and able to speak to them as she once did. In Twenty-Three Snapshots in San Fransisco, memories (in the form of photos) and family (in the form of friends) are at the very core of the story. Even 28 Days Later, this type of sentiment becomes the primary reason for surviving (to avenge the ones they lost, in a way). Thus, I believe that it is this sentiment that reminds the main characters that they are the ones who are human. They are the ones who should survive because they're in the right, they believe. But if these so-called zombies are capable of carrying the very same sentiment, then who is really the monster in these stories?

Warm Bodies

In Isaac Marion's novel Warm Bodies, it offers us a different perspective on the topic of Zombies, and almost redefines what I thought I knew about Zombies. There is no doubt that in this book we are dealing with compete supernatural entities. Definitely, the Zombie "R" is an above natural being, however, he's clearly different than his fellow undead. R seems to be a young adult who has carried over traits of his past life, that are more human, especially when Julie enters his life. His human traits are an especially interesting aspect about the book because it humanizes the Zombies we thought to have lacked these human traits; which makes them Zombies.

The humanizing theme in this book offers great insight on a young man, who feels as he thinks, and acts on what he feels. I see myself having more sympathy for R because I understand his sadness, his confusion, and especially his longing to remember his past. This humanization, I feel gives me a completely different feeling about R and his situation. And in the end, you do feel bad for R because he's helpless in his state.

Film and Danger Word

The film 28 Days Later was very interesting. However the zombies are were not called zombies, but “infected.” Information was disseminated throughout the film and we learned that the virus comes from the blood and saliva of those infected and if it comes in contact, by being swallowed or entering the body any other way, such as a bite, it can spread to healthy individuals, also the radio was used to spread information by the army people and to take in information. The conflict discusses in class of “survival vs. humanity” was brought up in film, when Selena had to kill to other man she had been living with, and also when Selena and Jim were running and she almost left him behind.

In the reading “Danger Word” there is also family, Joe and his grandson Kendrick, at however in this story no information is what leads to bad events, such as Joe becoming infected. Towards the end we also see the conflict of survival vs. humanity when Joe tries to remain himself in order to protect Kendrick and then when Kendrick wants his grandfather, Joe, to stay but Kendrick is forced to leave In order to survive.

Danger Word

In this story, the "freaks" represent what we commonly know and characterize as zombies. These freaks are strangely programmatic in their speech, almost comparable to the automatons of the uncanny. Their ability to talk and refer to others contextually is intriguingly uncanny because my idea of a typical "zombie" figure is one who outwardly appears to be so. Joe's inability to distinguish his friend Mike as a freak adds to the terror, and his misinformed encounter eventually leads to his own transformation. Mike shows the automaton-like of repetition through his words when he repeats statements regarding his hot dogs and his boys. Also, Joe's daughter, Cass, shows an uncanny feature in her character's ability to remember her family members and call to them in a very personal way.

Don't Say the Zed Word

In the uncanny valley, we find Zombies. These are of the reanimate type. Those found in George Romero's films such as, "Night of the Living Dead", instill a very uncomfortable feeling in viewers because of their zombie status. The dead return to life and walk amongst the living. Unlike in "Danger Word", the zombies in Romero's films shamble along. They can barely run and they make groaning and moaning noises. They are incapable of human speech. The zombies in "Danger Word" can act like they were still alive. The zombies seemed more like humans infected with some kind of disease which gave them the urge to bite non-infected humans. These types of zombiesmove toward the pit of the uncanny valley because they are exactly like humans; however, we know they are not human. The more capable of human activites a zombie is, the scarier they appear to be. In the film, "28 Days Later", these zombies look like blood-stained, angry mobs who can do nothing but scream. What makes them so scary is that they can sprint like normal humans can and that the only difference between us and them is that they are a lot angrier.