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| Poor T-Dog. |
The Walking Dead
is a pretty dour apocalypse. Zompocalypses in general are big downers. Even
though TWD is a long-form series you
always get a sense that the characters are living on borrowed time, that they're
fighting to survive the next moment. Every time they try to build a more
permanent foothold (Herschel’s farm, the Prison) it inevitable gets destroyed
by a wave of the undead, asshole humans, or their own shortsightedness. While I
watch The Walking Dead for the chills
and superbly directed suspense (it’s rare for other modern horror to make me
tense up as well as well as that series does), I also watch it because it’s a
morbidly pessimistic dissection of society. A lot of season three especially
has been about whether or not human decency is a detriment in the post-zombie
world. The Guv’ might be a complete batpoop psychopath but Woodbury has (at
least for its regular citizens) the best quality-of-life rating we’ve seen in TWD’s post-apocalypse. Rick’s descent
from square-jawed, Jack Shepard-esque hero to benevolent dictator has seemed to
be at least vaguely effective in keeping his group alive. The Walking Dead’s main
theme seems to be asserting that basic human compassion and decency would be detrimental
to survival in ‘the wild.’ While I patently disagree (many disasters on that
show could’ve been prevented with a little more good faith and open
communication), watching the show’s narrative try to work out that question is
super entertaining for both brain and heart.
Alternately, two of my favourite vidjagames are the two
latest Fallouts (3 and New Vegas), and I play them for completely
different reasons than why I watch The
Walking Dead. In Fallout you
wander the post-apocalyptic wasteland, righting wrongs (or just doing more
wrongs and looting the bodies if that’s your thing) and shooting zombies and
bandits. I play Fallout for the sense
of freedom and adventure it instills – exploring a destroyed civilization,
collecting loot, shooting things and occasionally (since I’m that kind of game
roleplayer) helping NPCs out for good karma. In Fallout, the apocalypse is something that provides an escape – if civilization
is destroyed, we are no longer bound by its rules and can therefore seek better
and more exciting, bullet-filled climes. In this way, the apocalypse of the Fallout universe serves the same purpose
that the frontier in a traditional western provides - it’s a blank canvas upon
which we can set out on our adventurous lonesome and forge our own destiny free
from the chains of society.
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| The Lone Wanderer and Dogmeat wander the wastes in Fallout 3. Any apocalypse that gives me a free puppy I'm probably okay with. |
While the idea of a lone post-apocalyptic cowboy wandering
the wastes doin’ his own thing because he damn well can is a kind of utopian libertarian
fantasy wherein all our society-prevented freedom is returned to us via the
apocalypse, other optimistic apocalyptic fiction can be about society rising
from the ashes. The term “cozy catastrophe” was coined by British sci-fi author
Brian Aldiss to describe stories like Day
of the Triffids wherein modern society is destroyed, but its destruction
allows for a kind of wiping the slate clean. Free from the constraints of the ‘old
world’, the survivors of the apocalypse are free to rebuild society better than
it was before. This is basically the opposite of what The Walking Dead seems to be trying to do since every attempt at
post-zombie civilization crumbles to sobbing pieces, but the hope in the ‘cozy catastrophe’ is pretty
darn appealing to my sensibilities – I mean, I’m the guy who got in an argument
with a T.A. over my optimistic interpretation of the end of Dawn of the Dead (I know I’m wrong.
Whatever. I’m free to read the text as I see fit, dammit)!
That being said, realistically, I’m definitely very much in
favour of society. I vote NDP for pity’s sake – give me my socialized
health-care and running water any day of the week over wandering an apocalyptic
wasteland. But, that doesn’t mean that the wasteland can’t provide a good escapist
romp.
Also, I just need to say it... poor T-Dog. I miss 'em.
As a fellow post-apocalyptic aficionado, I can only talk about why I like it so much. In my mind, the genre is about who you are when the chips are down. Without your traditional support network, surroundings, and moral guides do you become a hero or a monster? Its easy to be a good guy when you have a full stomach, but will still be good when you are hungry?
ReplyDeleteI love stories about how these groups of survivors interact, whether they be hopeful or nihilistic, and who they truly are when there is no longer a reason to be anything else.
Absolutely! It's that whole 'Lord Of The Flies' thing taken to an extreme - are you actually a moral person or are you just keeping up appearances for society? Neat stuff.
DeleteThe group interplay is something I've always liked about both TWD the TV show and the comic - it's always been more about the main cast than the zombies.