I think the whole zombie meme might have jumped the shark this weekend. First, my friend Dave forwards an article from the New York Times Style section announcing the arrival of zombie culture, and then, a few minutes later, I get an email from a reader named Mitja, telling me that half-a-dozen young people dressed as zombies had been murdered in Seattle. It was fun while it lasted, but I’m thinking that maybe it’s time to move on.
When we had our zombie event here in Ann Arbor at Christmas, it occurred to me (being the incredibly superstitious and fearful fool that I am) that by dressing up as the undead, we were inviting something terrible to happen. While I knew that it was silly, I kept having these intrusive, obsessive thoughts about me or someone else in our little zombie mob being murdered, or dying in a car crash while wearing our cadaver makeup and our blood-spattered Santa suits. I thought, in a way, that we were asking for it, tempting fate. By saying this, I’m not in any way suggesting that the people in Seattle deserved what happened to them, just that it was bound to happen sooner or later.
Tell you what… Next time, we get the urge to go out and do something stupid, instead of putting on the zombie makeup, let’s dress up in robes and pretend to be some kind of really super-happy religious sect or something. (How about a cult picnic this summer is Ypsilanti’s Riverside Park?) Enough with the apocalyptic thinking and the silly little attempts to gain some small degree of control over death by mocking it. I hereby propose, in front of you, my witnesses, that it’s time to move to the next stage of grieving, whatever that is.
12 Comments
I expected something awful to happen in Detroit, but Seattle?
You could host a historical reinactment.
Can zombies really be murdered?
If I am not mistaken, the zombie stage of grief is followed by the robot stage.
There’s always href=”http://home.comcast.net/~cacopics/mc4.htm”>Mondo Croquet.
http://home.comcast.net/~cacopics/mc4.htm
Is it too much to ask to have links on? Or converted automatically? Or how about post preview?
Throw me a bone.
If you thought that this was a “free bone” site, you were sadly mistaken, Mr. Taint. If you want a bone, you have to throw it yourself.
And the more I think about the idea of a cult picnic, the more it appeals to me. (If what you’re saying about the robot stage of grief coming after zombie stage is true, however, I’d be happy to incorporate robots into the cult picnic. They can serve food. We’ll make Riverside Park a heaven on Earth for an afternoon… I can picture the robots peeling grapes!)
andy warhol as a zombie: august 18, 1985
http://www.imageexchange.com/skuimg/6871.gif
warhol was made up as a zombie by horror-effects artist tom savini.
Count me in on the cult picnic. I’ll bring the kool-aid.
I believe next you are supposed to take the skinheads bowling.
Some Ypsi kids sent me a message about wanting to have a Zombie party.
I’m worried that the zombie trend will be as bad as that Warriors remake.
Some White Power-types gave me and a Jewish friend a hard time once at a bowling alley. (After calling us gay for a while they said to my friend, “You look like a Jew. We’ll call you Millhouse.”) I don’t relish the idea of going through that again.
Zombie, Peeps, … es leben die kleinen untoten Suessigkeiten! So niedlich, und lecker, und noch nicht tot!