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A Sociological Analysis of Contemporary Zombie Films As Mirrors of Social Fears a Thesis Submitted To Fear Rises from the Dead: A Sociological Analysis of Contemporary Zombie Films as Mirrors of Social Fears A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in Sociology University of Regina By Cassandra Anne Ozog Regina, Saskatchewan January 2013 ©2013 Cassandra Anne Ozog UNIVERSITY OF REGINA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINING COMMITTEE Cassandra Anne Ozog, candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology, has presented a thesis titled, Fear Rises from the Dead: A Sociological Analysis of Contemporary Zombie Films as Mirrors of Social Fears, in an oral examination held on December 11, 2012. The following committee members have found the thesis acceptable in form and content, and that the candidate demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject material. External Examiner: Dr. Nicholas Ruddick, Department of English Supervisor: Dr. John F. Conway, Department of Sociology & Social Studies Committee Member: Dr. JoAnn Jaffe, Department of Sociology & Social Studies Committee Member: Dr. Andrew Stevens, Faculty of Business Administration Chair of Defense: Dr. Susan Johnston, Department of English *Not present at defense ABSTRACT This thesis explores three contemporary zombie films, 28 Days Later (2002), Land of the Dead (2005), and Zombieland (2009), released between the years 2000 and 2010, and provides a sociological analysis of the fears in the films and their relation to the social fears present in North American society during that time period. What we consume in entertainment is directly related to what we believe, fear, and love in our current social existence. Thus, this paper argues that the rise in popularity of zombie films, and zombies in general, is directly connected to our fears and anxieties as a culture, and that the decade 2000-2010 was one of particularly heightened social fears and apocalyptic anxieties. The theories used in this research demonstrate the cycle where our cultural beliefs and values inform our daily fears and understandings of the world, which are then represented in our entertainment and re-interpreted in our consumption of it. The films are dissected using the theories of film critic Sigfried Kracauer, political economist C.B. MacPherson, and film theorist Kirsten Moana Thompson and a process of qualitative content analysis to identify, analyze, and connect the fears in the films with those in the social climate of the decade studied. This paper argues that the drastic increase in popularity of the zombie at the turn of the millennium directly reflects major fears in the decade: of pandemics, of untrustworthy authority, and of the total collapse of social order. We need to pay special attention to our forms of entertainment, as they speak volumes about the social climate in any particular epoch in our history. We may use what we learn in future research and social analysis. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, and the Department of Sociology and Social Studies at the University of Regina for their generous funding through Teaching Assistant positions and bursary awards. I wish to thank the members of my committee, Dr. William Stahl and Dr. JoAnn Jaffe for their continuous help, hard work and inspiration on this project. In particular I would like to thank Dr. John Conway, who, as my advisor, showed no end in support. You are graciously kind and endlessly knowledgeable. But above all, you are supportive and encouraging of spirits like me. Thank you for allowing your students to act ridiculous and dream big. A very important thank you also goes to my department cohorts, Julie Yu and Sean Sunley (the Little Experts). Without your brilliant advice and constant laughter, I am quite certain I would not have been able to see this project through. You are two of the kindest, most inspiring human beings to grace this Earth, and our world is just a little better off because you are in it. A giant thank you goes to my family, in particular Mom and Dad, without whom this project, or my education for that matter, would not be possible. My family, luckily, also includes all of my beautiful friends I have in my life. I love all of you so much. I will be forever, and always, grateful to Meagan Caya and Megan Raes, who have kindly and delicately held on to my sanity for well over a decade. When I write of hope, it is always with you in my heart. The two of you are all the good parts of me. And to Eric Oleson, my partner in all things: there are no words powerful enough to thank you, only love. ii POST DEFENSE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks go to the defense chair, Dr. Susan Johnston, for her good-natured humour and inspiring and encouraging words before and after the defense. And my endless gratitude goes to Dr. Nicholas Ruddick, the External Examiner, who not only provided much engaging and challenging discussion in the defense, but inspired this project many years ago, and has since always been willing to spare a moment to offer critique, encouragement, and of course, zombie talk. iii DEDICATION For the writers: Stop whispering, start shouting. Tear it down. Stay loud. And for Dori: You matter. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii POST DEFENSE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii DEDICATION iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF FIGURES vii 1. Introduction: 2000-2010 - A Decade of Dread 1 1.1 Understanding Fear: Why 2000-2012? 3 1.2 The Power of the Undead: Zombies as the Ultimate Social Monster 8 2. “It’s only a movie…”: Understanding the Theoretical Connection between Film and Society 13 2.1 Understanding film as Representative of our Social Environment – Siegfried Kracauer 13 2.2 A Culture of Fear – C. B. MacPherson 16 2.3 A Decade of Fear: Kirsten Moana Thompson and Millennial Dread 22 3. Finding the Fear: Methods of Qualitative Social Film Analysis 27 3.1 Approaches to Critical Film Analysis 27 3.2 Research Design 30 3.3 Film Selection Criteria 31 3.4 The Fears 32 3.5 Coding 33 4. A Decade of Fear Begins: War, Disease, and Mistrust in 28 Days Later (2002) 37 4.1 Film Synopsis and Concept 39 4.2 Viral Infections and Pandemic Diseases 41 4.3 Mistrust of Authority and Structural Breakdown 47 4.4 Racial Tensions 54 4.5 Rage 57 5. In the Centre of the Storm: Race, Class, and a War on Terror in Land of the Dead (2005) 59 5.1 Film Synopsis and Concept 61 5.2 9/11 and the War on Terror 64 5.3 Power, Social Control, and Class Division 68 5.4 Racial Fears and the Threat of the Other 71 v 6. Brave New World: Surviving the Destruction of Traditional Society in Zombieland (2009) 77 6.1 Film Synopsis and Concept 78 6.2 Survival Against the Other 80 6.3 The Destruction of Social Order and Traditional Values 85 7. Conclusion: Looking Back, Trudging Forward - Zombies and Fear as Knowledge for the Future 96 REFERENCES 105 vi LIST OF FIGURES 1. The Three Theories Inform and Shape Each Other 25 2. The Increase of Zombie Films After the Year 2000 36 vii Chapter 1 – Introduction: 2000-2010 - A Decade of Dread Recently, a friend sent me a link to a website with a map of the world. You enter in your address, and the website provides you with an up-to-date list of emergency services, shelters, and locations to procure food and survival gear. This is not so one may be prepared for a natural disaster or terrorist attack. This is specifically to survive the coming zombie apocalypse. Indeed, even the Centre for Disease Control in the United States has sent out news releases on how to prepare for a zombie outbreak (CDC, 2012). Tongue and cheek though it may be, the underlying fascination is the same. Zombies are everywhere. And yet, how did an obscure monster rooted in Haitian mythology and depicted in black and white horror films, stumble its way into the mass consciousness of today’s popular culture? And further, why do zombies, and the threat of social collapse they bring with them, continue to appear in every corner of our culture: in movies, television, books, graphic novels, clothing, children’s toys and even government-funded organizations such as the CDC? At the time of writing, the television show The Walking Dead on cable network AMC, the first ever prime time television show dealing exclusively with life after a zombie plague has infected America, is pulling in ratings that rival those of more traditional prime time sitcoms. The sheer number of zombie-related products is overwhelming, and the consumption of these products shows no signs of slowing down. What is it about these mindless, cannibalistic monsters that demands our attention? While some might write off zombies as a mere entertainment fad, our love affair with the undead is in fact related directly to the social environment in which we live, and 1 in particular to the social fears and anxieties we experience as a society. Indeed, the last ten years has seen more zombie films made than in any other decade since their introduction to North American society. But perhaps what draws our attention to these films is not so much the zombies, but the situations the zombies create – the total collapse of our society and way of life. It is nearly impossible for the audience not to put themselves in that scenario, and to relate their own fears through the experience of film.
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