Fight the Dead, Fear Reality: a Fantasy Theme Analysis of the Walking Dead
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University of Texas at El Paso DigitalCommons@UTEP Open Access Theses & Dissertations 2018-01-01 Fight the Dead, Fear Reality: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of The alW king Dead Katherine Elizabeth Alanis Ramirez University of Texas at El Paso, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation Alanis Ramirez, Katherine Elizabeth, "Fight the Dead, Fear Reality: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of The alW king Dead" (2018). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 32. https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd/32 This is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UTEP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UTEP. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FIGHT THE DEAD, FEAR REALITY: A FANTASY THEME ANALYSIS OF THE WALKING DEAD KATHERINE ELIZABETH ALANIS RAMIREZ Master’s Program in Communication APPROVED: Roberto Avant-Mier, Ph.D., Chair Carlos Tarin, Ph.D. Jeffrey Sirkin, Ph.D. Charles H. Ambler, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School Copyright © by Katherine Alanis Ramirez 2018 Dedication “Since childhood, I’ve been faithful to monsters. I have been saved and absolved by them, because monsters, I believe, are patron saints of our blissful imperfection and they allow and embody the possibility of failing.” – Guillermo del Toro, Golden Globes, 2018 This project stems from my love of television, monsters and all things spooky. It is my curiosity working hard to understand all of the things that I love. I dedicate this project to all of my monsters, be it the ones I fear, the ones I love, or the ones that make me wonder FIGHT THE DEAD, FEAR REALITY: A FANTASY THEME ANALYSIS OF THE WALKING DEAD by KATHERINE ELIZABETH ALANIS RAMIREZ, BA THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at El Paso in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Communication THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO December 2018 Acknowledgements If it weren’t for the love of my family and friends, this project would not have been possible. It is they who fully embrace my love for all things weird and abnormal. It is they who accept that I would rather sit and watch television than be out in the world doing who knows what. It is they who understand that monsters, ghosts, witches, and zombies are not limited to the month of October, but are in fact an everyday obsession. It is they who listen to me talk about the need to be ready for the zombie apocalypse that will never come. It is they, who even when I believed that I could not do it, even when I believed that it was not good enough, or long enough, even when I wanted to give up, pushed me to keep going. So thank you to my mom and dad, my siblings…all of them, my beautiful nieces and nephews, and my two best friends, who after ten years still wont give up on me. I would save you in a zombie apocalypse no matter what. To my professors and mentors who have helped me along the way. It means more than you would understand. To my committee, I appreciate what you have done to get me to the finish line. I know it’s been a long way there. Dr. Tarin, from Speech and Debate to a master’s thesis, your help was more than I could have asked for. Dr. Sirkin, your classes were my haven, a place where I could talk about all the things that I already loved and get a grade for them. I hope you inspire others like you inspired me. Dr. Avant-Mier, I have learned so much and am so grateful that you were with me every step of the way. I could not have done this without you, and I could not have picked a better person. I hope you know all of the stress I put you through was worth it. It was important to me to write about something that I truly loved. I approached this thesis with caution, because I didn’t want to end up hating something that has been a passion of mine for years. Through the completion of this thesis, I have not only found a new and different appreciation for television shows, but my love for The Walking Dead has grown. On top of that, I’ve found that the most important part of the completion of this project was that I could feel a sense of pride in myself that I had never felt before. v Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. This thesis has been a source of stress, anxiety, love, and excitement. I’m sad that it’s over, but I’m extremely happy that it’s done. vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................v Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1: Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Literature Review .....................................................................................................9 Popular Culture and Television ........................................................................................9 The Monstrous Other/Monsters in Poular Culture ..........................................................10 Zombies ...........................................................................................................................13 Zombies in Entertainment ...............................................................................................15 Chapter 3: Methodology ..........................................................................................................21 Fantasy Theme Analysis .................................................................................................21 Research Goals and Questions ........................................................................................25 Chapter 4: Setting Up The Walking Dead ...............................................................................28 Dramatis Personae ..........................................................................................................28 Season 1 .................................................................................................................28 Merle Dixon ..................................................................................................27 Shane Walsh ..................................................................................................29 Ed Peletier .....................................................................................................30 Season 2 .................................................................................................................31 Shane Walsh ..................................................................................................31 Season 3 .................................................................................................................32 Michonne ......................................................................................................32 Merle Dixon ..................................................................................................33 Phillip Blake.................................................................................................33 Season 4 .................................................................................................................34 Phillip Blake ............................................................................................................ 34 The Claimers ........................................................................................................... 35 Carol Peletier ........................................................................................................... 36 Lizzie Samuels ........................................................................................................ 37 Rick Grimes ............................................................................................................. 37 Season 5 .................................................................................................................38 vii The People of Terminus .......................................................................................... 38 Gareth ...................................................................................................................... 39 Carol Peletier ........................................................................................................... 39 Father Gabriel .......................................................................................................... 40 Deanna ..................................................................................................................... 40 Officer Gorman ....................................................................................................... 41 Rick Grimes ............................................................................................................. 41 Scene and Setting ............................................................................................................42 Season 1 .................................................................................................................42 The Hospital ..................................................................................................42 Atlanta Camp ................................................................................................42 Atlanta CDC