Is Interest in the Zombie Genre wrong?

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Agatha813

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The other day, a Protestant friend said I was wrong because I take interest in the Zombie genre and told me to stay away from it because it compromises my relationship with God.

And by taking interest, I mean being interested in the moral aspect of a zombie apocalypse. I’m not into the occult in any way, shape, or form, but was still left with that question in mind. I usually like to think about what I would do in the event of a zombie apocalypse and stuff like that. I don’t emerge myself in trying to bring people back from the dead or anything like that.

So, am I wrong? I’d really like to hear a Catholic perspective on this. I respect my Protestant friend, but I know that we won’t see eye-to-eye on these matters all the time.
 
I don’t see anything wrong with reading it if you understand your faith well enough. If the moral of the story tends toward immorality or glorifying evil, however, you may want to stay away. But fiction where tissue is reanimated is not much different than Frankenstein. I think your Protestant friend may be a little scrupulous––perhaps he/she is confusing Haitian voodoo zombie curses with the modern “zombie apocalypse” fictional adventure/horror. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with reading the latter––unless again the story itself is immoral. You might be interested in reading my “Catholic moments” review on the book World War Z. 😉
 
Theologically, no.
Intellectually, yes. Zombie Genre always seemed trite and juvenile to me. What’s the appeal?
 
Agatha813 said:
I usually like to think about what I would do in the event of a zombie apocalypse and stuff like that…
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Lol…I live by an Airforce base…so I think that’s the first place I’d run to…

If not…I’d decide to find refuge in the mountains, as a plan B.

(This is all assuming that I’m in Colorado).
Orangebookbag said:
What’s the appeal?
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Zombie fiction, shows, movies, costumes, et cetera has been trending lately, among the younger tranche, of age groups.
 
Protestants tend to be nearly allergic to anything dark. Part of their culture for some reason.
 
Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut! I was talking about being interested in the genre as a whole. I’m not into anything that would glorify it, nor am I into Haitian voodoo.

I think the common appeal to it revolved around the morality involved and the types of places one would look for shelter. It’s not real and it never will be, but it’s interesting to talk about. Especially the morality portion of it. I don’t necessarily think it’s a juvenile thing. I’ve seen all ages take interest in at least the morality part.

To each his own though. 🙂
 
I recall that the well known Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin has written an article discussing the morality of dealing with zombies. It was both funny and thought provoking. I’ll try to find a link to it.
 
There should be a place for people like us… Zombies Anonymous. I love zombie movies. What I think I like the most about them is the teamwork involved. I’ve never been much on having a large amount of friends. My family are my friends. So I’ve always enjoyed the eventual friendship and teams that form up in order to fight against “the evil horde of zombies”. Sometimes I think a lot of zombie movie fans are interested in the genre because of a certain “aloofness” from society that we can feel at times. It’s hard to put into words… but seeing a bunch of people that normally would have nothing to do with each other under normal circumstances band together and work well as a team is quite fun 😃
 
Sebrina said:
There should be a place for people like us… Zombies Anonymous. I love zombie movies. What I think I like the most about them is the teamwork involved. I’ve never been much on having a large amount of friends. My family are my friends. So I’ve always enjoyed the eventual friendship and teams that form up in order to fight against “the evil horde of zombies”. Sometimes I think a lot of zombie movie fans are interested in the genre because of a certain “aloofness” from society that we can feel at times. It’s hard to put into words… but seeing a bunch of people that normally would have nothing to do with each other under normal circumstances band together and work well as a team is quite fun 😃
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I think so too! I also do like the teamwork component of a zombie apocalypse.
 
Orangebookbag said:
Theologically, no.
Intellectually, yes. Zombie Genre always seemed trite and juvenile to me. What’s the appeal?
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You have obviously not watched Shaun of the dead. If you can’t see the appeal in humorous situations then 🤷
 
I have struggled with this same question myself so I am interested to see what others have to say.

I think the attraction for me in zombie fiction is the idea of a radically simplified life for the suppliers- no more sweating the small stuff.
 
I don’t see it as any more wrong than any other form of entertainment. Also, modern zombie fiction often doesn’t even mention voodoo or the ocult in any fashion. These days, it’s usually caused by a virus or parasite.
Orangebookbag said:
Intellectually, yes. Zombie Genre always seemed trite and juvenile to me. What’s the appeal?
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The appeal comes in several forms. For one thing, zombies are diverse and can be used for any main genre. It can be horror with the zombies narrowing in on a small collection, it can be action where it’s one guy guns blazing (or several people working together to overcome it), and the drama of shooting the characters shooting their own people who have been turned into zombies.

For another thing, zombies are easy targets, and make for easy writing. Zombies have no motive; they need no motive other than to feed. Zombies are also universally hated, you don’t need to create motives for your villain (unless your villain is the madman who unleashed the virus on the world). Fiction goes in cycles, there is always a popular doomsday bringer. First it was aliens, then nuclear radiation induced mutants, and now virus induced zombies. It is culturally interesting that we have made viruses into a sort of boogie man.

They also make for easy fantasy. Zombies are slow and stupid, therefore it is easy for a person to imagine themselves surviving in a given zombie apocalyptic scenario. It also allows one an imaginary apocalyptic playground, as it’s one of the few ways to have an apocalypse setting, and still leave the wilderness and stuff more or less intact (a war of apocalyptic scale would leave the world in ashes, and a conventional disease would kill too easily, zombies are the only disease you can see and easily avoid, but still believably succumb to if you’re not careful). The only way it’d be sinful though is if you’re super violent and like to imagine yourself in the fantasy because it’d give you an excuse to imagine killing people with no moral reprecussions.

These reasons sound silly, but really, similar rules can be applied to any genre. When you get down to it, pretty much all entertainment is a pointless waste of time; the key is finding a pointless waste of time that you enjoy.
 
You might enjoy a current thread on here re: is a zombie still a person. 😃
 
Sebrina said:
There should be a place for people like us… Zombies Anonymous. I love zombie movies. What I think I like the most about them is the teamwork involved. I’ve never been much on having a large amount of friends. My family are my friends. So I’ve always enjoyed the eventual friendship and teams that form up in order to fight against “the evil horde of zombies”. Sometimes I think a lot of zombie movie fans are interested in the genre because of a certain “aloofness” from society that we can feel at times. It’s hard to put into words… but seeing a bunch of people that normally would have nothing to do with each other under normal circumstances band together and work well as a team is quite fun 😃
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SPOCKRATES: Hi, I’m Spock, and I’m a zombie addict.

FELLOW ADDICTS: (In unison) Hi Spock!

😃

I have to say I’m glad AMC has settled its legal dispute with Dish and is now airing Walking Dead once again. Love the character development in the show (of the survivors, not the zombies).

I think the zombie notion has played on the fears of people for many centuries. Saint Paul wrote:

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

(Romans 7:24)

As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

(Romans 8:36)

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

(Ephesians 2)

The struggle against death from without–zombies–and death from within–being infected by them and becoming one of them–resonates with many a childish geek like me. Perhaps because they remind me of my real struggle against sin and death. For me, there’s a kind of thoughtful reflection behind the fun of the films and TV shows.

🙂
 
Orangebookbag said:
Intellectually, yes. Zombie Genre always seemed trite and juvenile to me. What’s the appeal?
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Cuz they’re actually pretty darn fun… whether you’re surviving against them, shooting them, hacking them…

… they’re also awesome to command! They don’t need to eat, sleep, never fear about getting killed (cuz they’re already dead), and all you need to enslave them is either psionic powers or a lifestealing sword/grimoire.

Imp Lackey: My lord… bows your undying army awaits! What does thou command?

LW: Keep any pretty ones alive! Kill the rest!! AAHAHAHAHAH!!! >BD thunder crackles Let it be known that those sissy vampires are not the only horrors to be feared!!!
 
How interesting! Didn’t realize there’s plenty of people that like this genre. To be honest, I haven’t really read zombie books. I usually watch shows, or movies. I’ll always take suggestions for good zombie stuff. 🙂
 
Agatha813 said:
How interesting! Didn’t realize there’s plenty of people that like this genre. To be honest, I haven’t really read zombie books. I usually watch shows, or movies. I’ll always take suggestions for good zombie stuff. 🙂
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We should start a group, here!

😃
 
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