WHAT KIND OF PERSON WOULD YOU BE IF THE DEAD WALKED THE EARTH?
Well, ok, there is no way that it could ever happen - not even in our world of germ-warfare, diseases and super-flu’s - the dead could never rise up to attack and eat the flesh of the living. But, what I love about zombie movies and any movie that deals with the end of the world is the question at hand. Those scenarios, regardless of how far fetched they are, show the true test of ones character.
So, if the world was falling apart around your ears - what kind of person would you be?
Would you be Barbara from the original Night of the Living Dead? The catatonic, lump of girl flesh? Or Cooper? The one so filled with pre-end-of-the-world hatred the he refused to help anyone? Or, maybe noble Ben? Fighting to save not only yourself, but those around you? Let’s face it, people. While we need to go about or daily business without dwelling on the worlds problems, the end very well could be nigh.
The original ‘Night’, written and directed by one of the worlds true remaining hippies, George Romero, is a social masterpiece in that it questions our values. It takes a broad look at race and the state of the world as it was then. Vietnam was raging and for the first time people were asking - “is this right?”. There was social injustice all around. There were race wars in the streets. And, he took a tiny budget, a handful of talent and presented it all in a “non-threatening” way. Zombies.
Do you realize that was 38 years ago??? In all that time, generation after generation has lived with fear of annihilation. And, here we are - actually closer to it than ever before. What kept us feeling safe back in the day was being rational. We could tell ourselves that the Russian’s wouldn’t drop any nukes on us because we’d strike back and, well game over for the whole world! We knew, even if that tiny voice in our heads told us otherwise, that they wanted to live as much as we did. But, what we have now is a whole other ball game! Now, we’re dealing with folks who don’t care if they live! They don’t care if the whole world dies in the process of blowing up their enemies - which is pretty much everyone anyway!
And, so the question. What kind of person would you be if the sh!t hit the fan? Hero or villain? Coward or cretin? Survivor or victim? Of course, with my vast experience with zombie movies and mulling these kinds of questions over in my head, I generally think that I’d live. But, then I have one of those days......I’m about to walk out the door........keys? Check!, kid? Check! purse? Check!.....ok, let’s go.......get to the door and close it behind us.......look down........WHERE THE HELL ARE MY SHOES????
Ya......I’d so be eaten..........
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I've been asked this question before.
In fact, it's damn scary how people are asking me what I'd do if zombies attacked. lol
I'd be a survivor. I protect myself and my kids first, my husband second, and other family members or friends possible third, and strangers fourth. A very distant fourth. The bigger the group, the more you attract attention. The more you attract attention, the more at risk you are. The more at risk you are, the more you fall on somebody's list of people to annihilate. My group would have no more than 5-6 people.
I'd evaluate the situation and figure out my immediate safety needs vs. long-term safety needs. Hiding is good, but I will need water very quickly, and I can't count on there to be a fresh source. I also know I won't be able to carry large amounts of water, so whatever long-term plan I have must take that into account. Short term involves hiding. Long-term involves a remote area. Again, lots of people equal lots of danger.
Weaponry, I think probably a spear. Lightweight, can be used as a club, and has a blade. I could probably fashion my own, which is good, since I don't know how to acquire a spear otherwise. Sword would be acceptable because I can find enough replica ones, and they will do enough damage if I need them to. If nothing else, I could probably do some damage with whatever I'm carrying, such as my canteen or water bottle.
Things to watch for: not only the ones who cause me harm, but the ones who will cause it inadvertently. If someone is complaining about blisters while things are exploding, and they aren't one of my kids, I'm leaving them at the first opportunity. They will have to account for their own waste of space. The things I grab on the way out the door are one two liter filled with water, whatever highly processed food is within arms reach, and any medical supplies I can grab within seconds. I am a former herbalist, and I can find medicinal plants for whatever ailment I have. Eat whatever you find along the way, drink whenever possible, and save the food and water you bring for true emergencies.
Finally, if it is the living dead, I go high in buildings and smash the staircase behind me, at least temporarily. If its terrorists, I have to actually evaluate things a bit more. Where are they going to go, what's their purpose? These are living, thinking beings, and it changes the game significantly. But the key with either is not to be afraid, but evaluate what's going on, and what I can realistically do to keep myself safe.
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well thought out, IG
I've had this conversation before, too. The last time was with Bubba - also a fan of the genre! Here, the best place to go would be this local mall that actually is a lot like the mall from 'Dawn of the Dead'! Weapons - I'm thinking guns and a sword. As Nick Frost says - you never have to re-load a sword! Plus, it gives you good killing distance.
I love these movies because they are a true test of ones character. How we'd survive, if we'd survive. It's all about the will to live, really. And, with the world is as it is now, there's more likelyhood that we'd need to have some kind of survival plan than in all the generations before us. It's scary to think, but if there was a full scale attack - even the non-nuke kind - we may find ourselves in a state not unlike George Romero's movies.
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Guns are good for a short
Guns are good for a short term plan, but I don't want to fumble with bullets in an emergency. Now, for zombies, the best weapon would probably be a small shovel because it has several uses. For real-life situations, avoidance is the best course of action. When I'm walking down the streets in a different city or a different country, I'm always looking to make sure I'm aware of what's going on. It's not because I think something is going to happen, but so that I can be prepared in case something does.
As far as a "full-scale attack", I honestly don't think it will happen. Here's why. Terrorism is typically meant to cause panic, rather than a high number of casualties. 9/11 was the worst attack on US soil. Let's round off the number killed at 3000. To completely wipe out the entire United States, you would have to have one attack at that magnitude for the next 273 years. And that's assuming that people stop breeding so the population is only going downward. The 9/11 Commission estimates that over 16000 were below the impact zones, and the vast majority of these people survived. Meaning, despite what Bush claims, the terrorists HAVE won. They struck terror into the hearts of Americans, and made them think that anywhere in the country was vulnerable. I believe that their goal was not to make people die as much as it was to make them think they could.
The second biggest attack wasn't even done by citizens of a foreign country. It was done by an American to other Americans. It was the Murrah bombing, and I lived in Oklahoma when it all happened. Another 4 out of the top 8 worst terrorist actions against the US happened in 1920 or earlier.
In other words, the people doing the killing and the timeline of the killings aren't quite like the elected officials are making them out to be.
That being said, we're already in a Romero movie. I know a lot of zombies. Go to work, shop at Walmart, watch American Idol, and never question anything. Sounds a lot like the zombies who go to the mall because of some residual memory. ;)
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full scale attack
It doesn't have to be of the bombing kind. And, as you pointed out, we already have our own people trying to kill us. So, if we were to be cut off from everything - all things electronic, satillights for cell phones and internet, newswires, etc - that alone would devistate us as a country. If you were to add to that the release of an airborn virus from stratigic points in the country -we'd be fucked.
I'd prefer to think that we've seen the worst of any attacks on our soil. But, if enough people were organised enough......like I said, even of the non-nuke kind of attack.
But, for the movies and an attack of the dead, I'd like to think I'd know enough tricks to survive and to help others survive. I guess, I'd like to think I would be Ben. But, thanks to those movies, corpses scare the hell out of me! Can't go near em! So, I wonder if I'd just hide in an attic til someone shows up to save us!
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good question
even though i think i am a total coward when it comes to scary shite like this and the supernatural, i think my fight or flight instinct would kick in and i would turn into a total kick ass bitch in order to protect my family. i should really start working out.....get some guns goin like that chick in terminator...or was it robocop? oh lord, my memory aint what it used to be.....so maybe i would get eaten up too....or i could be the damsel in distress and let my hubby do all the work...
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As long as you remember
which end of the gun is the dangerous one! Ya, I'd watch one of the zombie movies and wonder what if I looked down into the courtyard and saw some walking around? What would I do???
But, mostly I wonder about survival skill in general. "What if" seems to be the best way to really get people thinking.
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In a statement that's sure
In a statement that's sure to be proven incorrect within a few days, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that terrorism is terrorism. If you can scare the other person, you win. Take the anthrax scare a few years ago. That was not bombing related, and it had the potential to be a great big mess because of the way letters are routed. And yet, it's purpose was to frighten more than to kill. And even if they can manage to set off some airborne virus that takes out the US- or even all of North and South America- I believe that's not the real message. The message is more of "We can get the US, so the rest of you better fall in line and do what we say." Same with food or water supply, same with bombs, same with pretty much everything.
Oh, and above, I left out a part that's sort of important to the whole point. What I wrote was "you would have to have one attack at that magnitude for the next 273 years." What I meant was ONCE A DAY for 273 years. So we can choose to be defined by that one moment, or we can be aware but unafraid.
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yep, you jinxed us!
I'm sure the east coast will be blown up tomorrow! You could be right - or wrong. That was what really kept the fear alive durning the cold war. Most people didn't believe the Russians would actually bomb us - but that little voice kept us thinking that MAYBE someone would snap and do it!
What scares me - like you pointed out, and I have as well - terrorism isn't new and has been happening all around us for decades. But, what scares me is the idea that someone, somewhere might get tired of just sending messages. That they might decide the only way to really get the rest of the world to fall in line is to wipe us out. How they'd do it? Who knows. Could be our own people or the sleeper cells we keep hearing about. But, that's what does it for me. Knowing that it could happen, praying it won't.
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Oooo, good question. And one I have actually thought about....
that is, maybe not with zombies in the picture, but you know, the whole Armegeddon-type thing. And frankly, I'd just high-tail it to the mountains, build myself a little tree-house and hide from whatever was killing off everyone else. I'd take plenty of books and my cats and spend the rest of my life running up and down the mountain for whatever supplies I could scrounge and raiding all the libraries. At one time I had a really nice little fantasy built up around this kind of thing. Just the thing to keep you sane after 10 or 12 hours a day locked up in a looney bin (some people call it "the office").
Me too, PW!!!!!
After I read 'The Stand' a million years ago, I put together my own little fantasy. Not in a tree...well, we all know how much I can't deal with nature! But, like in the book, a little town maybe - or even in the top floor of a tall building in a big city! Yes, the isolation.....no phones (cuz everybody's dead).......no knocks at my door (cuz everybody's dead)......just me and music and food and movies and the kid (cuz everybody's dead)......er, but maybe one cool and hot guy who's smart and funny and healthy (cuz everybody's dead!) and likes all the things I like (hey, he has no choice cuz everybody's dead!)
Even in the mall during 'Dawn of the Dead' - most fans will say that they ENVY the characters! Guess we're not so weird, huh? Just a tad meglomaniacal, maybe......
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Ha!Ha! Spooky, I got my fantasy from "The Stand", too!
What a HOOT! Yeah, I picked tree-house cause that makes it even more isolated. Don't want no children of the devil (or zombies) tracking me down in some town. :-D
Isn't that a hoot, PW???
Wow! I was really affected by that book for a long time. The idea of being surrounded by only "good" people was very appealing! And, the idea of the world really starting over - all the bad swept clean and the chance to really be happy in a new world. Of course, my twisted little mind all these years later asks - what happened down the line? Over time? What badness in those good came out in order to have real balance? Without evil there can be no good, right?
That really blows my mind that we were both inspired in that way by the same book! Hhhhmmmm, two pees in a piranha tank?
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Now this is where I would be of great value to some
Sassys
people...I would most definitely open one big ass can of whoop ass! I may get killed, but I will be taking someone or two with me for sure:)