Laughing In The Face Of Death

The zombie apocalypse began with the introduction of Romero’s zombie into the film genre. The idea that, if uncontained, zombie-ism could take over the world created a new obsession that would spurn new media that the current generation of young adults (age 17-30) would embrace whole-heartedly. 

"Danger Due To ZOMBIES!"
Picture taken on Humber College-Lakeshore Campus

According to cracked.com ‘The average nerd spends three hours a day thinking about the zombie apocalypse.’ While this website is not a reliable source when it comes to facts it gives us an exaggerated statistic that we can then work back from to look at how this phenomenon has garnered the attention of teenagers and young adults.

With the development of new video games such as Left 4 Dead or Dead Rising and zombie films such as Zombieland (2009), the zombie obsessed are able to poke fun at the zombie apocalypse. Consumers of this media can feel like they can handle a zombie apocalypse and most find the situations or cut scenes in many of these games and movies humorous. This can also be said of the original zombie films where the poor makeup and effects made the zombies appear almost laughable. That is, until they overwhelm all but one or two of the main characters. 

In a way this fabricated apocalypse empowers a generation by giving them the idea that when this event occurs they will be the sole survivors. Even now, college campuses across Canada are preparing their students by warning them of the impending plague.