Intertextuality Connections

Shaun of the Dead (2004) - Genre: Film

Four Horizontal Intertextual Connections:


Night of the Living Dead (1968) - Genre: Film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063350/
The first of the cult loved "Dead" trilogy directed by George A. Romero, this low budget zombie movie was one of the first of its kind to become popular.  As is the norm for Romero's movies, Night of the Living Dead has an underlying theme.  This one in particular touched on the racial tension that was prevalent during the late 60s, with a zombie twist!  This film helped define what the undead where: slow walking, flesh-eating ghouls who can only be killed by "removing the head, or destroying the brain."






Dead Alive (1992) - Genre: Film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103873/
Not only does this little zombie gem directed by Peter Jackson have the connection of undead, or zombies in it, but it could also be defined as a Zomedy (Zombie-Comedy) or a Rom-Zom (Romantic Zombie flick).  Similar in plot and style, Shaun implements a romantic love interest, and uses humor and slapstick to push the story along.


Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) - Genre: Film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040068/
It may be a stretch to see the intertextual connections with this one, but there are actually a couple.  This comedy duo took the horror film genre, much like Shaun of the Dead, and put a comedic spin to entertain audiences in a new way.  However, the connection that it possibly more significant is that Abbot and Costello helped define the Buddy film genre.  Two, seemingly alike friends, who are in actuality very different and tend to experience somewhat bizarre shenanigans together.


Day of the Dead (1985) - Genre: Film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088993/
This is the third movie In Romero's "Dead" trilogy.  It sparked the idea of the undead being able to be taught and relearn human functions in order to adapt them to better society (instead of tearing it apart).  They did this using the character Bud, who was slowly gaining back motor functions and learning minuscule tasks such as using the phone.  Shaun of the Dead incorporates this idea at the end of the movie when society was on its way back to normal.  However, we see the undead being used at grocery stores to fetch shopping carts and has main topics on day time talk shows.

Four Vertical Intertextual Connections:


The Zombie Survival Guide (2003) - Genre: Literature
Though comical at times, Max Brooks actually wrote a very detailed and in depth guide to surviving a possible zombie outbreak.  Even Max Brooks will admit that writing it was all in fun, and that he doesn't truly believe it to be a possibility.  However, it devises many plans, tactics, and escape measures that are reincorporated numerous times in Zombie adaptations.  His emphasis on blunt objects as a great defense is possibly the motivation for Shaun's use of the cricket bat in Shaun of the Dead.

Zombies Ate My Neighbor (1994) - Genre: Video Game
I remember playing this game years ago on SNES.  The goal of the game is not solely survival like many zombie games.  Instead, the goal is to rescue neighbors and friends from their houses.  If the the level is not completed in enough time, the zombie (or other monsters in the game) eat your neighbor.  This idea is often used in zombie films, including Shaun of the Dead.  Once Shaun and Ed were able to grasp the situation at hand, they run to rescue his girlfriends and her flatmates, soon followed by the rescuing of his mother and stepfather.  Of course, they arrived just in time.

Resident Evil 2 (1998) - Genre: Video Game
Although the first Resident Evil game could also be mentioned, I think the second game really does the genre justice.  This is really the game that made survival horror video games popular.  It further defined the slow moving, white faced zombie, shuffling and groaning for flesh.  Be cautious of those bitten, and always aim for the head.  Shaun of the Dead also realized the fear Resident Evil produced using undead hands busting through boarded windows and blocked doors.  Classic Zombie action!

Dracula (1987) - Genre: Literature

Though the era is very different, a lot of themes used in vampire myth are used to form the zombie genre.  A living creature who is actually dead, who feasts on the living to maintain a tortured immortality.  The common theme is fear of the dead and supernatural.  Also, there are specific ways to kill a vampire, such as there are for werewolves, and zombies.

Two Public Tertiary Texts:

Desson Thompson - Staff Writer, Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44729-2004Sep23.html
 "In this movie, you enjoy the comedy and like the characters, a rare thing to expect in a zombie sendup. While saluting the genre and enjoying a lot of laughs, writers Pegg and Wright don't just knock this one out of the park, they keep their eye on the ball all the way."


James Berardinelli - Film Critic, Reelviews.net
http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=698
"There were times when, while watching George Romero's zombie movies, I had to stifle laughter. Cheesy moments abound, although die-hards will deny this. Wright reproduces many of those instances here, but with a difference. In the Dead movies, we're laughing at the film. In Shaun, we're laughing with the director."


Two Signifiers

The Zombie

  The idea of Zombies in this movie, and many others, are SYMBOLIC.  They always seem to be a critic on human nature and mankind.  Often times they are used to show the evils of racism and materialism like in Romero's films.  In Shaun of the Dead, I think zombies are compared to the two main characters, Shaun and Ed.  These unmotivated, slacker-protagonists are oblivious to the outbreak happening around them because they're too wrapped up in playing video games and visiting the pub.  

Fear of the Death or Dying

Though Shaun of the Dead is indeed a comedy, it still has horror aspects underlying humorous situations.  This fear of the dead is ICONIC.  People have always been infatuated and afraid of death and the unknown.  This film uses this fear by bringing the dead back to life and having them eat, kill, and change the living to something slow, disgusting, and miserable.  A lot of zombie films like to leave the cause of the disease to the imagination.  Others suggest radiation from space, plagues or viruses, and even the emotion rage.  Shaun likes to keep the audience guessing by subtly leaving possible answers in newspaper articles and radio/news reports.   Not only do is impending doom a big concern, but having no idea what you're up against, and how to over come it, is possibly even scarier.

A Fine Line between Funny and Offensive

Humor can be clever like a play on words or crude like toilet humor.  More often, humor is found in misery.  Other people's misery, to be specific.  Slapstick comedy's main focus is literally when a character endures some sort of physical pain.  Probably the most popular example of this would be The Three Stooges.  There isn't much more to Larry, Curly, and Mo than poking out eyes, and slapping the backs of heads.  Humor is also found in making fun of appearances, gestures, and actions.  If someone talks funny, has a big nose, or has odd interests, they become perfect candidates to be the butt of a joke.  But when do caricatures of life as a whole become offensive?  The phrase "too soon?" often follows a snarky remark, taken too seriously.  Do we need to be cautious and sensitive to everyone's feelings?  Or do people need to relax, and take things less seriously?  Offensive comedy is prevalent and isn't going anywhere.  Family Guy and Southpark will continue to push the envelop to see how offensive they can be.  It just makes me wonder if there's a line, and if so, where do we draw it?

Today's Thoughts on the American Dream

Can it ever be achieved?  I know some people seem to be lucky enough to reach that state of nirvana.  But weren't we always told that few actually make it?  The rest of us are forced to reincarnate the same ideas in attempt to live the dream, and hopefully finding the answer to life.  Or Maybe it's the question we're supposed to find, and the answer is to live.  Experience.  Breathe in the world around you and hold it in.  In anything, you'll get a little high.  And to some that's what it's all about: finding those little blissful, euphoric moments that spark throughout our lifetimes.  It seems cruel that for some, these sparks come easier and more frequent, resembling more of a giant bonfire or a neighborhood perhaps, engulfed in flames.  The rest of us are lucky if our rusted Zippo has any fluid left. 

So then we strive, in hopes to thrive.  The harder we work, the more we reap, remember?  The Hardwork leads to Success, leading to happiness and achieving the goal.  The Dream.  The Answer.  Super easy, right?  The difficult part comes when beginning the journey to achieve nirvana, happiness.  My generation has been raised on video games, cheese puffs, and the idea that watching Kevin Smith movies in your parents' basement past a certain age is still acceptable.

However, it takes more than just hard work, but you must live and experience.  After all, if you spend your whole life working, and not enjoying the process and the journey, what's the point?  It doesn't help that American civilization has bred a race of A.D.D. addled children who are the future.  The need for constant stimulation and fresh interaction drives me to search for new places, challenges, and environments.  If that stimulation isn't met boredom ensues.  Depression and laziness are quick to follow, and some how I'll find myself stuck in a hole, which is the couch in front of the TV.

I'm ready to start the journey into the unknown and discover what American has to offer.  I want to experience what many have, as well as experiences what others have never dreamed to find.  Denying that America, specifically the United States has serious problems would be wrong.  Though I believe that the country still offers opportunity to those actively searching for it.  Just not everyone reaches their goal after the opportunity is given to them.  It's incredibly rare for anything to be easy, but I'll sure appreciate it, if it ever is.

Check, please!

One of my favorite thought provoking questions to be asked is "Who would you invite to dinner?"  The guidelines are they can be dead or alive, famous or not, and can be fictional or real.  In other words, there basically are no guidelines.  There are quite a few people on my list to invite, so here are just a few.

At the top of my list, I would want to invite Tyler Durden, from Fight Club.  A oddball to say the least, Tyler would definitely have plenty of fascinating conversation topics, perhaps about making soap, napalm, etc.  Before I would order my food, I would definitely have to get his word that he didn't tamper with any of the food in the kitchen, as he has a tendency to do.  Finally, after getting a head full of preaching against consumerism and material needs, I'm pretty sure he'd insist on bolting before the check comes.  A meal I would never forget, and a restaurant I could never return to.

My other dinner guest would never yield to boring conversation.  Educating the masses with facts about bears and beet farms, Dwight Shrute from The Office would be my second choice.  He would probably be little rude and off putting, but the random useless facts would definitely come in handy at Trivia Night at the bar.  After using the gift certificate we won from Trivia to pay our bar tab, he would probably have to call it a night.  After all, he can't talk about science fiction all night.  Assistant to the Regional Manager has a lot of responsibilities.

Dwelving into the American Nightmare

Everyone has some idea of what the American Dream means to them.  However, each interpretation is different in theme and achievement.  The means to reaching the goal and even the goal itself are ideas unique to the individual dreamer.  So much so, it seems almost inconceivable to attempt defining the term.  The best you can do is search for your own American Dream, and then begin to pursue and encounter all it entails.

Traditionally, it was believed that if you worked hard and believed in yourself, the dedication and commitment would help you achieve anything.  Reach for the stars, and you'll land on the moon.  Anyone else see flaws in this theory?  Sure, hard work is crucial in most cases, but it's like when you were 5 and your mother said you could be anything you wanted, if you set your mind to it and tried hard enough.  Instead of filling children's heads with feel good optimistic crap, America should be encouraging them to set goals and provide means to help achieve them.

When I was a kid I remember wanting to be a doctor, and a fireman, and a cowboy, then a spy.  Sure some of those are a little unrealistic, I was a kid.  But we seem to see an influx of teens pushing to be rockstars, models, athletes, and movie stars.  Setting goals to be the next celebrity to be infamous for some outrageous faux paus.  But that's just what the American Dream has devolved into.  Everyone dreams of being the next wealthy bum, and stumble in the foot steps of greats like Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan.  Years later you'll find these dreamers stuck in their coal mining towns or working on an assembly line; frying food or changing oil.  Will the agenda of reality television and American Idol be the downfall of what was once an aspiring nation? 

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish

Judgement is as subconscious as most thought processes go.  Maybe second only to reacting to pain or danger.  There's it but maybe a miniscule of a second where we hesitate to decide between fight or flight.  Some just react quicker than others, they have keener motor responses.  But just quick as removing your hand from a hot surface, you notice a person walk through the door and start sizing them up.  Weighing in their finer points and criticizing them for their flaws.  I don't think we mean to judge others.  We can't help it. It's a cognitive reaction to what we see and how we perceive it.  People thrive from learning from past experiences.  It is how one moves up in the world and becomes successful.  So when we see people dressed a certain way, with their hair a certain style, the brain sorts through past files and memories to decide how to react in the current moment.  Basically it's stereotyping.  It is the quickest, and laziest way to react to an environment.

This is a great tool to have.  In dangerous situations where you have very little time to assess the situation and figure out what the correct behavior is, it could keep you out of harm.  The problem lies with the everyday situation which has a low risk of harm involved.  My assumptions about any person walking through the front door of a restaurant can easily go from helpful, harmless stereotyping, to racism and profiling.  It is probably the main reason racism will never be defeated in many lifetimes.  Only until there's been enough interracial relations to basically have one mixed race, will there ever be true racial harmony.  Then wars will be fought over cultural differences due to location, and country. 

The other big contributor to racism is the lack of understanding and appreciating cultural differences.  If taken the time to understand the different societies and cultures and beliefs, the hatred of something different and  unfamiliar wouldn't be as intense.  People should be proud of where they came from, and what their heritage is.  It helps define who they are as a person.  It isn't all they are though.  Uncountable things define and make up who a person is.  Its almost impossible not to find something in common with everyone.

Temptation

What is the level of temptation a persona can endure before that lustful desire to give in, regardless of probable consequences, takes over and pushes one to bury himself in selfish wants?  The urge to steal, cheat, kill.  Does everyone have the same ability to say no to these urges?  Or are there people out there that have no chance against the demonic tempters and the metaphorical prostitutes of life?  The best things in life will become your end, one way or another.  For instance, if your greatest passion in life was getting high and doing drugs, it'll end up eating you away.  It may have been the addiction that killed you, the dealer on the street who you owed money to, or getting stabbed in the prison cafeteria.  Whichever it is, it was still that selfish passion to indulge.

However, whether it was stress, processed food, or cigarettes that gave you cancer is not important.  It's a matter of whether or not your habits and lust for anything bad for you was worth it.  Was it enough to fulfill the emptiness that life often brings, and was it worth the consequences?  Isn't it a shame that instead of facts and definite proven results, life is full of warning labels and caution signs?  What used to be healthy for you is now bad for you, but in two weeks it'll be on the healthy list again.  Instead of certainty, we have to deal with that feeling of impulsion to jump, or give in.  To just say "yes," instead of "maybe, let me think about it."  However, it hsa to be a force so persistent and compelling that the urge to give into wants, lusts, and desires over bears common sense and clouds all judgement.  Sometimes it's just too difficult to think before jumping.