The Walking Dead : society and the loss of God....horror, conservatism and social psychology
‘The Walking Dead’ is in its seventh season as I am writing this. But until now I managed to outrun the hype. If something is trending, I mostly ignore it. Don’t want to join ‘the herd’ or horde, watching like zombies a tv show. But you can’t go on outrunning a herd or horde…They will catch up on you. And in this case I have to confess that the runner was interested enough to get caught. Joining the herd ? That’s for you to decide, dear reader.
Horror is a domain interesting enough for a philosophical 'walker'. This text will show that 'The Walking Dead' is a perfect illustration of this statement.
Is it a coincidence that we see a rise in horror the past decade ? A decade filled with politicians pushing death awareness through installing fear of terrorism, fear of outsiders....especially Muslims. Is it a coincidence that a tv show like 'The Walking Dead' is in its seventh season in this political climate ?
The recent study of Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski ('The Worm at the Core : On the Role of Death in Life) suggests a close link between these phenomena. This study is a continuation of the groundbreaking work done by Ernest Becker ('The Denial of Death') in the 1970s.
It states, after years of experimental research, that whenever the combination occurs of low self-esteem and death awareness (through installing fear or other reminders of death), people will react violently towards others and will conform more to their own set of morals and values. This way trying to close the abyss that death awareness opens up underneath our society and culture. But some questions remain. Does low self-esteem pose a big problem in society today ? How can horror close an abyss it so obviously opens at the same time ? Let's try to formulate an answer to these questions.
We live in a western culture that confronts its citizens with higher and higher goals that they should strive for. Your life purpose should be not just one car in front of your house....but at least two of those things. And the job you have is never quite enough to compete with your neighbour. Sheldon Solomon states that for the first time in our history we live in an era where it is no longer clear if you will do better in life than your mother or father when it comes to social status. But society still delivers the message that you should....to avoid becoming a failure. We are breeding low self-esteem in western society.
Horror is not only the stuff that confronts us with death, triggering our death awareness. It is the place where people....audiences....come together to share fears, to close off again this abyss of life. It's a closure through, in a 'sensus communis', conservatively clinging to their common morals and values. Horror thrives in conservative times, characterized by fear of losing identity and the values that it entails. But horror strengthens also conservatism. A closer look at horror movies shows us an incredible package of conservative values. Good and decent girls live, bad and lustful girls die. Drug users kick the bucket really fast. Can we see this connection between horror and conservatism in 'The Walking Dead' ?
When sheriff Rick Grimes wakes up in a hospital from a comatose state due to a gunshot wound, he discovers a changed world. In a scene that reminds us of '28 days later' he roams the streets trying to understand what happened. His world is gone. A zombie apocalyps has taken place. No more government, no more health care, no more police force. Families have been whiped out.
Society has returned to a 'state of nature' in the way Thomas Hobbes described it in his 'Leviathan' (1650). A situation where you have to fight for what you want or to keep what you have. No more government to (re)distribute or protect its citizens. Everybody is his own master. Freedom ? No....a constant state of distress, fear of the other as a rival in a fight for survival and material gain. As the tv show takes you a few seasons further, the ever present zombies or 'walkers' almost seem less of a problem. They become more and more a background. A background for the real drama of the serie : humans as brutish and evil when they lose the cover of civilization. As Thomas Hobbes described it best : in a 'state of nature' mankind gets caught up in a 'war of all against all'. 'The Walking Dead' shows us man as a wolf devouring his fellow man (homo homini lupus : although Hobbes doesn't use this typical Latin phrase).
In their response to this return to a 'state of nature' the characters of 'The Walking Dead' not only manifest brutal drives....they also, facing their death awareness very directly, manifest a clinging to conservative views and values. Very soon in the series sheriff Rick Grimes finds a group of survivors. They have structured themselves very traditionally along the dividing lines of gender. The women are doing the household chores, the men go out to hunt for food. When one of the women, Andrea, tries to cross this gender gap, she is called out by Lori to help the other women with their chores. Lori being the wife of sheriff Rick Grimes. Rick who is by this time the leader of the group. So Lori confirms a traditional hierarchy : the wife of the leader precedes all other women.
What protects us against death awareness, forced on us by the presence of countless zombies ? Well not only clinging to conservative values. According to Solomon, Greenberg and Pyszczynski ideologies and faith are the veil that shields us from the abysmal awareness of death. These are the beliefs that we hold on to in order to convince ourselves that our lives are meaningful. They shield us from the absurdity of existence, as pointed out by the existentialist thinkers. So how about God in 'The Walking Dead' ?
Countless dialogues take place between various characters on how they are handling their faith in this mess. And what we see is a humanity that not only has lost all perspective on society, civilization and the meaning of 'humanity', but that has lost God. Considering that 'The Walking Dead' is an American tv show....this is a pretty big deal. Time and time again characters try to revive their beliefs by praying. When they discover a church filled with zombies.....it isn't enough to just finish them off. A quiet moment in the church benches feels necessary.
But not only religion can be considered an instrument to shield us from fear of death. Paradoxically the content of horror can also be considered as a shield. That what at first sight seems to smack us in the face with death awareness also tries to shield us from it by using motives that appeal to our longing for eternal life.....immortality.
The vampire is dead an yet again alive....for all eternity. Ghost help us to cling to immortality of the soul or spirit. Frankensteins monster whispers to us the illusion that triumph over death is possible. And what about the zombiers, 'walkers' or 'biters' in 'The Walking Dead' ? Well it's pretty obvious that they embody not only our fear of death and monsters that could push us over the edge of life. They also represent our deep longing to triumph over the frailty of the body. The frailty of the body signifying our deadly destiny. The rotting corpse of a zombie, forever walking the earth ,isn't just a sight that sends shivers down our spine. It tells us that we are fascinated by the thought of not really dying.
In postmodern society every story has become suspicious. Faith, political ideologies.....nobody knows what's good enough to hold on to. This opens up an awareness that has characterized us as human beings through the ages untill today : death awareness. We go through life coping with this knowledge largely by means of suppression. The instruments of this suppression have been stories, beliefs, symbols and ideologies that used to give meaning to our lives. Some of these larger stories, frames or beliefs are in crisis. But this hasn't changed our symbolic needs and longing for meaning. There are still little stories that we tell to each other, that we share. Maybe not sitting by a camp fire.....but through the internet or social media, movies. They are filled with symbols, themes and morals that we use to gaze in this abyss we all share.....the abyss of death. And sharing fear can create a connection. But at the same time we comfort each other by bending these symbols and themes in such a way that they not only terrify us.....but also give us something reassuring.........like the cross (terrifying torture and reassurance of redemption at the same time). Horror movies to this. They scare the living daylights out of us and at the same time speak to our longing for the eternal....a triumph over death.
