Ask any group of kids under the age of 16 and you may be surprised on how many of them enthusiastically raise their hands.  The problem is, you or someone you love may soon be one of those zombies.  It might come as a result of a virus, or it could just be that you end up on the street hungry, homeless and desperate.  Either way, you may very well be at risk of someday being mistaken for the ‘undead’ by an impressionable young mind that has undergone years of brainwashing and predictive programming.

In neology, Generation Z refers to those born in any year beginning in 1994 through the end of 2009.  It also happens to be the generation responsible for defeating the worldwide zombie uprising chronicled in Max Brook’s best-selling novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Wars.  In the final pages of this epic book, an ordinary citizen ponders his generation’s contribution to history:

“I wonder what future generations will say about us. My grandparents suffered through the Depression, World War II, then they came home to build the biggest middle class in human history. Lord knows they weren’t perfect, but they sure came closest to the American dream. Then my parent’s generation came along and [expletive] it all up---the baby boomers, the ‘me’ generation. And then you got us. Yeah, we stopped the zombie menace, but we’re the ones who let it become a menace in the first place. At least, we’re cleaning up our own mess, and maybe that’s the best epitaph to hope for. ‘Generation Z, they cleaned up their own mess.’”

Max Brooks is the son of legendary comedy writer/director Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and The Producers) and author of The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), a parody of Army field manuals commonly found on the bookshelves of many Patriot libraries.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War  follows in the same vein as The Zombie Survival Guide but recounts events that transpired in previous years when a zombie pandemic sparked a worldwide war that pitted nations against the infected masses.  Set in a  post-apocalyptic ‘near-future,’ Max Brooks plays the role of an agent of the United Nations Postwar Commission who interviews eye witnesses and survivors of the ten year conflict.  The book was partially inspired by (and reminiscent of) broadcast journalist Stud Terkel’s Pulitzer prize winning book  The Good War:  An Oral History of World War II.   As described on the official World War Z website:

“World War Z is the definitive account of the technological, military, social, economic, and political details through survivor's stories of how civilization went from the brink of extinction to a universal victory against the living dead.”

The book is so masterfully written, that if you had been living on a deserted for the past twenty years and this book washed ashore, you may very well believe that you are reading from an authentic historical text.

So far, WWZ  has been adapted into an audio book with such talents as Alan Alda, Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, John Turturro, Henry Rollins and Mark Hamill lending their voices.  A film version of the book is currently in development; it is being produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment with Pitt himself rumored to be attached to a major role.  On April 22, it was revealed that Paramount Pictures had doubled the money that it had previously invested in the project and were anticipating a 2012 release.  Those involved in the project have promised that it will be the “Lord of the Rings of Zombie movies”.

So why is this significant?  Consider the impact The Lord of the Rings had on the youth of the 1960’s and 70’s.  The Lord of the Rings played a major role in shaping the marijuana and psychedelic drug culture of that era as well as promoting an interest in the occult.  The works of J.R.R. Tolkien inspired many songs written by the likes of Led Zeppelin, the Moody Blues and Pink Floyd.  Much of the ‘hippy’ lifestyle and art of the 1960’s counter-culture were directly influenced by this literature.  Just take a look at some of the poster art that came out of that era: mushrooms, wizards, swords, sorcery and other mythical images were all reminiscent of Tolkien’s works.

Now, some thirty years later, our youths have turned their affections over to another cult craze that is much more vicious and subversive than the whimsical fantasies of a noble quest.  Today, kids are much more fascinated with vampires and zombies than they are hobbits and wizards.  Gore and violence is now challenging magic and adventure for the imaginative minds of many children.  Vampires and zombies are almost in a dead heat (pun intended) in terms of popularity in film, television, and literature—but not for the same reasons.  Vampires have a rebellious, outsider allure that appeals to some children.  On the other hand, zombies are considered grotesque and creepy monstrosities that everyone finds repulsive.  It is the zombie killers who have the allure…and there’s one for every demographic.   Whether you’re into Will Smith’s thoughtful scientist (I Am Legend), Woody Harrelson’s zany redneck (Zombieland) or Milla Jovovich’s acrobatic amnesiac (Resident Evil), the Hollywood dream weavers have a custom built hero ready and standing by for you to personally relate to.

Zombies have become a household word over the past ten years.  In popular culture, hardly a day goes by where zombies are not represented in one form or another.  Although some websites have attempted to catalog the countless movies, novels, comic books and television references, the zombie archetype has become so prolific that it is virtually impossible to provide a definitive list of resources.

Beginning at the turn of the century, the zombie genre has enjoyed an unprecedented degree of box office success with major motion picture releases like the Resident Evil series, Dawn of the Dead (remake), 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Shaun of the Dead, I am Legend and Zombieland.  In the world of gaming, there is perhaps no other theme more replicated.  The fictional universe of comic books and graphic novels are also populated with these characters.  Marvel Comics even has a zombie series along the premise of an alien virus that turns its most popular superheroes into flesh-eating ghouls.  This theme is also dominant in horror literature.  Titles like Stephan King’s The Cell, the previously mentioned World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide have all been best sellers.  The current best seller in this genre is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies which is a mash up of the original text of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice combined with a story about a zombie epidemic.  Katy Hershberger, publicist for one of the world’s largest publishing houses, St. Martin’s Press, recently stated that “In the world of traditional horror, nothing is more popular right now than zombies.... The living dead are here to stay”.

The modern day zombie is somewhat removed from its ancestral roots in Haitian voodoo and can be traced back to that granddaddy of all predictive programmers, H.G. Wells.   In his 1933 novel The Shape of Things to Come, Wells is the first to envision an apocalyptic scenario where a highly contagious viral plague called “the wandering sickness” causes the infected to wander slowly and insensibly, infecting others on contact.  This theme was picked up years later in George Romero’s …of the dead series,  the first of which was Night of the Living Dead.  In addition to the apocalyptic plague scenario, Romero incorporated Gothic elements of the avenging flesh-eaters from 50’s comic books like Tales From The Crypt.  What resulted was the template for what has become the contemporary model of the Zombie mythos—and Hollywood is absolutely in love with it.

In what other genre can the hero of the film get away with murdering his Mother, Father, Children and even his dog and still gain the sympathy and adulation of the audience.   In this fictional universe there is no ethnic group that is protected and no religion sacred. The color of your skin won’t protect you from the blast of a shotgun.  A cross around your neck won’t save you from decapitation.  Not even the newest born infant or the oldest geriatric can expect mercy if they have been infected by the sickness.  It’s a genre tailor made for a desensitized society whose lust for orchestrated violence becomes increasingly insatiable with each subsequent generation.

And who are the zombies anyway?  Unlike many other screen monsters, zombies are never really introduced to the audience.  They are, for the most part, anonymous.  Their identity is more defined as a group than an individual.  It is the zombie horde that poses the threat.  They do not speak and they (individually) are rarely around long enough to establish any kind of relationship with the audience.  They are human beings who have lost their humanity have no more social status than the common housefly.  The zombie slayer treats them as such and exterminates indiscriminately without an ounce of compassion.

This is the subliminal context of zombies that allows us to enjoy what we are watching unfold on the screen.  But if we analyze zombies from a humanitarian context, we come to the realization that zombies are fellow human beings who simply have had the misfortune of falling victim to a devastating disease.  When they are seen in this context, they are very much worthy of our compassion.  They are not manifestations of evil nor are they criminally insane.  They are more akin to desperate drug addicts who are compelled to do things they would not ordinarily do to satisfy their craving.  Hunger itself can cause one to act irrationally.  The Donner party, the Mignonette Yacht tragedy and the Uruguayan rugby team plane crash are all examples of how previously sound minded individuals resorted to cannibalism after going for a period without food.  It could happen to any of us. 

What is a zombie but a sick, thin, hungry, gaunt, lethargic, disheveled, homeless and desperate human being who has lost everything?  They’re unarmed and they don’t drive.  They travel in mobs and have only their hands and mouths to use as weapons but are in such a desperate survival mode that they do not work in concert.  Does this not sound like what may soon fill our streets when the fabric of society comes apart at the seams?  Could this not happen when our crashed economy causes hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to take to the streets in search of food and shelter when money will not buy anything?  Will we likely see mobs of exhausted and disoriented people scouring the city for any morsel of food when the shelves of supermarkets are empty and public utilities are shut down?  This scenario doesn’t even require a plague or virus that spreads throughout the population.  But just imagine if that ingredient was thrown into this nightmarish recipe.

Imagine the possible future of a Generation Z boy who was born in 1994.  By the time he is of enlistment age it will be 2012.  By then, our economy will surely be in shambles and we will more than likely be on the precipice, if not already engaged, in a third world war.  During the course of this child’s life he has been exposed to the graphic images of literally tens of thousands of fictional zombie slayings, some of which (through video games) he directly participated in himself.  Now, imagine you give this boy a uniform and rifle.  He may hesitate opening fire on American citizens, but what if those citizens had become zombies?  Get the picture?  When this kid opens fire, all that learned conditioning and ‘automatic firing’ he absorbed from countless hours of video gaming will take over his mind like a ‘Manchurian Candidate’ and he’ll place himself in the script of a movie as he heroically exterminates the monsters like his favorite Hollywood star.  Of course he’ll also have likely just stepped from the theater where the epic zombie movie of all time has just been released.  World War Z, if faithful to the book, will not be your ordinary zombie movie.  The book was light on the blood and gore compared to the powerful political propaganda that it advances.  

WWZ glorifies global government as the solution to the zombie crisis.  It also demonizes right wing extremists, Christian fundamentalists and militias as an obstacle that stands in the way of the government doing its job.  Israel is glorified not only as the first to recognize the crisis but also as the most victorious in its fight against the zombies.  That big wall they built to keep the Palestinians out sure came in handy as a quarantine shield against their zombie invasion.  The Queen of England is also held up as a heroine after refusing to leave England.  She stays with the people and opens her property up as a refuge rather than flee to a safe zone.  The United Nations is also a noble organization that comes to the rescue of smaller nations that have no military.  Arabs, particularly Palestinians, are portrayed as paranoid and delusional conspiracy theorists who believe that the zombie plague is just another Zionist trick.  In this world, Iran does in fact have weapons of mass destruction.  The author proves this when Iran and Pakistan launch nuclear warheads at each other.  The book really needs to read in order to fully appreciate the propaganda being peddled here.

And if you don’t believe that the author is a spokesman for the radical left, just check out this clip from “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” in August of 2009:

http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/2009/../olbermann-republicans-fear-health-care-reform-will-create-zombies/

Max Brooks is interviewed and  he tries to debunk the GOP death panel claims, or as the heading explains:

“After using the death panel and death book scare tactics, the only other talking point on health care reform the GOP can contrive would be Democrats turning Americans into zombies! Author Max Brooks talks about the ridiculousness of the GOP health care claims.”

Zombies are real, my friends.  They are living among us even as we speak.  But we don’t need to kill them.  Instead, we need to educate them.  Otherwise, they are likely to join the ranks of the undead—traveling in hordes down American streets—with Generation Z ready, willing and able…to put them out of their misery.

©  EsinIslam.Com