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Why do humans lust for zombies?


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#1 Mercurius

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Posted 25 June 2016 - 07:01 AM

I've asked this question several times before (not necessarily here, can't remember if I did already) because I simply cannot be satisfied with the answer that is often provided, as though all of them are being dishonest, either just to me or also themselves.

 

Now when I write the title the way I do I did it on purpose. It is not enough to say that people want to be afraid of zombies. The most common reason given for why zombies are popular is because of the idea of how the zombie apocalypse appeals to fears in a particularly intimate way.

 

The thing is, popular culture is simply far too comfortable with zombies to actually restrict them to being horrors. It's practically a rotten fever for zombies the way there's a yellow fever for asians. You don't have zombie modes in FPS games, casual games like Plants v.s. Zombies that have obviously ridiculed the entire affair in the way people don't really take pirates seriously anymore, all sorts of ideas for preparation against a zombie apocalypse, and even people displaying manufactured zombie heads in their homes as stands for medieval helmets, because people are afraid of them. It would not surprise me in the least if someone wanted to french kiss the maggots out of a zombie cheerleader and then fuck her in the ass with all the moist, fragile, decomposing flesh serving as a novelty. Disease and decay is desired.

 

If you ask me, what's far more terrifying than zombies themselves are people that long for zombies. That applies to most reasons I am a misanthrope and this particular kind, where humans actively indulge in weakness through a particularly disgusting medium, is actually the first and most significant.

 

I did not want to hold human throats at knife point against jagged walls in the dark to ask them "What's the matter? What's the matter? Isn't this what you want? Don't you like being hurt? Don't you want to realize your powerlessness through being dominated? Isn't it great to know just how disgusting you really are? To be recognized and humiliated in your least dignified state? Don't you want your dreams to come true? Your dream of being sickening to the core, taking pleasure in just how helpless, insignificant, and desperate you really are? Or is it that you simply realize that I have not come to make your fantasies a reality, but rather to take away that very reality from you so that all those hopes to engage in such debauchery will expire?" prior to realizing the level of acceptance, understanding, and expectation humans have for those of such tastes.

 

Zombies in their most popular form are weak, ugly, slow, rotting, infested with vermin, without wills or intelligence beyond hunger for your flesh, have their strength only in great numbers and are thus commonly depicted as so, and convert others into becoming zombies themselves. Why? Why are there so many humans so very fond of them?


I believe in judgment of humans through their judgment of fiction, for nothing else tells better of their disposition freed from apprehension.


#2 ^Leo^

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Posted 25 June 2016 - 11:11 AM

I think it may have started as interest because of fear, but somewhere along the line it became a joke. I don't think anyone(generalization, please don't give me evidence otherwise. I already know people actually do, however I'm happy in my little ignorant bubble) really wants zombies to be real. In most cases humans would be scared beyond belief if another human rose up out of their grave and tried to eat them. But that's not really what a zombie is anymore. A zombie is a cute little rotting thing that you can stop with an army of plants. And barring that we can always just grab a shotgun out of our asses and shoot them right? That would solve any problem with zombies right?

I don't really understand it myself, but the myths of zombies have been around forever. Maybe it's ingrained into the collective subconscious or something, and modern culture is warping it like everything else that causes them problems.


As for your actual question: I'm not really qualified to answer. At best I can dance around it like I've been doing this whole time. I don't understand the infatuation either, so basically all I can do is try to rationalize it in my own head. When I finally come up with a decent answer that makes sense, and applies to other people, I'll let you know. Unfortunately I'm still working on that.

#3 Blue Leafeon

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Posted 25 June 2016 - 02:33 PM

I really don't understand the love of zombies, either. They're practically EVERYWHERE, and I cannot fathom why. We have them in practically every video game as an enemy, there's entire shows, games, books, etc DEDICATED to them. A pet site I go to threw out Valentine's Day as a holiday and replaced it with "Survivor's Memorial" which is basically people who aren't zombies celebrating the fact that they're not zombies, and zombies...celebrating being zombies. During said holidays, new "zombie" skins are usually released and people scramble to get said skins like they're a multimillion-dollar jackpot or something.

 

But doesn't it seem to you that dead things in general are becoming stupidly popular? Skulls can be found on shirts in every store now, despite being an emblem of death, in a sense. You can even find T-Shirts with religious crosses and skulls on the front! Vampires are also a huge thing, and is probably half of the reason why Twilight got as...famous...as it did. Sims 3 has the option for you to make your pet have skeleton markings that look almost like the real thing. (And don't forget the fact that you can play as a mummy, ghost, vampire, and even zombies!)


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#4 Mercurius

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Posted 25 June 2016 - 03:01 PM

But doesn't it seem to you that dead things in general are becoming stupidly popular? Skulls can be found on shirts in every store now, despite being an emblem of death, in a sense. You can even find T-Shirts with religious crosses and skulls on the front! Vampires are also a huge thing, and is probably half of the reason why Twilight got as...famous...as it did. Sims 3 has the option for you to make your pet have skeleton markings that look almost like the real thing. (And don't forget the fact that you can play as a mummy, ghost, vampire, and even zombies!)

Death in itself is a very powerful concept, so it's not really a surprise that there is much interest in that itself. The Grim Reaper, one of the most iconic figures to exist, is a human skeleton after all. Also I don't really think anybody really cares about the idea of vampires being dead...they may be dead, but they are far more vivacious and youthful than real human beings. The appealing thing about them is that they cheated death, really.

 

The thing about zombies isn't really that they are dead, so much as them being decaying and designed to infect others with disease that will turn you into something as hideous and impaired as them.


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#5 Mig64

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Posted 25 June 2016 - 11:35 PM

I'll never understand people's obsession with zombies either. Ironically, my main character in World of Warcraft is a Forsaken, and that actually amplified my disgust for this addiction people seemingly have, because I played on a roleplaying server... yeah.

 

Sometimes, you'd hear or stumble upon disturbing things, like people actively engaging in erotic roleplay with undead characters (because ERP itself couldn't be ridiculous enough), I use this example because most of the bad Forsaken/undead roleplay I saw or heard of would end up with some weird pornographic shit.

 

I met so many of those people that they were the first things I thought of when I read the topic title, but I guess I can't entirely blame the goons from my server when the racial leader of the playable undead looks like this.

 

...yeah.



#6 Fire Blazer

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Posted 26 June 2016 - 06:59 AM

wait. do you mean lust literally, or just desire in a casual manner? confused.

 

if you mean actual lust, didn't know that's a thing, that's kinda creepy for me.


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#7 Mercurius

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Posted 26 June 2016 - 08:08 AM

Actual lust wouldn't surprise me, but I do mean it in the sense of desire. In particular, an ignoble, base captivation with what can clearly be recognized as obscene.


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#8 kirant

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Posted 26 June 2016 - 09:28 AM

I really think it's as simple as being a mindless and guilt free violence ticket.

 

Nobody really feels BAD for killing zombies.  They might feel bad for what the person used to be but that person is long gone.  A zombie is a humanoid with nothing resembling a sympathetic trait and is an easy from for an action heavy piece to show violence of humanoid things without having anybody watching or playing think "you know, I feel bad for those bad guys".


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#9 Mercurius

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Posted 26 June 2016 - 11:38 AM

Why zombies over skeletons or demons or something then?


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#10 Mig64

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Posted 27 June 2016 - 04:10 AM

Destroying skeletons isn't as gory, and demons have personalities (even if they can be as complex as a Saturday Morning cartoon villain) and can potentially be too powerful, I guess.



#11 Blue Leafeon

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Posted 27 June 2016 - 11:27 AM

wait. do you mean lust literally, or just desire in a casual manner? confused.

 

if you mean actual lust, didn't know that's a thing, that's kinda creepy for me.

 

I use this example because most of the bad Forsaken/undead roleplay I saw or heard of would end up with some weird pornographic shit

 

Apparently, this IS a thing... Even if the TC wasn't talking about actual lust. <<;


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#12 kirant

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Posted 27 June 2016 - 12:48 PM

Destroying skeletons isn't as gory

 

Pretty much this.  I find it's all about the spectacle. 


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#13 Blue Leafeon

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Posted 28 June 2016 - 10:17 AM

I think I must be one of the rare few who would rather be fighting skeletons than zombies. But I'm one of those people who would rather have no blood and guts in my video games, despite battling things. I actually had to go get a mod to rid of the blood in Skyrim before I could play it comfortably.


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#14 Mercurius

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Posted 28 June 2016 - 11:25 AM

I turned off blood in Dark Souls III primarily for performance purposes (how much of a difference it made, I dunno) since I don't really care for gore either, which is somewhat weird I guess considering I am all for violence itself.

 

I don't mind seeing realistic wounds and the like or even organs spilling out but the over the top kind of gore where limbs fly and bodies explode is hardly what I would consider comfortable, though at least it doesn't go beyond being slightly unnerving when it happens outside of face destruction. Decapitation is okay though.


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#15 Blue Leafeon

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Posted 28 June 2016 - 12:54 PM

Death in itself is a very powerful concept, so it's not really a surprise that there is much interest in that itself. The Grim Reaper, one of the most iconic figures to exist, is a human skeleton after all.

It may be a powerful concept, but does that mean that we, ourselves, want to die? Do we want our loved ones to die? Why, then, do we walk around with symbols of death all over us?

 

On topic:

I just don't like gore period, and I ESPECIALLY hate dead things. Just ask my friend garanz. He's had to sit through my rants about why I don't like X place because "I HATE KILLING DEAD THINGS." (Biggest contender there is Shadow Temple in Ocarina of Time.) But I realize I am the minority because zombies are like the biggest fad atm. A while back it was werewolves and vampires because of twilight, although I think they're still popular. I dunno. I don't care for them. Even though werewolves aren't specifically dead, I don't like their concept, I guess.


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#16 Mercurius

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Posted 28 June 2016 - 04:36 PM

It may be a powerful concept, but does that mean that we, ourselves, want to die? Do we want our loved ones to die? Why, then, do we walk around with symbols of death all over us?

Symbols of death when worn are used primarily for intimidation purposes, essentially to give a sort of primal message that the ones who adorn them are willing to have their way to the death. This is why pirate flags and the peaked caps of the Schutzstaffel use them. While it sounds completely unnecessary for day to day civilian life, there are plenty of people out there who wish to have an intimidating aesthetic due to power's attractiveness.

 

Although since you asked if people want their loved ones to die, considering the entire appeal of the zombie apocalypse in a horror context, I would say it's fairly likely many fantasize about their so-called loved ones becoming zombies or themselves becoming zombies and people they know having to take them down.

 

A while back it was werewolves and vampires because of twilight, although I think they're still popular.

Vampires have been a popcultural icon for far longer than Twilight's existence, with Dracula being the outlier. (I dunno about werewolves)


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#17 kirant

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Posted 29 June 2016 - 11:28 AM

I turned off blood in Dark Souls III primarily for performance purposes (how much of a difference it made, I dunno) since I don't really care for gore either, which is somewhat weird I guess considering I am all for violence itself.

 

I don't mind seeing realistic wounds and the like or even organs spilling out but the over the top kind of gore where limbs fly and bodies explode is hardly what I would consider comfortable, though at least it doesn't go beyond being slightly unnerving when it happens outside of face destruction. Decapitation is okay though.

 

I'm much the same but with physics over anything else.  Nothing turned me off more when playing vanilla Skyrim than lightly knifing an enemy only to see him bounce around the room two or three times. 

 

Except Giants.  Getting launched to the moon is still hilarious.


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#18 Blue Leafeon

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Posted 30 June 2016 - 10:57 AM

 

I'm much the same but with physics over anything else.  Nothing turned me off more when playing vanilla Skyrim than lightly knifing an enemy only to see him bounce around the room two or three times. 

 

Except Giants.  Getting launched to the moon is still hilarious.

lol

 

I tend to use bows and arrows more than anything else, so at least the unrealistic ragdolling is SLIGHTLY more tolerable, considering the speed at which that arrow is flying.

 

I once saw a dragon pick a fight with a giant. The giant won. Then the giant came after me and I got launched to the moon. 8D


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