News of mythology #02

Zombies reflect a depressed immune system

I’ve been observing the zombies meme since the 1990s. I’m not a zombie fan. I’ve never seen Walking Dead nor do I play any zombie video games. I am interested in zombies as modern mythology.

Zombies are a BIG cultural metaphor. From time to time a writer tries to decipher zombie mythology into real world terms. I acknowledge a large piece the LA Weekly did on zombies in the 1990s; I’m unable to find it online again.

Many zombie interpreters I’ve read, point to modern noir-culture. Batman Dark Knight movies are noir-culture; zombie movies are noir-culture. What’s the real-world experience? The misery, the belief, in our collective unconscious, we have no positive future. There is no positive Gotham City. There is no happy ending to a Zombie Apocalypse.

You may recall hearing, without a positive vision, of a sustainable future for the 99%, the people perish. Still true.

What if the key to zombie myths is not out in our future hopes and fears? What if the meaning of zombies is hidden in plain sight, much closer to each of us individually? What if zombies are more about now?

What if zombies out-picture something true inside us we wish to ignore, a depressed immune system, sluggish, inert, slowed down, starved.