Role of Women in Zombie Movies - Movie Review Example

Role of Women in Zombie Movies Being an avid fan of zombie movies myself, I have decided to expound on the role of women inzombie movies. In addressing this, I will first elaborate on how zombie movies relate to horror movies. Zombie films fall into different genres (Dillman 2014). Some fall into the horror, comedy, science fiction as well as the romance genre. However, the ones that fall into the horror genre are the ones that define well the position of women. In relation to this assertion, the paper will mainly expound on the role of women in zombie movies but specifically on those that fall into the horror genre. In addressing this, the paper will provide detailed information as to why women are often placed as weaker and needy sex. The paper will also expound on the changes that have taken place since 1974 on most of the zombie films in which women roles changed from being dependent and weak to independent and courageous. I will include some references to some common zombie films in order to support my argument on the claims that I will present about the roles of women in zombie movies. Most zombie movies specifically those that fall into the horror genre always place women as the weaker sex. In most occasions, women in zombie movies are the victims who are not only brutally murdered, but also among the first few to die by the deranged stalker (Dendle 2012). In relation to this assertion, it is evident that there are hardly ever female killers. Certain scenes in zombie films are inevitable; beautiful as well as voluptuous young ladies run away from deranged stalkers who are apparently trying to end her life without providing any genuine reason until much later. For instance, in the movie “Living Dead” series by George Romero, the scene opens with a teenage sexual psychopath referred to as Martin killing and drinking the blood of a young woman who was in a train (Adams 2008). From the scene, one can deduce that Romero place women as the weaker sex that are easily harmed by the men. In tandem with this assertion, Dendle (2012, p.2) claims that “female criminals, particularly those who commit violent crimes, are depicted as not women, bastardizations of women, or counterfeit women.” In other words, it is believed that crimes are often committed by men because they are naturally part of what men are supposed to have. Thus, most zombie movies deny women the roles of killers because of the way women are generally perceived by the society. Majority of the zombie movies also place women as the needy sex. In relation to this, most scenes of the movies shows how women often need someone, usually a male character to save them from danger or a killer and the absence of a male character results to the death of the female character. In tandem with this assertion, most posters do evidence that women often require the help of man. For instance, the poster “King of the Zombies” of 1941 shows that the woman and the man almost of the equal size, however, the lady is crouched into the man to portray that she needs caring for as well as protection from whatever is not visible to the viewer of the poster (Indick 2004). The lady in the poster is in red which represents a sense of femininity. The use of the red color matches with her blush, and since she is flushed, she stands for the typical needy female role in a film. The expression on her face also expounds on how she is scared and delicate. It is as a result of her fear that she holds herself to the man for protection. In most zombie movies, women are also placed on not only delicate sex, but also damsels in distress. They are the ones who are most affected by terrifying situations that occur within the scenes. For instance, in the movie “The Walking Dead”, female zombies as well as survivors are portrayed as weak. They are the ones who lose their lives quickly as a result of doing stupid things. For instance, in the movie “Zombieland” by Reuben Fleischer the two sisters Wichita and Little Rock at the beginning of the film shows their capability of taking care of themselves and surviving on their own (Kirkman & Bonansinga 2012). However, this does not last for long; as a result of their naivety, they decide to visit a large park known as Pacific Playland. In the park, the girls expound their stupidity by powering up the whole park via use of rides and lights a practice that invites hordes of zombies to assault them. In tandem with the stupid behavior of the two sisters, Lori portrays her stupidity in the film “The Walking Dead”. This is evidenced by how she reacts after the zombies have attacked people for months. Despite learning that the zombies have been attacking for many months, she still shows no sign of escaping. Her unique behavior shows that she still believes that the situation will return to the normal status quo. In relation to this, when others try to pick their essential supplies from their cars as a result of congested highway Lori protests claiming that the highway is “like a graveyard”. Lori proves to be very stupid and adamant in the way she wastes time in the name of respecting the dead when she is required to struggle for not only her survival, but also for the survival of her child. To further emphasize this point, Lori opposes Carl’s learning on how to handle guns. Yes, Carl is a child, and it is evident that the current situation requires one to learn such a thing. But what is the best thing to do in the two options? Leave the kid vulnerable as well as uninformed on how to handle a weapon that could play a part in saving his life and the lives of others just because he is young? With zombies around every corner frightens, and thus, the innocence of a childhood is a lavishness of the past. Carl has shown willingness and potential to learn how to use the gun than either of his parents. If I were Lori, I was to get rid of my stupidity and low my child to learn whatever could aid save his life. From this description, one can deduce that women are regarded as stupid characters in zombie movies. Male chauvinism is also well presented in zombie movies. This assertion is evidenced by the position women are given in the majority of the zombie movies. For instance, in the movie “The Walking Dead” women play housekeeping roles actively. From this claim, one can deduce that women are still glued to the drudge work. In connection with this, women in zombie movies also show that they love their housekeeping chores. For instance, Lori in “The Walking Dead” thinks that Andrea is lazy because she spends much of her time carrying out a man’s job which involves standing watching with a gun. According to Lori, a woman is supposed to do laundry, as well as fix meals for the men. It is as a result of her acceptance of male chauvinism in the society that she tries to convince other women to follow her lead rather than allow them to try other practices such as those involving providing security to their families. Majority of the zombie movies regard women as sex objects. In such movies, women are sexually abused by male enemies. For instance, in the film “28 Days Later” Selena and Hannah are captured by male soldiers who rape them. The raping of women presents what often takes place in an apocalypse. Such behaviors show how women undergo animalistic humanity. Some zombie movies, however, represent the other side of the women. Apart from showing their activeness, they also expound on their aggressiveness. This assertion is well presented in the zombie movies by Romero. Unlike Hollywood films that emphasize on the position of violence, as well as aggressiveness to only men, Romero undermines such assumptions by presenting not only undead, but also un-gendered zombies. For instance, in his movies women are associated with many violence acts just like their male counterparts. In other words, the feminism of women in Romero’s movies is also presented through clothing (Yuen 2012). The scandalous brutality of the ungendered female monsters in Romero’s movies makes majority of his movies uncomfortable for viewing in a patriarchal society. In relation to this assertion, the heroines of “The Living Dead” series show increasing independence in addition to resourcefulness as the series of the films advances. Some zombie movies place women as independent sex. Their placement as independent characters is evidenced by their roles as well as the way take care of themselves despite living amidst men. For instance, in the movie “28 Days Later” a young woman by name Selena survives by herself despite the infection for many months. In relation to this, Selena and Hannah fight for their escape without waiting for any assistance. Their resistance against the soldiers who had captured and used them as a source of entertainment clearly expounds on how women independence is portrayed in zombie movies to show that the roles of women have changed. Zombie movies also present women as courageous and strong characters in the society. This is evidenced by how their contributions in tough situations result to saving of life. For instance, in the film “28 Days Later” Selena expresses her toughness by saving Jim’s life who had come to rescue her together with Hannah from the soldiers who had captured them. Hannah, on the other hand, shows her courage and toughness by not only resisting, but also escaping from the zombies at the end of the film. From her escape, one can deduce that Hannah was courageous and strong. In addition to this, she also overcame the challenges associated with the death of her father and the sexual violence she underwent from the soldiers. In connection with this position of women in zombie movies, the film “28 Days Later” further expounds on how a courageous black lady led a white and black man on a chain. The giving of a woman, the role of leading men, shows that zombie films recognize the changes that have taken place in the society today. They evidence that zombie movies currently recognize the role of women and have accepted the fact that we are no longer leaving in a patriarchal society as in the past. Zombie movies also place women as caring sex. This is evidenced by the fact that the majority of the films give women the role of looking after their children regardless of the toughness of the situation (Fonseca & Pulliam 2014). In relation to this fact, it is evident that men rarely consider checking on the welfare of their children. For instance, in the film “The Walking Dead” Lori regards herself as a mother. Her role as a mother makes her number one priority be her son. A lot of her actions in the movie revolve around her desire to protect Carl. It is because of the love she has towards her son Carl that she considers his learning of handling of guns at a tender age as unethical. As a mother, she thinks Carl will become a spoilt boy if he learns on how to use deadly weapons such as guns. However, the role of “caring” by women also contradicts in zombie movies (Yarbrough, Kelso, Purcell, Woodbury, Moreland & Victor 2001) . For instance, Lori shows that she is very concerned about the welfare of his son Carl but on the other side it comes out clearly that she never spends her time learning about how Carl handles the zombies he encounters. Additionally, it is evident that Lori rarely keeps an eye on his son despite claiming to love and care for him. The slipping of Carl occasionally from the group also surprises anyone who regards Lori as a caring mother. It is absurd for the mother to claim to care for a group of people but fail to provide that care to her son. Women are also presented as aggressive characters in zombie movies. Some of them take part in not only killing the zombies, but also forcing others into taking actions that are associated with some misfortunes. For instance, in the film “28 Days Later” Michonne uses her sword to save the lives of other characters such as Andrea (Nelson, Shalvey, Filardi, Dukeshire & Bill 2009). Michonne is a female character that uses her katana sword to slaughter over fifty zombies in a very short time. In relation to this, Lori aggressively requests his husband Rick to kill his innocent friend because she used to be his lover before. The request for the killing of the innocent not only shows that women are aggressive, but it also shows that they are heartless. Majority of the current zombie movies place women as the protagonist of the films. This was not the case in the past in which only men were believed to be the key characters in zombie movies. In relation to this assertion, it is good to pay attention to all the actions that take place in the film “28 Days Later”. In that film, Selena comes out as the strongest character than other characters such as Wichita and Little Rock (Nelson, Shalvey, Filardi, Dukeshire & Bill 2009). The scenes portray her as the most pragmatic character, almost exemplifying her as the Final Girl in every way. In the scenes, Selena manages to come off as not only ruthless but also vulnerable. Despite being sexually preyed upon by the male soldiers, Selena manages to survive. As it was introduced above, women in zombie films have been regarded as unemotional characters in order to signify their roles in movies since 1974. For instance, in the film “The Walking Dead” Michonne manages to kill the zombies with much ease because of not only being fearless, but also because of not being emotional. It is as a result of the same quality that Selena manages to lead the men in their fight against the zombies in the film “28 Days Later” (Niles & Calero 2007). In conclusion, zombie films are among the movies that fall into different genres. The most common of the zombie movies are the ones that fall under the horror genre. These movies for the past many years have been portraying male chauvinism by the division of roles between men and women. In most of the zombie movies, women are regarded as weak and independent. Some zombie movies also portray women as stupid characters who end und up in problems because of associating with some careless and useless acts. Despite all these, however, some zombie movies place women in inclusive roles such as protagonist characters. In some zombie movies, women are portrayed as caring, unemotional as well as courageous characters. Some also portray women as aggressive and heartless. Although women are given the roles in zombie movies as it has been expounded in this paper, it is evident that women rarely participate in zombie movies. From this, it is evident that the role of women in zombie movies is not well expounded, and as a result of this something ought to be done as much as zombie movies are concerned. Bibliography Adams, J. J. (2008). The living dead. San Francisco, Night Shade Books. Dendle, P. (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia Vol. 2: 2000-2010. Jefferson, McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers. Dillman, J. C. (2014). Women and death in film, television, and news: dead but not gone. Fonseca, A. J., & Pulliam, J. M. (2014). 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