Clavacia Smith

Professor Eric Barnhart

English 113B
2 December 2015
Fight for Change
No door, no wall, barrier, cage, or army can resist the strength in numbers
and necessity for change. Every revolution throughout all of time has consisted of
rebellions and protests that were all the cause of some cultural shock or anxiety. A shock
that was hurting or oppressing to a particular group of people that wanted to put an end to
being discriminated against, cheated, or undermined. Examples would be along the lines
of Cesar Chavez and the people who followed him with his union, with the way they
were not given fair wages. An example would the many hate crimes we see happening to
people that have a different sexual preference. Why is it that gays, lesbians, bisexuals,
transsexuals or anything other than straight are not treated with equal opportunity? When
it comes to equal opportunity we must assess every different aspect. Hate crimes not only
arouse from one category topic there is sexual preference, segregation, and acts of
violence. Which is why we also see gender inequality and race inequality. Gender
inequality is where the man has several greater advantages over females in politics and
job opportunities. Even after marriage in a household they have a stronger say on the way
things operate over their female spouse, simply because they are a man and not a woman.
Which is in no way correct. Women have a voice and a mind that can generate great ideas
and thoughts that can be just as good if not better than those that come from a male.
Racial inequality is just under gender inequality for the simple fact that in social

hierarchy people of color whether it be black or brown come after people of Caucasian
descendants, and then gender inequality comes in to play after all of the racial
discrimination has taken its toll. This is why it is clear that in the zombie film Fido the
zombies represent 1950s black community, while 28 Days Later shows the benefits of
working together in times of hardship. Even though both of these are movies that are
under the zombie cultural era they both deliver different messages that all can be pieced
together underneath the same conceptual movement. In other words, the zombies
represented in Fido can use the strategies displayed by the zombies in 28 Days Later to
achieve equality. How do the zombies in the movie Fido share similarity with the African
Americans that were apart of the 1950s? How do the zombies in 28 Days Later offer a
form of rebellion and protest? First as readers or audience members viewing and
analyzing we must know the history behind the topic we are studying and getting
information on.
What is a zombie? I ask this not referring to its visual characteristics, audial
characteristics, or even a zombies moral and ethic values. However, I am referring to a
zombies background and up-bringing. Where did they come from? What is a zombies
origin? Well, the media shows through means of all of the movies, music videos,
television series, and even the stories we tell one another through word of mouth that
zombies are all around us in this current day and age. They have been around here and
there, but made a very strong appearance and stance in the 2000th century at least in
America, however, the zombie made its first original appearance to the public audience in
lands foreign to America. Zombies are slaves! Just as everything is edited and changed
throughout periods of times and throughout its way within the media of popular culture,

so have zombies with the way they have been altered. They are shown within the
American pop cultures media that they are just the dead uprising again with a brain dead
mind, but a white scientist originally created them in Haiti. This is shown in Zombie
Manifesto when the authors Lauro, Sarah and Karen Embry say, In its origins and its
folktonic incarnations, the zombie is quite literally a slave, raised by Voodoo priests to
labor in the fields this is what they were created to represent. This description of how
this zombie is created shows similarity to the monster of Frankenstein. Frankenstein was
in a way a domesticated zombie similar to the zombies found in Fido.
What is the analytical view of monsters to society? Monsters are viewed as
something we see at night and run in fear from year after year for extended periods of
time. Why do these beastly creatures that haunt us throughout life, never harm us? Well,
the answer to that question is that they do harm us. However, the damage they do to us is
not directly physical. They do a damage that harms our culture in a sense of oppressing
people. Whom it oppresses varies from monster to monster and generation to generation.
Based upon, our class lectures and class discussions in Asian American Studies 113B
class we spoke on how the monster change slightly to each specific generations cultural
shock. Examples that were used were the vampire and how it can be a monster that
represents cultural shock for sexual preference. We thought this to be true for the simple
fact that this monster was always known to be mysterious, undercover from the world,
and even a monster that transforms into something that is completely different from its
original physical state. Based off of the readings from the literary piece by Cohen,

Jeffrey Jerome titled Monster Culture the point that the monster is specified to each
generation is proved through, Each time the grave opens and the unique slumberer

strides forth claimed is transformed by the air that gives its speaker new life. That quote
in other words means that the monster is put to rest with each generation, so that it can be
a new and perfect fit for the next cultures shock. Now that the current monster is a
zombie, it is up to us to figure out what the zombie represents as far as a cultural shock or
even a cultural anxiety. I use the terminology of anxiety to say and show that the affect
that is placed on individuals is not temporary, but it is something that stays with them.
After my research that I have done I believe for it to be true that the cultural change and
anxiety that is arising from zombies is that, we as people are confirming ourselves to
work as individuals opposed to as a team. This is not to say people should be dependent,
but they should learn to help one another and join as allies when the time calls for it.
Well the African Americans in the 1950s had just been relieved of slavery laws,
however, they were then facing Jim Crow segregation laws under which such laws gave
them many various prohibitions and restrictions. The now freed slaves had to take care of
themselves as far as finding means of shelter, food, clothing, and whatever conveniences
or necessities they would come to need. This can be related to the zombies as far as the
lifestyle the African Americans had prior to being freed and facing these new segregation
laws. The zombies within the movie Fido all have to deal with whatever living or
working condition their owner may put them in. Farkas wrote in Breaking Away from

Anxiety, The breakaway from anxiety is the first step to a better future. In other
words, actions must be taken if they want a better lifestyle for themselves. This meant for
some zombies within this film that they had to be tied to trees at night like a dog, on a
leash in public, work essential basic odd jobs such as a milk man, paper boy, factory
worker, mowing the lawn, yard work, cleaning, moving furniture, and whatever else it

might be that the owner needed to get done and did not want to do themselves. This put
the African Americans in a tough situation because now they are at the mercy and will of
their oppressors once again. In the movie, the zombies are the oppressed. We see that they
are treated very unfairly and completely inhuman. They are called names, which can be
considered the derogatory language that is used to refer to the zombies throughout the
entirety of the movie. The main zombie in this movie named Fido shows periodically that
he does in fact have feelings and should be treated as such. In summary they are treated
as second-class citizens if not aliens or animals.
In a slightly different perspective the zombies in the movie 28 Days Later have a
different standing position on life. These zombies are not captured or upheld by the
uninfected people, and these zombies actually have the upper hand from start to finish in
this film. The zombies do not show a desire to kill the people, but they simply take action
on infecting the people in order for them to join forces with the rest of the zombies. This
is a protesting strategy for the simple fact that it is almost like gaining strength in
numbers. The infection from the beginning of the movie starts from one unjust act
infecting a woman and from that point it spreads from person to person, until nearly the
entire populated area has the infection within them. The zombies show similar traits to
those of black activist groups such as The Black Panthers who recruited oppressed
people who fit in their same category in order to have a common goal achieved. The
zombies are proving a point of them fighting for something and this is clear towards the
end of the movie 28 Days Later when the zombie soldier infects all of his fellow soldiers
that are still within the house and he stands at the doorway as if he is accomplished
something. From author Kimberly Drake in her literary piece The Violence in / of

Representation: Protest Strategies from Slave Narrative to Punk Rock, We must

construct more creative ways to fight back and have our voices heard other than
violence. (150). To me this is saying that we are not able to simply end hate crimes or
any form of hard and tragic time with more hate and violence, because then we become
what we hate. He did all of the stressing while he was chained up to what was basically a
leash, and he had finally been freed and in a sense took ownership of the house. The
ownership of the house in a metaphorical view can represent a political change. Before
when the major was in charge everything was corrupted by his leadership, however, when
this once chained up African American zombie had opportunity he made it to where
everyone worked equally as hard to achieve a goal. The goal that they worked towards
was building strength in numbers, that they achieved by each infecting one more person.
Which would be a representation of how the Black Panthers all recruited person by
person, to build a union or how Cesar Chavez recruited through his union.
In conclusion, I believe that if the zombies in Fido were to form alliances with
one another as the zombies in 28 Days Later did that they would have the upper hand
throughout the entirety of the film. Mcalister, Elizabeth writes in Slaves, Cannibals,

and Infected Hyper-whites: The Race and Religion of Zombies/Escravos,

Canibais, E Os Hiper-Brancos Infectados: T Raca E a Religiao Dos 'Zombies'
questions, what is the difference between the infected, the canibals, and the slaves? To
a reader this would suggest that possibly we all are equal and the same, which is correct.
This is also the reason why the zombies (African American community) should learn to
fight back against oppressing situations such as the scenarios suggested in the movie such
as Fido and in real life. The zombies in Fido and 28 Days Later are representations to the

black community during the 1950s, because this community of people at that time were
struggling and going through hardship and found perseverance through unionism.
Murti, Arati wrote in Conquering Fears and Limitations that, We only limit our future
by fearing this says to every oppressor and all of the oppressed that the only way we
can move forward and stop all of this unequal opportunity through monsters, is to stop
being afraid. We must stand up, and be heard. In all great revolutions throughout time we
see similar cases. Groups of people are being oppressed and struggling and they find a
leader who brings everyone that is experiencing problems together and they protest.
Another similar case would be the Mexican American community that was lead by Cesar
Chavez who created a union of people that participated in food strikes, protests, and
many other forms of rebellion.

Work Cited

Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. Monster Theory (Seven Thesis). Monster Theory:

Reading Culture. Minneapolis, MN: U of Minnesota, 1996. N. pag. Print
Drake, Kimberly. "The Violence in / of Representation: Protest Strategies from
Slave Narrative to Punk Rock." Pacific Coast Philology, 44.2 (2009): 148-158.
Farkas, Caryl Emra. "Breaking Away from Anxiety." The Christian Science
Monitor, (2012): .
Lauro, Sarah J., and Karen Embry. A Zombie Manifesto: The Nonhuman
Condition in the Era of Advanced Capitalism. Boundary 2. Duke University,
2008. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.
McAlister, Elizabeth. "Slaves, Cannibals, and Infected Hyper-whites: The Race
and Religion of Zombies/Escravos, Canibais, E Os Hiper-Brancos Infectados: T
Raca E a Religiao Dos 'Zombies'." Anthropological Quarterly, 85.2 (2012): 457.
Murti, Arati. "Conquering Fears and Limitations." Pharmacy Times, (2009):
6.