Fear the Walking Dead: Glad it didn’t come first
By Susie Graham
I was never a zombie fan. I hate horror movies. Please hear me out. I walked out, sick to my stomach, in college on the famous zombie movie when the blue zombie was chomping on a girl’s shoulder. I’m a sensitive person. I walked out of Gangs of New York as well. Long story short: I’m here so you know I was talked into The Walking Dead and I’m now obsessed.
The Walking Dead is violent and gory, but part of what I was able to get past in my initial introduction to the zombie world, was that the monsters were not monsters on purpose. More importantly, they might not have chosen to be monsters, but monsters they were–they were not human anymore. They were not the person they once were. So killing them was different somehow. The violence and gore didn’t affect me the same way as it does in a gangster movie or a slasher film.
Even the first scene with bunny slipper girl, as horrible as it was, pulled me in emotionally. The look on Rick’s face let me know how I was supposed to feel. I was supposed to feel bad for her that this zombie thing happened to her. I was supposed to feel bad for Rick that he had to put her down or she would kill him. I was supposed to know that he was putting down “zombie bunny slipper girl”, not “real bunny slipper girl”.
Dealing with Morgan’s wife, Jenny and Amy were looked at through the same lens. They were in earlier stages after turning and less decomposed than say bicycle girl, but we still knew they weren’t themselves. We knew that the walkers were dangerous. They were in charge now and we needed to protect ourselves from them. As Morgan warned Rick, “Man, you better watch your ass.”
Now that I know and love the world of The Walking Dead and I’ve even accepted the violence that includes the living, albeit at times through squinchy eyes, and often times tears, I can’t wait for Fear the Walking Dead. But if Fear came first, I don’t know if I would have been sucked into this beautifully ugly apocalyptic world. And I have found beauty in the walkers. They are unwilling monsters.
Because we have Walking Dead as a base of knowledge, we know what we need to know about the walkers. With Fear we’ll be watching people being devoured by their friends and family, strangers and co-workers without the slightest knowledge about what is going on. It’s going to be eery and chilling and fantastic. But I needed the comfort of Rick Grimes knowing expression and Morgan’s candlelight walker lessons for my introduction to the end of the world.
The Fear the Walking Dead walkers look so much like their former selves and they are going to be sneaking up on unsuspecting souls. I have a feeling the bites and feeding parties are going to be disgusting! Bloody faced biters, having no interest in wiping their faces from their feasts. And their victims-we know how they’ll look. Heaven for horror buffs, but wouldn’t have been very successful at converting a horror hater like me to keep watching.
Well, we can do without you might be your response. And that’s fair. But I’m truly a Walking Dead lover and I have a feeling The Walking Dead goes beyond horror film and zombie lovers in its audience. I’m glad you’ve accepted me into The Walking Dead family. And I’m glad Fear didn’t come first.
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