Sunday, January 25, 2009
I thought that this photograph might be an appropriate one, given the subject matter with which we are dealing. This is a picture of myself, in full zombie make-up. In this photo, I am preparing for a very small role in a recently released film called Sick and the dead. If you would like to see more, go to www.sickandthedead.com/.
In fact, the current popularity of zombie movies, from the resident evil franchise of games and movies to the remakes and spin-offs of George Romero’s classic films, are indicative of a trend of increased supernatural content in contemporary popular media. Zombie narratives, like 28 days later and Shaun of the dead, aren’t the only supernatural entities to recently see a surge in popularity. Vampires are as popular as ever, with such new editions as Trueblood, the hbo series and the twilight books, which are now becoming major motion picture releases. The newest supernatural craze, in fantastic creatures, seems to be the super human/super hero.
Heroes is probably the most popular series on television and movie studios are capitalizing on films about countless old comic book favorites, including superman, batman, Spiderman, iron man, and the incredible hulk.
I believe that the increase in demand for fantastical media is due to an overall increased demand for media content, of any kind. While there seems to be a trend towards the fantastic, there does not seem to be a corresponding trend away from the realistic. I cite the dramatic increase in popularity and frequency of reality television and even the slight recent increase in popularity of documentary films, like super-size me, grizzly man, and Michael Moore’s films as evidence.
People want more media content because, with new technology, they now have the ability to consume media faster and on their own schedule. I believe the desire for escapist media has increased at a proportional rate to the demand for all media and I don’t see either slowing down any time soon.
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