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Thursday, August 29, 2019
George A. Romero`s The Land of the Dead Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
George A. Romero`s The Land of the Dead - Essay Example George Romero is one such writer-director who is a political filmmaker by heart but uses his gift for satire with horror movies.       This flick also tackles a political angle to it where it is shown that there is a feudal kind of Government in America. The people left alive, in the movie, have fled to the city which is protected from all four sides, with three sides having rivers and the third has an electric barricade and military might. The fourth in the series of the previous trilogy of zombie movies by Romero this had the most complex social and political backdrop. All these movies were made in style and had strong political overtones. The New York Sun wrote that it was, ‘the American movie of the year’. Romero has successfully entwined the zombie horror of the characters with political allegory.       The movie which shows a feudal-like Government in Pennsylvania, here Romero tries to allegorize with the fact that there is a s upreme social hierarchy. In such systems of social hierarchy the rich remain rich and the poor remain poor and in specific times of turbulence, this system still continues with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer till the upheaval comes to turn tables.       It is a movie which shows horror and also works as a commentary on the political and social situation in the country. According to Brian Wilson, a writer and filmmaker, â€Å"Land of The Dead may be seen as a necessary reaction to the present atmosphere of terrorist threat, political disillusionment and George W. Bush†(Wilson 2002).      Romero here, in this political allegory is a critic of the people of the American society who are cooped up in their holes, not wanting to face the reality. They are the apathetic citizens who close their eyes to the problems of global disturbance and terrorism, which has most affected the United States of America, and are waiting for somebody else to take that first step.       It is a violent and gore movie with an edge of satire to it which showcases that the city of Pennsylvania is being attacked by zombies, who moan and groan, produce an unintelligent grunting sound and have only one basic desire – to each human flesh. They are evolving and are everywhere. Over the last three movies of Romero, the zombies have learnt to use their brains and they are firing arms. They have learnt to think and communicate and they have memories to guide them through on their path of gothic destruction. This change in the character of the zombies over the horror movies by Romero, also imply the shift in the political situation of America       Big Daddy played by Eugene Clark is the monster who gets the sympathy from the audience. He and all the zombies in the movie represent the suppressed middle class and the lowest of the lower class, which gets killed by the zombies and become o ne of them. The rich elites are holed up in a skyscraper, their bastion, Fiddler’s Green where they think they will be safe from the walkers. But unfortunately for the rich folks, the zombies strike them and ironically, the elites find that the electric barricade which they had for their safety has now turned into a solid wall, barring their own escape. The only people who stand between complete zombification of the city are a few handfuls of mercenaries led by Riley, played by Simon Baker. These mercenaries also have commercial interest
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