Zombies R Awesome!

I'm part of the crowd that loves zombies, in fact its probably the only genre of horror I really truly like. Most other forms of it annoy the crap out of me to the point of where I can't stand watching them anymore. The thing about zombies for me is that despite how fragile and weak they are, they still keep coming. There's a certain heir of superiority when dealing with a zombie, particularly when they're in small groups or on their own. Watch any zombie movie and any experienced survivor almost always dispatches a single lone zombie with little emotional change. While in most universes a head shot is the only way to "kill" one, taking out the legs or any other part of the body is usually enough to slow them down to where a head shot can relatively easily be taken. Its in large groups or when encountered in confined/dark spaces that zombies are really truly a threat.

For me the whole zombie genre can say many things about society. Take for instance Dawn of the Dead. Taking place in a shopping mall infested with mindless beings aimlessly wandering around. It almost resembles malls today of mindless zombie shoppers wandering from one store to the next to buy the products the TV brainwashed them into thinking they need. There's also something there about being able to kill another "human" without remorse. Its one thing to hunt and kill an animal, but we don't have an emotional connection to that animal. But with zombies, they resemble humans, they essentially are humans. Zombies allow us an opportunity to shoot every bully that ever picked on us in school, the dismember the asshole guy that cut you off on the highway on your way to work, the d-bag at the bar that tried to fight you. And then all the while we get to use an arsenal of any type of weapon we can think of, and we don't need a license. Everything's open and free. Zombies bring with them a world that allows us to steal without second thought because now its in the name of survival, and who hasn't thought about just taking something. The zombie world allows us to go steal a Ferrari from the dealership and not matter. In a way the zombies allow us to live out our dreams, we can finally own our dream car, we can have all the nice clothes we want, we can live in any house we want (given its defendable and empty of all threats). Its a world of true freedom, but as with any freedom it comes with a cost.

Frankenstein.

Like most my knowledge of Frankenstein didn't extend much past seeing short clips of the 1931 film with Boris Karloff, and while I knew ahead of time that Frankenstein was not the actual monster we see all over it had often slipped my mind while reading this. I think this is partially due to the title of the book. You read Frankenstein and since the monster is the most interesting part of the book you automatically associate the two.

The book also had a small connection with myself and I found it easy to paint a picture in my head for parts of it. I have actually been to both Lake Lucern in Switzerland (staying in the city of Lucern) as well as staying in small village on Lake Como in northern Italy.

It was also kind of surprising to see there is no Igor or any of the other themes often found in movies based off the book. The whole science of it is hardly even touched upon. All we're told is that he had to collect body parts and make the monster much larger than planned. This is due to smaller parts of the body being harder to replicate. Ending up with the monster being eight feet tall and having nearly translucent skin.

After life is given to the monster we start to feel sorry for it. It was never asked to be created and didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Yet here it is stuck with a creator appalled and disappointed by its appearance. Soon after Frankenstein abandons his creation hoping to go back and lead a normal life. It is at this time the monster angered and confused by its creators abandonment goes on a quest of sorts to understand humans and eventually take revenge on Frankenstein. Really all the monster wants to do is understand its own existence, find a way to co-habitat with humans. But we as humans are so guarded towards things we don't understand or find appealing we automatically go into a hostile state without questioning it. The monster can be compared to a social outcast simply trying to make friends. Eventually the constant rejection by what you seek to be apart of is going to create hatred.

Really I feel this book is about the human condition and loneliness and the basic human desire to belong to something. The monster is simply lonely, and like all humans wants a companion.