After thoroughly analyzing the film myself and reading Stephen Harper's analysis essay "Reappraising an Undead Classic", I can make a distinct connection between Night of the Living Dead and Hall's essay on Representation. Hall stresses that power ultimately influences what we have knowledge of. This movie is a perfect example of something powerful constructing truth by taking something so unrealistic and molding it into our fears.
In Harper's essay he explains how during the release of the film, 1968 news appeared in black and white, which "would have given Night of the Living Dead a documentary-like feel to the film's audiences, at least" (Harper).
This film also utilizes a powerful discourse in the movie, the mass media. By focusing in on some of the characters listening to the radio and watching television, this also adds a sense of actuality, and is actually quite humorous. The character's in this film seem to be so drawn in on the media, almost relying on it. In my opinion, this movie presented the news as a reflective approach. What the reporters were talking about on the news was actually happening. I feel that this had to have added a sense of reality to the audience watching, ultimately adding to the constructing of the truth. Furthermore, by using and confirming the role of police brings into call our dependency and our fears. If this zombie epidemic did come about, are we going to rely on the police to stop it?
Hall's essay also talks about how language and meaning are never fixed and are constantly sliding. In every era, this movie shifts meaning in terms of cultural and political anxieties. In the 1960s, this film is said to be a "critique of 1960s American Capitalism". In the Wikipedia reading, film historian Robin Wood writes how zombies' victims "symbolized the repression of the 'other; in bourgeoisie American society, namely civil rights activists, feminists, homosexuals, and counterculturists in general" (Wood).
Romero's techniques of construction
In Harper's essay he explains how during the release of the film, 1968 news appeared in black and white, which "would have given Night of the Living Dead a documentary-like feel to the film's audiences, at least" (Harper).
This film also utilizes a powerful discourse in the movie, the mass media. By focusing in on some of the characters listening to the radio and watching television, this also adds a sense of actuality, and is actually quite humorous. The character's in this film seem to be so drawn in on the media, almost relying on it. In my opinion, this movie presented the news as a reflective approach. What the reporters were talking about on the news was actually happening. I feel that this had to have added a sense of reality to the audience watching, ultimately adding to the constructing of the truth. Furthermore, by using and confirming the role of police brings into call our dependency and our fears. If this zombie epidemic did come about, are we going to rely on the police to stop it?
Hall's essay also talks about how language and meaning are never fixed and are constantly sliding. In every era, this movie shifts meaning in terms of cultural and political anxieties. In the 1960s, this film is said to be a "critique of 1960s American Capitalism". In the Wikipedia reading, film historian Robin Wood writes how zombies' victims "symbolized the repression of the 'other; in bourgeoisie American society, namely civil rights activists, feminists, homosexuals, and counterculturists in general" (Wood).
"Night of the Living Dead reminds us of something that the recent outbreak of zombie films may have caused us to forget: the oppositional potential of popular culture. In this sense, the film is an undead classic that can still tell us something about who we are — and warn us about what we might turn into"(Harper).
Hi Shannon,
ReplyDeleteI think you made a really good observation by pointing out the myth often told in movies that the police will save the day in the end. According to this myth, people who have authority and power in society always have the answers. Of course, outside of the movies even people with authority are just humans when it comes down to it and if a zombie apocalypse did occur, I don’t believe the solution would be as easy as police killing the undead with guns and fire. Another concept of Hall’s that you brought up about how language and meaning are never fixed is something I didn’t think about while watching the film and I like that you mentioned it. It is true that language and the meanings attached to symbols are never fixed and always changing because context is everything. We measure the meaning of things by what we are familiar with, and historical context is a big part of what we know.
Gretta