Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Making Sense of the Unimaginable

Gilmarie Brioso has blogged her personal list of survival items, using the idea of a zombie plague as her inspiration, that she suggests having on hand both at home and at the office. I am intrigued by her blog (not necessarily what she said, but that she said)and what it says about American society at this moment. Given the uneasiness, even a decade later, that the 9/11 terrorist attacks inflicted upon the American psyche, I am not surprised to see ongoing talk of keeping a personal emergency survival kit on hand. Indeed, I am glad to see ongoing words of warning. (Why haven't I set up my own kit, both at home and office, given my proximity to two nuclear power plants on an island nation prone to earthquakes, typhoons, and someday perhaps a major tsunami?) What I am interested in is how the zombie icon continues to inspire imaginations. While we can be aware and wary of the forces of nature, do we really "fear" them? How much more terrible is the strength of a truly infuriated, maniacal person? If the woman at the table next to me in Starbucks decides to leap at me with teeth gnashing, would I really be able to throw her off me without suffering severe scratches and even a bite? I think I can see why the zombie plague, which would bring threat to every corner, would inspire ongoing discomfort in people with enough imagination to say to themselves: "what if?"

Zombie Apocalypse Day Preparations in Maine

How to Survive a Zombie Attack: NYMag

CDC Denies Existence of Zombies: Huffington Post 

 

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