Rom-Zom-Com Came & Gone

My thoughts exactly.

Please don’t let zombies join the ranks of poorly saturated vampires and werewolves. Sorry, I am using the word zombie is this blog. I know you should never use the z-word.

Any avid fan of horror will tell you, the abovementioned creatures are to be feared and occasionally sympathized with. In the past, it was okay if you didn’t enjoy the likes of Frankenstein, “The Return of Timmy Baterman” or The Wolf’s Hour.

Anymore, though, all the media giants are pushing a cult following into mainstream. Mind you, slipstream to mainstream is a natural evolution. It was the very downfall (or genesis) or Hot Topic. But monsters were doing so well in niche markets, which eventually lead to them being shoved down our throats.

When we read or watch something about a monster, we want to be too terrified to go to bed. We want it to come from the darkest shadows or the most horrifying origins and chase us back against a wall. Sure these creatures can be like Frankenstein’s Monster and have a rich background somewhat justifying their actions, but please don’t make them goofy.

Even Evil Dead, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and  Drag Me to Hell  are goofy horror movies, but you know what, they still scare the hell out of people. What we are faced with – especially in film – is this watered down, PG version of horror. Even though I like John Dies at the End and Zombieland, I’ll admit those two stories lead to some of poorly constructed zombie movies we see now.

Zombieland, though enjoyable, re-introduced a crummy concept to film, which then bled back into fiction (how many zombie books are there now?). The film comes off as a quirky story of an unlikely group of survivors battling zombies in the search of love, a theme park, and Twinkies. It even has many of the zombie tropes.

But what is the film at heart? 

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It’s a story of a fledging love between two youngsters, AKA a romantic comedy. Yes, I said it. A romantic comedy.

Rom-Com

Romantic comedy films, also known as "rom-coms", are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily". 

Another definition states that its "primary distinguishing feature is a love plot in which two sympathetic and well-matched lovers are united or reconciled".Romantic comedy films are a sub-genre of comedy films as well as of romance films, and may also have elements of screwball comedies and stoner comedies. Some television series can also be classified as romantic comedies.

Zombieland

During a game of Monopoly, Tallahassee breaks down and reveals that he lost his young son, Buck, to the zombies. While he and Little Rock take out their pain by shooting fine art, Columbus and Wichita get drunk. They almost kiss but are interrupted by Tallahassee. 

The next morning, Wichita and Little Rock leave, afraid that any further bonds will break their sisterly bond. They go the amusement park. Believing it is deserted, they turn on the all the power and everything in the park turns on and lights up. However, the noise and lights attracts zombies from the surrounding area. The girls manage to get to temporary safety atop one of the rides. 

Please make it stop. Even in literature we see this romantic zombie comedy style (Rom-Zom-Com) with  Breathers: A Zombie's Lament , and as mentioned,  John Dies at the End . Now, these stories don’t necessarily need a love relationship to be classified together. Pretty much, if it’s like  Shaun of the Dead  or  Zombieland , it’s exactly what we don’t need any more of.

My hope is this year the popularity of zombies will die down and later return to those gruesome tales we’ve loved so much.