The Horror And Thematic Thrill Of The Zombie - 1288 Words

As a public discourse, popular narrative engages with social issues expressing a collective critique encouraging or discouraging social conformity. As Drezner states, â€Å"pop culture can have an â€Å"informing effect† of calling attention to and framing a particular problem. Popular culture can also have an â€Å"enabling effect† of providing shorthand references that trigger awareness of a problem† (Drezner 831). Beneath the horror and thematic thrill of the zombie film franchise, the zombie as a figure in popular culture has an enabling effect in providing awareness to society on a mass level. On the figure of the zombie, Kirk states that, â€Å"in my own case this creature talks a lot about consciousness, which it apparently regards as a deep†¦show more content†¦The narrative of McDonald’s film, Pontypool, displays the power of linguistics and opinion within the public sphere. The vehicle of the illness is unorthodox and unique for the z ombie genre but does not take away from its society commentary expressing the importance of counter-public discourse that challenges the legitimacy of the public opinion. In commonality with the genre, in McDonald’s film, they share a sense of unconsciousness, which as stated by Drezner, â€Å"Both informing and enabling effects highlight the positive ways that the living dead can be expropriated as a metaphor to spark interest in new ideas. The moment zombies are added into the, a dry public policy problem suddenly becomes a rollicking argument accessible to ordinary citizens.† (Drezner 833). Through the representation of the zombie in McDonald’s film, the mind of private opinion masses into the public sphere as radical thought causing the victim to reform their behavior to that of commonality with the social structure of the zombies. The illness of Pontypool is one that affects the linguistic ability of the victim. The power of words is the catalyst that bring s the epidemic into motion, therefore, as the disease progresses they cannot control their minds. The solution to prevent the virus from infecting further is to disassociate meaning from word and redirect it