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Zombies and Identity in a Culture of Consumerism

There is perhaps no cultural icon that sheds light on the
current state of our own society as that of the undead zombie.
Undeniably popular throughout the past few decades, the zombie
has been cemented in the annals of pop culture since the Romero
film Night of the Living Dead debuted in 1968. From the late
sixties until present day, zombies have remained popular
throughout society. The question we must ask ourselves is why
the zombie is not only popular, but enduringly so. How does the
zombie construction allow us to not only better understand
ourselves but the society we live in? Zombies are much more than
a frightening element of horror. They are a mirror that allows us to
glimpse the nature of our capitalistic assumptions while viewing
ourselves through a lens outside of our capitalistic tendencies.
This zombie lens exposes the underlying consumerist driven
greed and opportunistic elements commonly associated with
capitalism. The rise of zombies parallels the nature of youth
culture in that they represent those who have embraced the
creed of consumerism and have become zombies, devoid of life

and laughter, content to fade into the all-consuming machine of

society. The enduring popularity of zombies stem from an
overarching distaste with the woes of capitalism that are being
experienced by not only the youth, but everyone apart from the
extremely affluent. (Giroux 12)These perceived woes center
around the no holds barred quest for profit at the expense of
employees that corporations are built upon. Liberal discourse that
centers on the role of the consumer benefits from the embedded
icon of the zombie that allows for a metaphorical viewpoint
devoid of capitalistic bias in favor of a holistic perspective that
enables the viewer to gaze upon the current state of society
without ethnocentric hindrances.
Of particular importance is the correlation between the pace of
zombie movement and the pace of life in society. When zombies
first rose to prominence in popular culture in the late 1960s, they
were slow moving and rather harmless if not encountered in
horde. For example, Dawn of the Dead (1979) is frequently cited
as one of the greatest zombie films ever made and features slow
moving zombies. These slow moving zombies represent the brain
dead worker bees that cannot see past their own present

situation. Fast forward to the present and there are zombies who
move with superhuman strength. For example, World War Z
(2013) features frenetic zombies who act in rabid fashion.
Zombies are a type of social commentary, a metaphor for the
pace of life in society. With technology and faster transportation,
the pace of modern life is considerably faster and more intense
than in the 1970s. There is a perpetual busyness that consumes
people who never take the time to slow down and examine their
surroundings. Those who do not partake in the extremely fast
pace of life see it as foreign and unnatural, a zombie activity that
they do not wish to participate in.
The zombie is unique among modern monsters in that it
represents the once living as dead and brainless, tortured by
incessant need for nourishment despite its rotting flesh. McAlister
emphasizes the anonymity of the zombie in comparison to more
famous monsters that arose throughout the 18 th and 19th
centuries. Zombies are anonymous and pose a counter-example
to the more common Western monster narrative centered on a
single figure, to whom the characters are forced to relate, such as
Leviathan, Dracula, and Frankenstein. Zombies are human-sized,

human-shaped, and have no supernatural attributes. They are

neither sexually attractive nor are they sexually attracting. Like
slaves in rebellion, they are most dangerous as a collective
hoard. (McAlister 475) It is the collective nature of zombies that
establish a direct relation to the state of modern society. Rather
than discussing society in terms of a single zombie, it is most
appropriate to refer to a collective body or hoard that is
reflective of the happenings in modern society.
In order to successfully use the metaphor of the zombie as a
way of viewing our own society, it is imperative to determine who
these so called zombies represent. Are they the adults, content
to earn a living by working jobs that they hate? Or, perhaps are
the zombies the youth who idolize extreme consumerism and lose
themselves by staring at electronic screens for hours on end?
When defining zombies in our American culture it is important to
not diagnose the individual but rather the hoard, or collective
body of individuals. The zombie is a tortured being, alive yet
dead, prisoner to the overarching system in which it exists. In this
21st century, modern American society, the overarching doctrine
is consumerism, a direct product of the engraved reality of

capitalist control in politics. This capitalist thinking emphasizes

the acquisition of more possessions and wealth, an empty
American Dream that pits consumer vs. consumer in their quest
for the next item of wealth. Giroux refers to this system as casino
capitalism due to the unknown nature of the outcome of ones
effort. The amount of wealth one achieves is dependent on the
many factors, some of which are outside the consumers control.
A casino capitalist zombie politics views competition as a form of
social combat, celebrates war as an extension of politics, and
legitimates a ruthless Social Darwinism in which particular
individuals and groups are considered simply redundant, disposalnothing more than human waste left to stew in their own
misfortune-easy prey for the zombies who have a ravenous
appetite for chaos and revel in apocalyptic visions filled with
destruction, decay, abandoned houses, burned-out cars, gutted
landscapes, and trashed gas stations. (Giroux 2) Giroux
emphasizes the cruelty of this system, cyclical in nature and
purposefully entrapping. The often necessary acquisition of debt
in order to be a functioning member of society further enslaves

the members of society who see no option but to participate in

the charade.
This tortuous entrapment in the so called Culture of Cruelty
(Giroux 1) has foundations in the culture of the youth and
adolescents who are engrained with the doctrine of consumption
from an early age. The youth and young adult populations are the
prime targets of the zombie-pop culture craze. Movies, books, and
television shows are continually inebriated with zombie references
and topics, a metaphor for the oppressed hiding in plain sight.
Various books have been written regarding zombies. Of particular
importance is the Pride and Prejudice Zombie Trilogy which
features a reversal of cultural roles. The action of the Pride and
Prejudice and Zombies trilogy has a carnival character that is
wickedly appealing. The figures of high culture are knocked off
their proverbial pedestals and the figures of low culture are
resplendently dressed in high cultural garb. (Nelson 352) This
book signified a major development in the far reaching world of
zombies in pop culture. Now not only were zombies in
contemporary books, but they are also now invading famous
works of literature. The zombies are given center stage in a novel

that is not only a classic, but an unlikely candidate to receive a

zombie treatment. Pride and Prejudice, a 19th century British novel
receives the American zombie treatment, transforming it into a
striking piece of social commentary. It no longer is a tale of British
life, but rather a reflection on the state of American society.
(Nelson 347)That which is sacred is no longer safe from
succumbing to the horde. Zombie politics and ways of life have
reached even the classics of literature.
There are many subgroups of youth culture with numerous
differences that all share a consumerist drive. Hodkinson
conducted a study of a particular subgroup, categorized by their
obsession with dark clothing, dark music and noticeably different
appearances and lifestyle. Far from being isolated within a
subculture dominated by youth, or fixated on a desperate attempt
to retain their own adolescence, these participants found
themselves still attached to a community which was ageing with
them. (Hodkinson 281) It is this notion of aging with a
community that feeds into the vacuum of a faceless modern
society. Subgroups have identity. Cultural subgroups are most
numerous and identifiable among youth culture. (Hodkinson 264)

This perhaps is the reason many youth see the lifeless grind of
corporate employees as the modern day equivalent of a zombie.
The youth are torn between identity and consumerism, often
confusing the two for one in the same. This connection between
youth and consumerism is at the basis of the construction of the
zombie. The zombie is seen as a lifeless example of the havoc
that employment in a vicious market concerned solely with profit
will wreak upon an individual. Zombies are a direct reflection of
the youths disillusionment that encompasses the ideals of
capitalistic consumerism. Without the support of the youth
capitalism has no furture. Yet as long as there are zombies to
keep Capitalism afloat, it will continue to exist.
Identity is the opposite of a zombified horde. In a horde, there
is an overwhelming aura of anonymity that destroys individual
identity in favor of a single label. This label is that of the
perpetual consumer, a laborer of society who is content to spend
days differentiating themselves from the collective consumerist
classification by simply consuming a different product. Deutsch
and Theodorou shed light on the link between identity and the
choice a consumer is faced with. If identity is marked and

recognized by consumer choice, then those with limited purchase

power are faced with a choice: find a way to acquire material
goods or remain identityless (or unable to display your place in
the social order). (Deutsch and Theodorou 251) It is this
engrained idea of identity being related to consumer choice that
permeates youth culture. The issue is not what is being
purchased, but rather that the collective whole sees the
acquisition of possessions as a means of identity construction.
Self-actualization is thought to be achieved by accepting ones
role as a faceless cog in the grinding machine of capitalistic
consumerism. (Deutsch and Theodorou 230)
If the youth truly are on the doorstep to the zombified life
equated with cubicles and keyboards, then what are the social
obligations of their delegated role as the consumer? Buying a
house, a car, and earning money emerge as essential conditions
of being a good son, a good husband, and a good father, by way
of performing social obligations. (Deutsch and Theodorou
248)Deutsch and Thoedorou collected data on urban youth
reflecting where identity stems from. Their data points to the
direct relation between acquisition of material goods and social

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standing/identity. Youth see no choice but to join the herd of

consumers in order to establish an identity for themselves. The
youth culture is a critical place for the development of a
consumerist mentality. Youth see possessions as an avenue to
success when in reality they are simply a financial gain for
someone else.
It is important to deconstruct this notion of the youth culture
being centered on a consumerist cliff, with no choice but to face
the inevitable plunge into a lifeless zombified routine of
consumerism. Karl Marx provides excellent commentary on the
subject. In bourgeois society, therefore, the past dominates the
present; in Communist society, the present dominates the past. In
bourgeois society capital is independent and has individuality,
while the living person is dependent and has no individuality.
(Marx Communist Manifesto 84) Dependence equals no
individuality. The anonymous zombie horde is dependent on the
status prescribed by the quality of their consumption. Individuality
cannot be achieved by clinging to a widespread doctrine meant to
benefit those who are already affluent. Individuality is obtained by
acting of ones own accord, not out of desire for status but rather

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from a personal conviction. The desires of the people have been

uprooted and implanted with the desires of the elite. The vast
majority play along, refusing to question their own behavior
despite the striking similarities to the undead. Willing to labor for
that which they do not need, the zombie cycle thrives on. Capital
is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living
labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks. (Marx Capital
224 ) There is no end to the routine of cruelty as long as the vast
majority of society follows blindly the path laid before them. Marx
is arguing for the validity of a socialist system, but in doing so
makes a valid point concerning the addictive nature of labor for
the sake of consumerism. It appears to be a fair trade, but only to
those who exist within the already established system. The
outside eye sees zombies, the undead who tirelessly keep
themselves busy to establish their false identity.
The issue of blindly consuming goes hand in hand with the
zombie metaphor, allowing for a striking portrait of the present
state of our society. The workers are the zombies, tirelessly
consuming that which does not benefit the communities around
them. The gap between the rich and poor continues to grow while

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the horde continues with their normal routines. The political

implications of the zombie metaphor pierce deep into the heart of
our society. Marx is known for his denouncement of bureaucracy
and corporate gain at the expense of the individual. His views
help illuminate the validity of the zombie metaphor, but is it
possible that the zombie lens is merely a socialist argument
against capitalism? The zombie view of our society is not meant
to establish socialism as superior, but rather to allow a fresh
perspective on the current state of affairs in the modern society of
the United States. Zombies are perhaps the most culturally
relevant monsters that exist in pop culture, and it is important to
use their metaphor as a way of viewing our own society in a
different light. In this way we can not only better understand
ourselves, but also the people and institutions around us.

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Bibliography
Hodkinson, Paul. (2001). Ageing in a Spectacular youth
culture: continuity, change and community amongst older
Goths. The British Journal of Sociology. 62 (2) p 262-282
Deutsch, N. and Theodorou, E. (2009) Aspiring, Consuming,
Becoming: Youth Identity in a Culture of Consumptions.
Youth and Society. 42(2) 229-254
Nelson, C. (2013). Jane Austen Now with Ultraviolent
Zombie Mayhem. Adaptation. 6 (3) 338-354.
Giroux, Henry A. Zombie Politics and Culture in the Age of
Casino Capitalism. New York: Peter Lang, 2011. Print.
McNally, David. Monsters of the Market Zombies, Vampires,
and Global Capitalism. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Print.

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McAlister, E., (2012). Slaves, cannibals, and infected HyperWhites: the race and religion of Zombies. Anthropological
Quarterly . 85 (2) 457-486
Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. Manifesto of the Communist
Party,. New York: International, 1948. Print.
Marx,
Karl,
and Friedrich
Engels. Capital. Chicago:
Encyclopdia Britannica, 1955. Print.

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