The Girl With All The Gifts

Went to see The Girl With All The Gifts last night. Was in the unusual position of knowing almost nothing about it, except for a vague sense that it was kind of a zombie film but also a kind of British Drama thing.

My thoughts here will avoid major spoilers, but if you want to know nothing about it, you'd be better going to see it first. In fact, just go see it as soon as you can, because it's wonderful.

Wonder Girl

My main thoughts while watching were basically variations of "This is awesome. This is so well made. This is one of my favourite films already." It's basically the opposite to the thoughts and feelings I had while watching Suicide Squad.

Also ticking away was a thought that any gamer will have when watching this film, which is, "The Last of Us. This is like The Last of Us. Quite a lot."

Not that it shares the plot, so don't worry that I've just blown the narrative. GWATG is very much its own thing, and has a distinctive spirit and tone. But if you've played The Last of Us (which you certainly should have) you'll find some of the plot beats quite familiar. And the mise en scene is strongly reminiscent of the overgrown, deserted cityscapes that greet Joel and Ellie.

Girl Friend

The film follows a trend which I've seen developing over the last few years: the zombie as a sympathetic figure. From The Returned to In The Flesh to Warm Bodies, zombies (or things very much like zombies) have started to become more than faceless, shuffling monsters. They are sad, vulnerable, sometimes likeable. I wonder what that is about?

Are there any games following this trend? I'd be interested to see. And I'm curious as to what the trend means. Zombies have always had a significant symbolic purpose in culture, from the Western fear of foreigners in White Zombie to the directionless of 21st Century existence in Shaun of the Dead. So what does it mean when the zombies become likeable?

I'm aware that this is two blogs about zombies in a row, and neither have focused much on games. But we're talking about wider issues than just playing games here, I think. 

Anyway, go see this film. It is marvellous. 

How about them zombies

Early morning walk, listening to the 'Not a Game' podcast.

I've just started with this podcast, and so far feelings are mixed. The hosts are chatty and fun to listen to, and they know a fair bit about games, so that's good. But they seem to have some significant gaps in their knowledge.

The subject of zombies in games came up, as I suppose it must when discussing video games these days. Someone mentioned that they thought this fad was dying down, that people were losing interest in The Walking Dead and it's kind. That doesn't ring true to me. It seems that people have been predicting the end of the zombie 'fad' every couple of years, for about ten years. There's something about them that just seems to keep resonating.

They won't stay dead

The host alluded to the 'first cycle' of zombie films - the Romero films. And seemed to suggest that this was a similar cycle, and would also pass. Well, that first cycle lasted for about 17 years, with Romero's films being just three examples in a crowded market. So I'm not sure it was quite the short burst of activity this guy seems to think it was.

Worse, he seemed to think that Romero's films had a social significance that the current ones now lack. When he said this, I said 'Absolute rubbish!' out loud, in the street, apparently to myself.

Just because the zombies are no longer wandering around shopping malls, it doesn't mean that they're not a fundamental critique of society. Their very popularity would suggest that they are tapping into some very real cultural angst. For a start, I'd say The Walking Dead TV show is - like a lot of other Tv at the moment - about leadership and power. In a world where people like Trump can get scarily close to the Presidency of the USA, it's unsurprising to see television asking the question: whose leadership should we trust? Rick seems like a good leader, until you see his actions from another perspective, and then he looks a lot like some of the other, murderous, 'bad' leaders we've encountered.

And in games... Yeah, I get how we might get a bit tired of zombies becoming a kind of default enemy or add-on in so many games. But we're not long past The Last of Us, which managed to do something really engaging with the genre. So I think, ironically, there's life in them zombies yet.

I'm going to keep listening to the podcast for a bit - it's fun, and refreshingly uncynical. But I think they could do with a broader appreciation of wider cultural trends, at least when it comes to zombies.