Module 15 - Zombie Narratives

I will be analyzing module 12. This module contains the popular culture of zombies. We were assigned to watch one of the earlier movies. I choose to watch the movie king of the zombies, produced in 1941. I will also be dissecting the subject through the lens of race. Although slavery of the African-Americans was outlawed, that does not mean they were culturally accepted immediately. This was displayed in the movie on several occasions. One occasion was when the Mantan Moreland, who played the character Jeff. Jeff and his white associates, seem to be on good terms, but Jeff remains a subordinate as he is their valet. The portrayal of an African-American during the filming of the movie would hold African-Americans to a secondary role. Both actors and the characters that were portrayed would generally be secondary characters. This is affirmed as all of the entire servants of the Dr. Sangre were only of color. Jeff is casted as a comedic relief for the movie, making little jokes and talking about with smart remarks. At one point, Jeff asks to spend the night with his white associates, who were a portrayed as a more prestigious role such as a pilot or a colonel in the military. Even the main evil antagonist was a white actor as well. The portrayal of the servants in the movie shown that they were happy and content with their position in the cultural hierarchy. Not interested in talking back to their master or achieving more. At one point, the slaves notice one of Jeff’s associates was slacked and converted into a zombie. The servants were surprised because they have never seen a white zombie before. This does not seem normal to the servants, but because of the circumstances, the Doctor has to kill one of the associates to prevent further snooping. Eventually, Jeff and his remaining associate manage to escape the island and return to the mainland. Although strides and changes have been made as popular culture constantly changes, a good example of this would be Star Wars. They have successfully casted a minority, as well as a female lead. Despite a few major movies recently, representation of women and minorities in movies are still bleak or unchanged (Bahr, 2017)

CITES

King of Zombies. Jean Yarbrough. Perf. Dick Purcell, Mantan Moreland, Henry Victor. Distributor, Sterling Productions inc. 1941. Film. 
Bahr, Lindsey. "People Want to See More Diversity in Movies, but It's Not Happening Fast Enough." Business Insider. Associated Press, 31 July 2017.Web. 26 Apr. 2018.
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King of the Zombies

The film that I chose to watch and analyze was King of the Zombies by Jean Yarbrough. In this movie, a man by the name of Mr. Bill sets off to the Bahamas with his servant Jeff, and a the pilot of their plane. While on their way to the destination, the plane falls off course and crashes on an island in the Caribbean. The three men are greeted and welcomed by a man named Dr. Sangre whom they suspect is hiding something. Jeff one night, while in the kitchen with the staff learns about the living dead or zombie presence in Dr. Sangre’s house. Mr. Bill and the pilot have some doubts about the zombies, but soon find out the truth. Dr. Sangre turns people into zombies to try and get information out of a United States admiral he had captured.

One of the theoretical lenses from the class that is also portrayed in this particular film is race and ethnicity studies. In this film a lot of the characters and situations play on race. During the time of when this movie was made, African Americans had certain stereotypical roles. With that being said, we see African Americans in this film as servants, cooks, and just as the help in general. Around (13:52) we see Jeff in the kitchen meeting the African Americans working in the kitchen. We also see the zombie characters being African Americans. I don't necessarily see this film as racist at all, Jeff, one of the main characters is African American and has a very substantial role and is able to make a name for himself. 

Module 12 Example: Bring Out Your Dead!

PROMPT

For this week, you will be providing an analysis of the zombie film that you watched. The analysis should draw upon one or more of the mini-lecture videos from this course (not including the one that is actually on zombies) such as feminism, race & ethnicity studies, the Frankfurt School (also known as critical inquiry; also, don't forget Part 2 & Part 3), symbolism, post-modernism, and hegemony.

• White Zombie (1932)- 65 minutes 
• Revolt of the Zombies (1936) - 62 minutes 
• The Devil’s Daughter (1939) - 52 minutes  
• King of the Zombies (1941) - 67 minutes 
• Night of the Living Dead – 96 minutes 

What you should include in this post:

1. Clearly identify the the film.
2. A description of content (1 paragraph)
3. A brief discussion of a theoretical lens that you want to use  (1 paragraph).
4. Applying the theoretical lens to the film to explain what newer meaning is derived by using the lens on the film  (1 paragraph). 
5. Where possible, a direct reference to a specific time (meaning how many minutes into the film) or a brief video clip that helps to illustrate your point.

Relevant Labels/Tags: Zombies, [Name of movie you examine], [Name of theoretical lens that you use].

EXAMPLE

So I decided to do my critique of King of the Zombies.  The film follows the exploits of a pilot, Mr. Bill, and Jeff (his African American servant) when they crash land on a jungle island somewhere in the Caribbean.  They encounter a Dr. Miklos Sangre (Spanish for "blood"), who welcomes them into his home.  While initially the pilot and Bill are fine with things, Jeff learns about and encounters zombies or the "living dead" within the house while stationed with the other (black) servants.  The rest of the film is a mixture of discovery by the white protagonists of the existence of zombies and Dr. Sangre's goal of turning people into zombies in order to ultimately get information from a US admiral he has captured.  All is thwarted but there are some many fascinating things going on in this film. 

The films could be analyzed through a great many lens.  The one I will talk about in this post is through the lens of feminism.  To discuss women within the film, it is also necessary to recognize that race also plays into this discussion. The representation of women is as troubling as the depiction of African Americans and people of African descent.  In particular, the servants of Dr. Sangre (to whom they call Master) is particularly telling.  Within this film, the maids faithfully serve Sangre, even though at times, their men have been enslaved from beyond the tomb.  Samantha's former husband now walks about the place as a lifeless zombie and she seems entirely content with this.  (This scene occurs around 44:00 minutes).  Coupled with this are the ways in which women are entirely passive (the wife of Dr. Sangre) or disregarded or made to be pawns of the men and eventually ends up dead (Sangre's niece).  In total, the film plays to a male-aesthetic in its presentation of women--particularly younger women as visually appealing and meant to be looked at (a la Mulvey) and are props for the men's machinations.