Insta-Zombie

I did not really appreciate the wealth of critical thought that existed around the figure of the zombie until my second year of university. Reading through the course calendar and stumbling upon a class entitled "Special Topics: Feminism, Zombies, and Survivalism" really left me no other choice than to enroll in the class the following year, and it remains one of the most rewarding classes of my undergraduate career. It also allowed me to take a critical, neoliberal perspective to a film I had formerly dismissed as a mindless action- thriller. And I found it fascinating. Me! And a zombie movie!

An inexhaustible subject of discussion within zombie literature is the way in which the female body is represented in relation to the zombie figure. One such representation is found in Danny Boyle's film 28 Days Later (2002). Of particular interest to this paper is the scene in which Selena, under threat of sexual attack by military officers, encourages Hannah to take some pills, stating, "I'm not trying to kill you, I'm trying to make you not care" (Doyle, 2002). While a powerful scene even on a superficial level, it will be the work of this reflection to flesh out the ways in which the actions of these women situate them in relation to zombies, gender roles and neoliberalism; more specifically, how can this scene be imagined as the 'zombification' of these women when placed within frameworks of respected scholars Lauro and Embry (2008) and Camaroff and Camaroff (2002)?

In the women's ingestion of these drugs, their primary intent is to decrease their own degree of consciousness in order to numb the trauma of the seemingly inevitable assualt. It might be pertinent to recall here how Lauro and Embry described the legal "limit on human existence wherein those without social power, or those deemed to have inferior consciousness... are considered legally dead" (Lauro and Embry 105). Combining the complete lack of influence and leverage that these women possess with the impaired consciousness achieved by the drugs, these women can be thought of as incorporating aspects of both the living and the dead. In this way Doyle has managed not only to liken these women to zombies (which can be described at once as both dead and alive) but also to gesture towards a traditional characterization of woman as the divide between life and death (Lauro and Embry 102-103). Thus, this scene depicts Selena and Hannah as hyper-feminized in a way that renders them comparable to the 'infected' which they have been evading throughout the film.

To further this argument regarding woman as the border between life and death, there are the military officers who recognize these women almost exclusively for their reproductive capacity. To these men, Selena and Hannah represent a final chance at posterity (and perhaps more importantly, their last chance to rebuild) so that a binary develops between life and death, between future and dismal end. Anxieties about re/production can often be mapped across the female body; in their refusal to participate as reproducers, the women are perceived as a threat to the community. This is particularly salient in the way that the soldiers chose to dress the women in dramatic ball gowns. The female body is thus represented in a way which not only evokes strong gender roles and norms but which also sensualize these women, highlighting the 'femininity' of their figures and naturally invoking ideas of fertility and reproduction.

Thirdly, and perhaps most compelling about this scene is the use of pharmaceuticals. As a signifier, these drugs carry with them many more questions than answers. For instance, are these a form of resistance or are they a terrifying symbol of capitalist consumerism and its persistence? The context of the film seems to point to the latter. In fact, it seems to suggest that there is no resistance; even as the women try to resist power and imposed roles, they are reverting back to their role as consumer. The pharmaceutical company is the ultimate symbol of the neoliberal system, particularly in the way that bodies have been commodified and medicalized for the purpose of regulation and control in said neoliberal platform. Thus, this scene seems to be an illustration of our internalized role as consumer and the way that we are supposed to exist as a part of this capitalist machine instead of a conscious member of society.

The zombie has been described as symptomatic, something that 'crops up' and is indicative of some underlying cause. In this scene, Selena and Hannah are likened to the zombies due to their lowered consciousness caused by their ingestion of drugs. As these drugs seem to represent neoliberalism, it can be argued that the real underlying cause of these particular 'zombies' is, as Comaroff and Comaroff said it best "the neoliberal message of freedom and self-realization through consumption" (786). It might also be helpful to consider here why these women are consuming these pills and what form of freedom they are pursuing.

Finally, I would like to consider the way in which Selena's line complements this idea of neoliberalism and unifies the piece as a whole. It is important to note that Selena's line begins with "I am not trying to kill you." Though in response to Hannah's voiced fears, one cannot help but wander if this line as well can be understood in the context of neoliberalism. It is true that she is not trying to kill Hannah, but is Selena, in offering these pills, being implicated in the neoliberal structure? How can considering Lauro and Embry's claim that 'if the subject survives the apocalypse, so will capitalism" (107) change the way that we understand Selena's reassuring claim? In this context, she may not be interested in Hannah's well-being but rather in the survival of the 'subject' which will in turn ensure the survival of the current system. Interestingly, humanity does survive the attack, as evidenced by the planes flying over-head in the final scene. If it is possible, as suggested in our lecture in class, that these planes are meant to represent more than just rescue, but also the survival of capitalism and control, it is also reasonable to suggest that Selena's stress on the fact that she is not trying to kill Hannah is a micro-level example of neoliberalism's dependence on the subject.

This scene is just one of several compelling moments in 28 Days Later; however it is one that is rewarding to unpack, even if the scope of this post only scrapes the surface of these complex elements and the possible interpretations possible to the critical eye.

#zombies #28dayslater #hannah #selena #dannyboyle #neoliberalism