More LAND

The internet vortex Beaks has written his erudite response to Land of the Dead. Hey, thanks for the shout-out. He takes the analysis of Romero's themes to another level, and I really love what he has to say about how the zombies appear changes. I'm really glad of his mention of the human underclass ("while the undesirables (mostly minorities) are, in a sort of feudalistic set-up, relegated to the outlying areas. It ain't a hospitable existence, but it is relatively zombie-proof (of course, the humans are still free and willing to do harm unto each other).") It jogs something that I forgot to write about last week.

I haven't said anything yet about the scene in the club where Riley rescues Slack. From a summary or a review, it's tempting to jump to the conclusion that Romero paints the human underclass as the noble proletariat. It's not that simple (it never is). We only see bits and pieces of them apart from the main ensemble cast. En masse, we see the underclass on the streets briefly, milling around and ignoring the religious and political organizers. We also see them en masse in the club scene.

The club's an ugly place. As before, zombies are used for entertainment-- zombie photos and the paintball gallery-- and debasement. But you've also got a human woman topless in a cage-- and not randomly. And, of course, you've got the sport of watching two zombies tear apart a woman. We hear that Kaufman funds this vice, and that's not surprising, but he funds it because he knows they want to buy it and it will keep them from more heightened concerns. How is the underclass going to pull itself out of Kaufman's hegemony when it can't tear itself away from these base distractions? It's telling that the police show up and arrest Riley et al after the rescue and the shooting of the little man. Keeping the peace (read: the status quo) means keeping those vices in business and arresting anyone who threatens their existence.

Of course, the distractions of the club are a great complement to the distractions posed by the fireworks.