That Gnawing Thought: Zombies in Popular Culture

Looking at bestselling books and popular movies, a person might conclude that vampires are in style. But amongst the ranks of the undead, vampires are miles behind another group of ghouls when it comes to overall cultural significance. From video games like Left 4 Dead to the television series The Walking Dead, zombies are on the rise out of the grave and into public consciousness. Interest in these shambling horrors has spiked in recent years and only continues to grow. As I write this, I can glance and spy a book I plan on reading over winter break on my shelf: Theories of International Politics and Zombies, written by Professor Daniel W. Drezner. Disbelief at my own dorkiness aside, the truth of the matter should shock you. Zombies have even penetrated academia.

"Braiinnnnsssss...."

Why such a fascination with zombies? What sets them apart from the witches, vampires, ghosts, and demons? I have a few suggestions. Scientists argue that there is at least the possibility of zombies existing. Similar occurrences are no stranger to biologists; take the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, for example. That is the main difference between zombies and the rest: they are plausible. There is nothing magical about them. They could exist. Remember the story on the news this of the cannibal who devoured the face of a homeless man? More than a few people grew nervous about the possibility that this was some type of zombie. Even when the police announced it was bath salts that caused the man to act in such a way, it does not erase that fact that our minds jumped to the possibility of a zombies.

Zombies are also unlike other creatures in the effects that produce on a society. Recent depictions of vampires, for example, show them coexisting in the world with regular people. They merge with our own institutions or create new ones, sometimes threatening that of humans, but the world continues onward. Zombies change everything. There is little chance of coexistence; humanity either survives or dies. Typical social structures disappear completely in an outbreak. It is a crisis that alters the world in a horrifying and irreversible way.

I believe this is the crux of the matter. Zombies are considered fictional, but the disaster they could create is very real. In entertaining the idea of a zombie apocalypse, it raises questions about how prepared the world is for other catastrophes. A pandemic infection, for example, is a very realistic threat to our entire species, especially in this age of globalization. Zombies allow us to tackle difficult questions about public policy that need solutions now, before the crisis emerges. Thinking about dangers to the entire human race makes even the best uncomfortable and leaves rest either in a panic or unable to comprehend its magnitude. Zombies help bridge that gap; by using zombies as a substitute, we can start discussion topics that would normally remain best left unsaid.

Stepping back from the grand scale and peering into the more personal interest in zombies, they also present individuals with the chance to think about circumstances they never had a chance to before. Could I survive if society collapsed? Could I find food and water? Could I use a weapon? Would I kill someone, even to save myself? What would happen to my family and friends? What skills or knowledge do I have that give me an advantage? Larger moral dilemmas emerge: would you kill an infected loved one to spare them turning into a zombie? Would you kill yourself? Does individual need or the common good matter more? What about liberty and security?  If you even manage to survive, do you bring children into such a world? If you could, do you rebuild society? How do you shape it? During a zombie apocalypse, you and the world are one giant tabula rasa. Zombies allow people to ask challenging questions about themselves in a fictional setting. Placed outside of reality, a person can explore questions that they would otherwise never have a reason to entertain.

Zombies will outlast vampires in terms of culture significance. Vampires are like shiny baubles (after all, they do sparkle now) that are more show than substance. Zombies let us discuss both larger problems and personal dilemmas by creating circumstances that are fictional but nonetheless applicable to other disasters. It is a thought exercise in which all can participate, a philosophical experiment that all can understand and contemplate. Vampires, demons, and ghosts are simply too supernatural. When the credits roll, they and the horror they bring slowly dissipate away. Zombies, and the big questions they force us to consider, linger much longer.

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Joey Gale '13

Behind the Scenes At Dancing with the Stonehill Stars

The RS sits down with Meghan Tinkham, a dance partner on Dancing with the Stonehill stars, to talk about her experience in dance and with the event.
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I have been dancing for about 17 years now, and two of those years are here at Stonehill. I started dancing at the New Hampshire Academy of Performing Arts back at home and graduated from their company in 2011. I have tried several different styles, but I have always found my favorite to be tap and jazz. One of the only styles that I have not tried is ballroom, and that is something that I would love to learn in the future. I got involved in Dancing with the Stonehill Stars through the Stonehill College Dance Team. This is the second year that this event has taken place as a fundraiser for our competition to Daytona. As a first year member of the dance team I was unsure of what to expect going into this, but absolutely loved work with a staff and fellow dance member to create a crowd pleasing dance. I have the pleasure of working with Kristen Pierce, the director of Res Life, and she was incredible. It was very easy to teach her, and she stepped right up to help Rose McClimans and I think of ideas. She was dedicated to this competition and went beyond our expectations. I definitely plan on continuing dance in the future. As a dance minor I hope to be able to teach and work with other dancers after graduating.
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Meghan Tinkham '15
Interviewed by Nicole Colantonio '14

Spotify Has Forced me to Admit it

Spotify has Forced Me to Admit It: I Have a slight Appreciation for Modern Technology

I have often made it clear in prior pieces published, and even in general conversation amongst those who can bear to hear me speak for an extended period of time: I have an absolute and utter disdain for modern technology. By my view, modern technology has slowly robbed all of us of our ability to appreciate the wonderful sound of silence, or even to focus for an extended period of time. Rather than e-mails I wish to write letters, rather than text messages and phone calls, I prefer face to face conversation and interaction with the rest of the human race. I seem to hold the opposite opinion of many, in that I do not want to be in constant contact with the world around me. I would like to be able to lie down on the beach or in a grassy knoll and stare at the sky, without having to hear the incessant buzzing, beeping, and ringing of a cellular device. I would have lived better in an age where the most advanced technology available was the telegraph. Nonetheless, every once in a while something will come along that will force you to question, and perhaps even violate your most basic principles: for me that was Spotify.

I can still remember the day I first met Spotify: it was a cold, rainy day in January. The Sem was ever so quiet on a Thursday afternoon, and my friend Kraig and I were relaxing  in his room listening to music and doing homework. After a solid round of Frank Sinatra’s Live at the Sands, an advertisement began playing with a catchy acoustic melody and a cheery sounding fellah speaking about something called “Spotify”. Now you can imagine my confusion, I had experienced Itunes before, which obviously entailed no advertisements. I had even tried Pandora Radio for a short spell, but after hearing Israel Kamakawiwo'ole’s Somewhere Over the Rainbow nearly 20 times on Jack Johnson radio in one sitting, I quit on that too.  I had come to despise these services due to their costliness or inefficiency, but Spotify seemed different. At first glance, it appeared simple, straight forward, and perhaps most importantly, free! Once Kraig gave me a little background on the service, I sprinted out of his room to my own (Upper A35 to be precise), and downloaded the program onto my own laptop. And so began my love affair with Spotify.

For me, Spotify has come to represent all that is good in modern technology. It still seems baffling to me that a music program could be available to the public that allowed them unlimited access to an astoundingly large catalog of artists and material, ranging from Ella Fitzgerald to Wale, and it isn’t illegal. I consider the interface of the system even more user friendly than Itunes, and it even has a radio feature that kicks Pandora’s tail. An on top of all that, must I mention it again? IT IS FREE!!! Spotify has helped me to discover artists I had never heard of before and delve deeper into the catalogs of artists I have loved since I was a child. I have come to appreciate the program so much, that I pay the 10 dollars a month so I can access Spotify premium. This subscription allows me to listen without advertisements, access the program on my phone, and even download entire playlists to my mobile devices so that I can listen to my music anytime, anywhere, Wi-Fi or no Wi-Fi. Spotify blended the positive aspects of services like Grooveshark, Pandora, and Itunes to create the greatest music providing program known to man.

So congratulations Spotify, you have forced me to sacrifice my core principles and beliefs for the musical convenience you provide. But, I can’t even lie, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Brendan Monahan '15