Episode 016: Zombies as Metaphors for People with Disabilities

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Zombies as metaphors: AnDread and Anne Jackson dive into the zombie genre to discuss zombies as metaphorical representations of people with disabilities, from George A. Romero’s Dead films to The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, The Girl with all the Gifts, Blood Quantum, and more!

A horde of zombies in George A. Romero’s The Night of the Living Dead (1968).
A talking zombie explains to Ernie (Don Calfa) that eating brains makes the pain of being dead go away for a while in The Return of the Living Dead (1985).
Poster for AMC’s series The Walking Dead. Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) rides a horse down a highway leading into a deserted city.
Joseph (Forrest Goodluck), Traylor (Michael Greyeyes), and Lysol (Kiowa Gordon) are part of a First Nations community, bringing a Native American twist to the zombie apocalypse in Blood Quantum (2019).
  1. Intro
  2. Zombies Interview Questions  10:07
    • Anne Jackson, Disability Studies scholar and inclusive designer, dissertation From the Living Dead to the Walking Dead: How Modern Zombie Culture Reflects, Challenges and Perpetuates Implicit Bias towards People with Disabilities – looks at if/how zombie stories are an allegory for how people with disabilities are viewed?
    • Do you read zombie comics or watch zombie films, or both? Which is your favorite, and why?
    • Are minorities underrepresented in zombie offerings? If yes, which ones, and why?
    • Can people with disabilities be represented more positively in zombie culture?
    • Do you find religion to be a driving force in the fear of zombies and their representation in modern film and television?
    • Do you or someone close to you identify as a person with a disability?
    • What does disability mean to you?
    • Do you think that you can catch a disability?
    • If zombies were real, would you be reluctant to approach one?
    • What do you think people with disabilities would do in a zombie apocalypse? What would their situation be like?
    • Would you make a link between disability and zombies had you not participated in this project?
    • Do some people have a need to care for other people?
    • Do you feel a need to care for others?
    • Would your faith/religion be important to you in a post-apocalyptic world?
    • Should religion make you more compassionate towards others?
    • What would you do in a zombie apocalypse?
    • What are three things that would be crucial to survival in a zombie apocalypse?
    • Have you ever formulated a plan for the apocalypse?
    • In the zombie apocalypse, what would be in your carry-around bag?
    • What would scare you in terms of apocalyptic situation/the prospect of apocalypse?
    • Would you welcome an apocalypse as a way to reset society and solve our problems?
    • Would you want to return to a simpler time that is more localized?
  3. Plugs and Wrap-Up  2:28:24

There will be a transcript for this show in the future. Please contact freaksandpsychospodcast@gmail.com for any accessibility concerns.

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