Thread: Off the wall question...

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Is Frankenstein considered a zombie??

Nahh.....he's reanimated. Doesn't eat Brains....(LOL), wasn't 'turned' into a zombie (no disease, or chemical intervention).

I assumed that anything that is reanimated is a zombie. But, the whole "brain-eating" thing doesn't seem like Frankie's cup of tea. So, I thought I'd put the question out there for the experts.

Both Frankenstein's Monster and zombies have been reinterpreted over the years, but Frankenstein's Monster is an original creation, which dealt just as much with the philisophical question of man as god, bringing life into the world, as it did with the question, what is life? What is man? What is the soul? The fact that Frankenstein's Monster reached a point in his own evolution as a character to start asking those questions illustrates his ability to think. And, as we all remember from school (or Asimov) "I think, therefore, I am".

In contrast to Frankenstein's Monster, zombies are without consciousness or thought. They survive on instict and have no sense of self or time (present, past, future). Historically, zombies were the undead armies of stronger characters, who used the zombies as mindless creatures of destruction and death. Or they were used to carry out basic functions like guarding or protecting (very rare, but there is a case or two of the evil voodoo zombie with a task).

Now, due to the rise in popularity of zombies, they have been evolving in literature and on screen to be more blurred between human and creature. Film series like Resident Evil and 28 days have tried to introduce a "thinking" zombie that has some basic problem solving skills and, in some cases, can even have a sense of memory or engrained purpose (usually vengence). Zombies have also changed from being something created from darkess and supernatural magic, to something more of a bad chemical spill. The fear of magic and the supernatural has been replaced with the fear of science and biological elements such as disease.

You can even disregard the old mainstream notion that a zombie is just out for brains. It would seem current culture has them acting more like indiscriminatory cannibals rather than selective diners searching out one portion of the body.

Anyway, I think Frankenstein's Monster is unique because he questioned his condition, while zombies are just out to mess you up.

Totally agree with TK421. I see Frankenstein's Monster as a tragic hero. He had awareness and for the most part was like a child with a child's sense of wonder... and of abandonment and rage.

Zombies, no matter if they are the classic or the newly interpreted versions, are flat out baddies.

Well, except for Ed from Shaun of the Dead.

Put it on the ritz!!!!

Originally Posted by TK421

Now, due to the rise in popularity of zombies, they have been evolving in literature and on screen to be more blurred between human and creature. Film series like Resident Evil and 28 days have tried to introduce a "thinking" zombie that has some basic problem solving skills and, in some cases, can even have a sense of memory or engrained purpose (usually vengence).

This is also true for "Bubba" in the original Day of the Dead

In black and white, I would consider him a "zombie." He is technically a reanimated corpse(s).

But...When you start adding in other things(like self-awareness), I'm less convinced.

Great question!

Ophelia

eta: spelling correction.

Ah, yes. Dawn of the Dead (1985) "Say hello to your Aunt Alicia."

Originally Posted by Ophelia

In black and white, I would consider him a "zombie." He is technically a reanimated corpse(s).

If you're going to be black and white about a zombie being a reanimated corpse, then would anyone who has died and then been resuscitated be a zombie?

I mean, in the real world, obviously not, because we are grateful when grandpa Henry is revived by the EMTs, we're not racing for a shotgun to destroy him before he infects others.

So is it truly the lack of thought that makes a zombie, or should we also consider the infective nature of the contemporary zombie to be one of it's determining characteristics?

If so, this would be another difference between zombies and Frantenstein's Monster.