Popular Culture F1FF: Assignment 1-2

1. Who is the intended audience for this article?

The type of reader for whom the resource is written is not the general audience. I believe that this article has been written for a particular audience, experts in economics, and who have some knowledge in philosophy and art (especially horror movies). The authors used some specialized vocabulary. In addition, the way the resource has been written is too specialized, and therefore, not appropriate for the general reader.

2. How would you summarize the article?

The author discusses the motion picture "Dawn of the Dead," directed by George A. Romero. He surveys scholarship concerning the film. He argues that the zombies in the film reveal the persistent consumerism of humanity. He mentions that the movie's social model shows that surviving humans lose their identity and are reduced to a level where any labor they expend is in the service of survival. The author concludes that Romero's depiction of the destruction of social systems suggests that commodities and material possessions provide no contentment which can be achieved only through purpose and community.

3. Style

The article is logically organized and the main ideas are clearly presented in my article. The author, before presenting his own analysis of the movie Dawn of the Dead, first talks about the conception of Zombie and the world in which the movie has been elaborated director by George A. Romero. Next, He introduces his own analyze and interpretation of the movie and finally, he gives his contribution, his criticism and suggestion on relation between Zombies and Humans.

Unfortunately, the text was not easy to read. The first reason is because the article is too long. It is about 17 pages. In addition, some words were difficult to understand. The audience must have a background in economics, philosophy and must of all like movies especially gore and horror movies, because the author refers to many other Zombie movie made before the one we currently study right now.

4. What is the key idea that you take away from this article?

From this article, I retain that the principal purpose of the movie Dawn of the Dead was not only to be seen on Movie Theater, but to show the relation of large corporations with American consumerists. The idea was simple: Zombies needs to consume human flesh, and humans act like zombies when shopping and consuming. The society in the 1970s turns mankind into brainwashed avid consumers.

 

References

WILLIAM BISHOP, K. (2010). The Idle Proletariat: Dawn of the Dead, Consumer Ideology, and the Loss of Productive Labor. Journal of Popular Culture, 43(2), 234-248. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2010.00739.x