A zombie by any other name

[Bullgrit]

I noticed in The Walking Dead, the characters refer to the zombies as "walkers." In other movies, they are called "the infected," or even just the vague, "them" or "those things." Am I just not remembering the instances, or does it seem that movies, shows, and books avoid calling zombies "zombies"? If I'm right, why is this?

In what popular movies, shows, and books with zombies do the characters actually refer to the things as "zombies"?

Bullgrit

 

[Aeolius]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mo6C6up1Qo]FIDO - Trailer - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Umbran]

I think it largely because referring to them as zombies risks coming off as being too self-referential. If you are trying to do a serious treatment (like Walking Dead) you probably don't want it to look like your characters should be thinking that they're in a zombie movie.

You ever see Last Action Hero, where the characters become aware of the genre they're in? The writers don't want that. But if you refer to them as zombies, the characters admit to knowing about Night of the Living Dead, and such, and the irony becomes so thick it gets in the way of other storytelling.

 

[Aeolius]

... But if you refer to them as zombies, the characters admit to knowing about Night of the Living Dead, and such, and the irony becomes so thick it gets in the way of other storytelling.

The term zombi/zombie predates the movie by quite some time, though.

White Zombie (1932)

 

[Umbran]

The term zombi/zombie predates the movie by quite some time, though.

The issue isn't about historical accuracy, but cultural literacy.

If you've got contemporary American characters, in a contemporary setting, and they say "zombie", then you expect the characters are thinking about George Romero and the derivatives, especially when the zombies are Romero-style, rather than voudoun-style. How do you *not* have those characters constantly thinking about how they feel like they're in a crappy movie?

Step 1 - don't have them say "zombie". By avoiding that word, you can largely pretend that the contemporary fiction we know of didn't exist in their world. Zombies are new to the characters, and the work isn't drowning in irony.

 

[Stumblewyk]

If I remember correctly from the The Walking Dead comic, they refer to the zombies by two different types: Roamers and Lurkers - they can either walk to you because they're still capable of movement, or they have to lurk and wait for you to wander by because they can't move themselves.

I get that they're called Walkers because the show is called the The Walking Dead, and they want to avoid the baggage that automatically comes with calling them actual zombies, but Walker is an easy way to describe something that moves slowly, and used to be human. Much like Roamer.

 

[Aeolius]

zombie? drowning?

 

[Janx]

The issue isn't about historical accuracy, but cultural literacy.

If you've got contemporary American characters, in a contemporary setting, and they say "zombie", then you expect the characters are thinking about George Romero and the derivatives, especially when the zombies are Romero-style, rather than voudoun-style. How do you *not* have those characters constantly thinking about how they feel like they're in a crappy movie?

Step 1 - don't have them say "zombie". By avoiding that word, you can largely pretend that the contemporary fiction we know of didn't exist in their world. Zombies are new to the characters, and the work isn't drowning in irony.

I concur.

Contrast this show with the ZombieLand movie. In that film, the characters KNOW they are fighting zombies. As such, much of the comedy is about the tactics and problems that every viewer realizes about zombie movies.

Even though the characters don't really break the 4th wall in knowing they are in a zombie film, there's a different feel because the characters know they are facing a threat that they have seen in movies.

 

[gamerprinter]

Also consider that the concept of undead is thousands of years old and there have been as many names to describe them. Zombie is only one type and one name (generally associated with voodoo), and though popular in 20th century horror, it's not the only name for the walking dead. So why limit yourself to one nomenclature for those beings.

 

[Deset Gled]

In what popular movies, shows, and books with zombies do the characters actually refer to the things as "zombies"?

Anything that appears on this list:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ZombieApocalypse

but not in this one:

Not Using the Z Word - Television Tropes & Idioms

As to the "why"...

The modern zombie is just that... modern. The classic zombie that we think of when we hear the word "zombie" has only existed since 1968, and was introduced into pop culture with George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. The word "zombie" is actually borrowed from voodoo traditions (originally African, most commonly entering American culture through Louisiana). The pre-Romeric voodoo zombie is actually a reanimated corpse under the control of a voodoo practicioner. They do not eat flesh (unless instructed to do so), do not spread zombieism, do not shamble, and generally don't act like modern zombies at all.

As others have mentioned, this etymology means that using the word "zombie" is actually a cultural reference. Without the movie "Night of the Living Dead" and the followers in the genre, there is no basis for using the z word at all. The voodoo definition would not be commonly known to people, and would actually be a fairly inaccurate word to use.