Hmmm... okay, I see your point. An all-too-literal understanding of
'zombie' might be counterproductive. About Invasion of the Body
Snatchers: one of the interesting aspects in the discussion of this
film is how it's been labeled both as science fiction and as horror,
although usually the SF denomination dominates (it's also a thriller
and a film noir and a conspiracy film of sorts, despite there being
no real conspiracy but an invasion - an invasion, however, which
pretty much resembles a conspiracy). Perhaps my initial resistance at
thinking of the pods as zombies has to do with this tenuous
borderline between science fiction and horror. To paraphrase Vivian
Sobchack, in horror we are afraid of the body's secrets and its
other, the Freudian id rising to the surface, the body challenging
our mastery over it, whereas in science fiction, the threat emanates
primarily from the superego, and what we're afraid of is the absolute
reign of rationality and technology, effectively entailing a loss of
the unconscious. To me, zombies are on the corporeal and horror side
of the genre threshold.... to be cont'd
H
> Indeed, you are right. But, Henry, that wasn't my point. My point
> was that there are perhaps films that are analysable from the point of
> view of philosophy of mind zombie literature (which Aaron suggested
> was separate from and did not apply to zombie films as a genre).
>
> Hence placing the word 'zombie' in tentative quotation marks in
> describing Invasion....
>
> Now, I realise that a literal reading of both films means that these
> pod people and androids aren't 'the same' people as their original
> models at all.
>
> But, both films lend themselves to more metaphorical readings -
> Invasion... being seemingly at times a sort of McCarthy-era
> anti-Communist rant ("Communism is a disease! It takes over your mind
> and turns you into a pinko lefty!"); Stepford..., meanwhile, is
> perhaps at the nexus of "we're all turning into machines!" (with the
> battle of the sexes thrown in for good measure).
>
> As such, whilst not strictly in the 'zombie genre' they are perhaps
> worthy of consideration from the point of view of philosophy of mind
> zombie literature (as Aaron described it)...
>
> Does that make sense?
>
> w
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