The Zombie as a Symbol Of Consumerism

Zombies might stem from ancient Haitian legends and spiritual myths, but almost every westerner (if not all) knows one of these slow-moving, undead creatures when they see one. Depending on your source of information, a zombie is an undead shell of a human, controlled by a powerful source, forever shuffling along in search of victims and never able to think for themselves, or they are simply uncontrollable, blood thirsty monsters, unthinkingly tearing into the flesh of any victim they find. The commonality between these two descriptions is blatant; they are unthinking creatures, usually found in masses, without an ounce of individuality or conscious thought. In order to relate this to consumerism, it is essential to determine what the principles behind this philosophy entail.



Consumerism is basically the never-ending desire to purchase goods and services, and in most cases, people have no need (or sometimes not even the desire) for these items they simply purchase them because everyone else has them. In a westernized society where the basic needs of individuals are easier to fulfill, such as water, housing and food, people no longer focus on their needs when they make a purchase; they are basically hypnotized into believing that they need to purchase a product or service at all costs. People work themselves to death in order to own items that are only popular for a few months, and then they need to start working in order to pay them off, while adding more items to the list of demands. This is eerily similar to a zombieís need for human flesh; they will face shotguns and fire in an attempt to eat human flesh; a desire that will, in essence, serve no purpose since they are the undead, and therefore have no need for sustenance.
The unseeing eyes of the zombie points to the fact that they have no sense of consciousness; they are merely tools that are in the power of a sorcerer, or perhaps even a plague, and this is something that is apparent within the philosophy of consumerism. People do not purchase goods because they have consciously made the decision that they need them; they purchase them because everyone else owns one and this means that there are no thought processes behind the decision- the purpose itself is to ensure corporations amass fortunes on the backs of the populace.

Consumerism, in many instances, can be seen as a destructive force, which became apparent during the economic decline which left the worldís populace in debt and basically brought the downfall of more than one nation. It is the ever forward pressing desire for commodities that ultimately serve no purpose; it is the new zombie apocalypse where individuals find themselves blindly craving that which their ìmastersî tell them is imperative to their existence, without regard for their own well being or that of others.


Author Bio: Matt runs a site that offers the UK's widest range of zombie costumes and accessories.