Phantasmaram - a new genre in cinematography or When will the walking dead die? (Topic)

The series is like a locomotive. At first, he is dispersed, and then he himself flies on the sails of the rating. Just have time to translate the arrows (that is, spank the series). But the one that exploded and did not have time to slow down remains truly masterpiece in the memory of people.

What about Walkers?

The peak speed of the steam locomotive called "The Walking Dead", overclocked by Frank Darabont, fell on 4-5 seasons. Now, like everything that was not stopped in time, he begins to stop himself, since a host of its constituent parts rotting and corroding right before our eyes. On the way, parts fly from him in the form of the main and revered actors who are tired of acting in this endless nonsense. And by the 9th season, the series is already rolling down to the speed of a cart, from which the most important detail threatens to fall out - actor Andrew Lincoln, who plays the main character of Rick Grimes.

It so happened that in the minds of people The strongest impression is not the dramatic rise of the series and the triumphant ratings that it was able to achieve, but its shameful inhibition, after which the franchise will be given the most offensive assessment: "So so."

But here we wanted to talk not so much about the ups and downs of the series, as about what genre this "masterpiece" belongs to. Well, to think over all the sore problems and questions around the "walking" of the dead.

How many years have passed ...

Even when you watch all the seasons and episodes in a row, you can't help but notice that a lot of time has passed. Yes, our heroes live, apparently, somewhere, in the subtropics, where they never heard of winter clothes and snow. And the fact that winter never comes is very confusing and does not make it clear how many years have passed.

Let's try to track the time frame for a vskidku, for example, for the child of the same Rick. At the start of the series, his wife became pregnant. She carried the baby for nine months. Now he has grown so fucking old. That is, how not to narrow the scope, but two years have passed (at least!), Although the series has been filming for the 9th year. Where are we talking about time frames?

From a biological point of view

What happens to the body after death? In the series, the action unfolds very quickly, so we are not talking about any embalmed corpses. All of them are just infected and dead people who then just started moving. We will not go into what happens to the body after death, we will only say that at a high temperature (summer temperature) only one skeleton remains from the corpse after 8-9 months. At lower temperatures (autumn winter) - in a year - maximum.

The epidemic occurred suddenly, which suggests that more than 90% of the entire human population was infected and turned into corpses at a time in the first week. That is, in a year all these 90% of the population of North America (at least) should turn into collapsed skeletons and, in fact, cease to exist even as corpses.

Only those corpses should remain that belong to those 10% of survivors. But the fact that these 10% of percent were able to survive already in itself says that they are able to continue to remain alive, that is, to stand up for their lives. And therefore, even if one of them gave their soul to God, there will be so few such "fresh" ghouls that the chance to meet them anywhere is practically zero.

Plus, all the surviving people know what happens to those who die, and, as can be seen from the series itself, they punch their heads so that they do not "revive" and do not rock the boat. Thus, it turns out that in a year there can be no dead people roaming the streets in droves. In the series, they are a dime a dozen. This is the first paradox, and then there will be a whole mountain of them.

A version of some activity in the brain and spinal cord

In episode 6 of the first season, an attempt was made to give the "life of the dead" some semblance of a scientific explanation. But it looked pathetic and indistinct. After this "explanation" more questions arose than before. Even if we assume that, as the specialist said, it restarts, we quote: "only the trunk", and not the brain as such, this trunk, too, in order to function, must receive nutrition and oxygen at the cellular level.

And food was supplied through the bloodstream, which accelerated the heart. But since the heart “does not plow,” and the vessels have rotted, the stem brain will also rot, like the brains in the skull. They, in particular, will turn into a slurry already in the third month, which will pour out through the rotten holes in the connective tissues.

Also, questions arise: “Why, if only the barrel functions, should you shoot in the head? What is the point of piercing a person's head if their brains have long since turned into water? Why does a dead man "die" after you pierce his head, in which there have been no brains for a long time, what's the point? " Etc. From all of the above, it is clear that the vague theory contradicts itself and does not stand up to criticism. And this means that there is no smell of science here and some kind of magic or sorcery is involved in the case, you cannot name it otherwise. Only with their help can inanimate objects be made to move.

Infection paradoxes

The fact that the virus is in the air is clear to everyone, since everyone, without exception, dying turns into "walking". Why, then, only during their lifetime do those bitten immediately die and turn? You can say as much as you like that the virus is transmitted not through the mucous membrane, but only through the blood. But this in itself suggests that contact of contaminated air with any wound should go out to a person sideways.

But no. Everything in order to deceive the very sensitive rotten nasal openings of the "walkers" is smeared with "walking" entrails, not caring that this rubbish can get into a torn wound from the same mosquito bite, and fuck you. But the crank doesn't come. There were moments when the brains of the walking protagonist fell into the mouth. And nothing.

Good. Suppose that all people are already infected from the beginning, and now the air is already clean. It's just a virus in every person, but he sleeps for the time being. This theory is put forward by many viewers. Then why do people die and return after being bitten? What does the bite have to do with it? And why, if you quickly cut off a person's hand, then he can be saved? Does this mean that the dry teeth of the corpse contain some kind of viral concentrate?

Another paradox is how quickly you need to chop off a limb when infected. With a deep bite, so that infection does not occur, you need to bite and chop off at the same time, otherwise, since the cycle of blood circulation through the body is about 15-17 seconds with a frequent heartbeat, you become infected almost instantly. After all, the virus is not a snake venom that can be sucked off, and not gangrene, which affects tissues locally.

In general, the paradox is driven by paradox and paradox. As Makarevich sang: “You shouldn't bend under the changing world. Better to let it bend under us ... ”It's the same here. Only, with the amendment - why bend under the laws of physics, biology, chemistry and common sense, when you can bend them under yourself and change them when and how you need them.

From a physical point of view

In order to walk, you first need to think about something that you need to go somewhere. But what do the dead think if their brains have rotted and turned into a slime? Thought processes themselves are weak electrical discharges that arise and die out in the brain according to their own rules. But what are the rules for an empty skull or a smelly goo splashing in it?

Movement occurs through tension (contraction) and relaxation of muscle tissue. They are attached to the bones of the skeleton, which enables a person to move around. Signals of tension and relaxation also come from the brain. But he is not. How is movement carried out? And the muscles, in theory, have long been rotted ... Magic.

Without a brain, even if a corpse has retained the ability to control muscles, it will not be able to walk. Walking is a very difficult thing, and the most important thing in it is not the involvement of an entire muscle group, but maintaining balance. Without the vestibular apparatus, which has long leaked into the chest and decomposed, which, by the way, is also controlled and controlled by the brain, a dead man, not only on two legs, on all fours, will not be able to hold on. How do they manage to walk right on foot in the show? .. Magic again.

What does “fantasy” mean?

What does science fiction mean in terms of the public? These are literary works and films based on some scientific theories, unconfirmed, but not refuted either. Such films include the same "Stalker" or "Solaris". But most modern films are shot in the genre of unscientific fiction.

What does “unscientific” mean? This means that some of the facts appearing in the film do not have a solid scientific basis. They are acceptable, but not from the point of view of the physics we are familiar with. These include, for example, moving in time, both forward and backward.

But the most common unscientific "act" is moving at a speed higher than the speed of light. In principle, this cannot be. But here the authors explain to people how it all works from the point of view of the universe and those experts who live and create in it, and it sounds quite acceptable and real.

Is The Walker a fantasy genre?

We will not go into the theory of hyperspace jumps, we will consider the genres mentioned in relation to our rams, that is, to the walking dead. To classify this series as fiction, the creators had to tell clearly and easily:

• How can dead tissue function as living tissue?
• Where did the corpses get their sense of smell, hearing and sight, as well as the manifestation of a reaction to third-party pathogens, if their brain does not work (as stated by a specialist in a crisis center at the end of the first season).
• Why does the "walker" stop walking forever from damage to the skull, if the brain does not work?
• Where do the non-rotted dead come from two years after infection, that is, one year after they are all supposed to turn into a set of bones?
• Why weren't crows, rodents, foxes, hungry wolves, feral domestic dogs and cats, which must die of hunger without a man, and other scavengers eaten walking, and in fact - rotten meat?

And so on. None of these questions are answered in the series. And was it possible to shove living corpses into a science fiction film in principle? The answer is, of course you can. This, for example, was excellently shown by the creators of the film "War of the Worlds Z" (2013), where the virus was also carried through bites, and had the ability, multiplying, to get into every cell of the body, thereby maintaining a kind of life in it and intercepting control of the body. The heart did not beat, but the organs worked under the control of the virus, which, moreover, possessed the rudiments of self-awareness. A kind of collective intelligence. Such a theory is perceived as quite plausible.

In The Walkers, at least, it was possible not to go into explanations at all. Everyone would have built their own guesses, but it would not look idiotic, where everything will repeat itself to itself. And when a person cannot explain what is happening on the screen from the standpoint of science, he is inclined to assume that some kind of magic is involved in everything, and this is already the realm of fantasy.

What does fantasy mean?

Everyone is used to the following. If elves, gnomes, dragons and other fabulous creatures appear in a work or film, then this means that it is mandatory - fantasy. But not all sorts of bizarre humanoids and animals set the tone for the fantasy work, but the presence of magic in it, which necessarily obeys its own laws.

The film will definitely tell where this magic comes from, whether it becomes possible through some artifacts, which contain some kind of universal energy, or some otherworldly spirits play with our dimension, or maybe, like in " The Lord of the Rings "is it a product of the pluses and minuses of universal evil and good, respectively? Or is it some kind of astral magical aura around the planet that feeds the magic?

In any case, in the same "Harry Potter" magic is not exactly a miracle, since it is subject to its own laws. As, however, in all fantasy worlds.

Is Walker a fantasy?

There is no question of any magic and the struggle between good and evil, as in King's "Confrontation" or McCummon's "Song of Swan". Everything is twisted precisely on the fact that someone created some kind of rubbish, this rubbish got out of control, and everyone got infected with it. That is, a purely human factor, implicated in modern biochemistry or-some-they-engineering.

In spite of this, they move, walk, see with rotten eyes, hear ears with missing eardrums and sniff the serial ghouls with an almost absent nose only by magic, since, as we have already explained, science rests here. But the line of the series clearly dominates precisely the scientific side, and therefore it turns out that the work does not fall under the genre of science fiction or the genre of fantasy. What is it then?

Coming up and telling about something that doesn't happen is also art

The entire universe of the Avengers, to be honest, is something that doesn't exist. But when you start looking, then everything there obeys its own laws, and therefore to think about which genre this creation belongs to and no thought arises. This is a real mixture of science fiction (for example, the same Iron Man) and fantasy (the same Doctor Strange). If this is the Hulk, then there is a clear explanation of why his skin is impenetrable, his bones are always intact, and in general why he turns into a monster.

Here, although filmed on the basis of comics in the same way as in the first case, the creators, having turned into the lords of the gods, became "doers" and do whatever they want. Hence the verdict.

Verdict

Watching TV shows and films, where the writers and creators get up with the laws of physics whatever they want, without explaining why this is so, but this is so, is not interesting initially. Of course, at first everything somehow obeyed the laws and seemed more or less plausible. It was not in vain that Darabont left after the first season. He didn’t like what the screenwriters were trying to incline him to and what nonsense they were suggesting to shoot.

Awesome special effects are, of course, cool. But common sense and laws of genres have not yet been canceled. As well as respect for the audience, who are held here for idiots, hoping that they are all stupid ignoramuses and eat any nonsense like pure meat beefsteak. But if you stick to this genre the label "phantasmarasm", everything can and will fail. Although the vegetable oil bullshit will not stop being.

The Topic of Article: Phantasmaram - a new genre in cinematography or When will the walking dead die?.
Author: Jake Pinkman