The Political and Social Commentary in 'Land of the Dead'

[the dead one]

With the long awaited release of 'Land of the Dead' finally upon us, the one thing that Romero never shys away from is having a strong message. Thats what makes him a maverick, thats what sets his films apart from the never ending imitators.

Since Romero's classic 'Night of the Living Dead' took audiences to a place they had never been before, in terms of content that shocked filmgoers alike and made a definite impact with the films strong messages regarding various themes. From gun control to civil rights and the breakdown of society. The vietnam war was in full swing and you can see the anger of the times was more then reflected in NOTLD.

I'd like to hear your thoughts, opinions and feelings, regarding the striking 'Political and Social' commentary found in...
George A. Romero's 'Land of the Dead'

[zombievictim]

I believed that Romero did an awesome job at potraying the two different decades in one city. It was so genius to have an upper and lower class potraying the 90's and 00's. This just had IMO the strongest message.

[Mr-Blonde]

While the social commentary was more spoon fed than the previous films, I think it worked brilliantly. The rich vs. poor subtext was the perfect way to set up the dramatic tension. When Kaufman refuses to let Cholo in the Green and tries to kill him it gives a reason for Cholo to extort Kaufman.

The films stowcases two classes of society with the working class mercs going out into the zombie infested outside world to gather the much needed supplies needed by everyone in Uniontown to survive. The rich elite live in an affluent and somewhat decadent skyscraper and never have to put themselves in danger. Sure this is an allusion to the soldiers fighting the Iraq war and the politicians who started it but it works perfectly within the context of the film. Obviously Romero is making comparisons of Kaufman to the Bush administration when he says stuff like "We don't negotiate with terrorists."

I've heard many folks complain about the fact that people still value money in the film's post-apocalyptic setting but I think they fail to comprehend the reason for this. It makes perfect sense that guys like Kaufman would ensure that there was a monetary system in place so that he being the wealthiest man still alive could continue to run things. By keeping money around Kaufman is able to manipulate all the aspects of society that's left.

There are many other more subtle social subtexts in this film. The character of Charlie could be compared to the battle scarred US soldier caught in the middle of everything. I also thought it was cool how Romero shows us that the folks living on the street are very much into religion as oppossed to the rich folks in Fiddler's Green. Since they don't have the material comforts of those rich cats they probably need the spiritual and mental relief that believing in a higher power can bring.

[the dead one]

Mr. Blonde, you're so on target with the many relevant issues within Romero's work. Although I don’t really agree with your eluding to the social Messages being spoon-fed, yet on the other hand the message was much more up front then past dead films.

My feeling on the whole issue: this time around Romero wasn’t going to be as subtle with his feelings in regards to the current political situation that affects the average in this country and the entire world. We do live in dark times; people are frightened, angry, and disillusioned with the current administration.

Who could blame George Romero for wearing some of that anger on his sleeve? I also remember reading an interview a while back that when George was nearing the completion of the script for ‘Land Of The Dead’ just prior to the vicious attack on September 11th in New York on the World Trade Towers.

The after effects of this event made its way into the entire scope of the story, the tall ivory towers of ‘Fiddlers Green’ was a definite representation of power and wealth, much like the towers in New York. Was it any wonder why the towers were taken out by these terrorists? The towers representing power and wealth, unfortunately many innocent people suffered because of this sick twisted act.

Why do we worship greed? The senseless pursuit of wealth, the pointless war in the Middle East, the mindless senseless violence. Makes you wonder where are ‘We’ as a race of people that inhabit this speck of dust heading? Pretty heavy stuff no doubt, that is the real horror contained in LOTD.

Thank god that Romero wasn’t holding back, this film, as in all of the dead films reminds us that the handwriting is on the wall and we cant afford to ignore it...the consequences are grave as ignorance is death!

[Mr-Blonde]

Dead One-- what I meant by spoonfed was that the social commentary was not nearly as subtle as the previous films. But, like you I was extremely happy that Romero had the balls to make them more of the focus of the film this time. Because let's face it, the underlying social commentary is one of the main elements of Romero zombie films that makes them so great!

Everything in Land was so fucking relevant to our current political climate it was much more horrifying than any work of complete fiction.

Another thing that I noticed about Land's not-so-subtle commentary was how Riley wanted to escape both the zombs and humans equally as bad and how he kept referring to Canada as the promised land. With the current administration in power it almost makes me want to join him!

[the dead one]

Originally posted by Mr-Blonde
Another thing that I noticed about Land's not-so-subtle commentary was how Riley wanted to escape both the zombs and humans equally as bad and how he kept referring to Canada as the promised land. With the current administration in power it almost makes me want to join him!

I hear you Mr. Blonde, Riley was 100% right. Speaking of not-so-subtle commentary, did you ever stop to think Fiddlers Green's main initials F.G. could mean:

Fucking Greed Or Fucking Goverment?

:eek:

[TheDeadWalk]

Originally posted by the dead one
I hear you Mr. Blonde, Riley was 100% right. Speaking of not-so-subtle commentary, did you ever stop to think Fiddlers Green's main initials F.G. could mean:

Fucking Greed Or Fucking Goverment?

:eek:

This is from IMDB:

"Fiddler's Green" is a song about the place cavalrymen go when they die. It is located "Halfway down the trail to hell" and in the end advocates suicide by pistol when death is certain and the "hostiles" are closing in.

[Dark_One79]

It is obvious that Romero placed a lot of his own views into the film, much more blatantly than he has in the past. With that said, it is quite interesting to see how people "read" certain details. Truth-be-told, it says more about the interpreter than it does the director.

Honestly, as much as I love Romero, he doesn't have anything political to say that I haven't heard said better a thousand different times by a thousand different people.

His films were better when he at least attempted to inject the commentary within the film as opposed to making it the focus.

There certainly is much to discuss here... but in a way it saddens me that Romero's latest zombie flick is so quickly becoming a lefty vs. righty argument.

It is too bad people don't realize that neither side is actually correct. The solution is somewhere in the middle. Which is why we are presented the two extremes. Some people follow the psychos on the right, some agree with the maniacs on the left. What they don't realize is that the people in charge don't really care... just so long as you vote for one of the two and fool yourself into believing that you are involved and that you have a voice that can be heard. And those that don't vote, well, they don't have to worry about those apathetic folks anyway, because if they don't even vote, what are they going to be willing to do to try to change things anyway.

Anyway... back to bashing Bush. I mean, he looks like a monkey right? No more murder for oil! Or whatever.

BTW, Bush and Kerry were both solid C students. I'm willing to bet that most of us could have done at least that well given their opportunity. I'm willing to bet most of us would have been more honest too.

One last thing... shoot off all the fireworks on our way out of town... because God knows the zombies in Canada won't be as dumb as those "American" zombies. Wow. Thanks for the complement George. We love you too pal.

[Wolfman]

The more movies Romero makes, the more he feels he has to club us over the head with his message. I like political and social commentary, when it doesn't distract from the film. You're supposed to walk out of a movie and go "Hmm..." when you think about it, not stumble out and go "Ow! My head!" as you've been clubbed like a seal. It's almost as bad as Don't be a Menace to South Central while Drinkin' your Juice in the 'Hood, where Keenan Ivory Wayans would look at the camera and say "Message!"

Romero's message is childish and simplistic. You can compare it to current events if you want, but don't bother, because Romero certainly wasn't thinking about the here and now. Romero is stuck in the 1960s. He never left. This is the same class warfare stuff that went on 40 freakin' years ago.

Romero really could have made this a good movie. There's ample opportunity to criticize a completely meritocratic society (and that's what a post-apocalyptic world would be). There are dozens of better stories to tell than the one he chose. Think about it.

1) What about the sick? It's said in the movie that whenever anyone dies, by zombie bite or otherwise, they become a zombie. He should have shown the isolation and inhumanity that goes on when those who are sick and dying are isolated from friends, family, and loved ones. At what point do you take someone with a life-threatening injury and just throw them into a pen instead of treating them, because you don't want them to "turn" in the middle of an operation? Romero could have focused on the total inhumanity that we would demonstrate in such a situation. You've got a bad case of the flu? You go to jail. No trial, no hearing, no appeal. We can't afford you to wander off and sleep in the streets and die of something. You can make all the terrorism analogies you want with that. But Romero missed it.

2) What about those with no skills? Screw the rich, they're useless. They had power in the old order. But what about good people who have no useful skills? Yeah, so you make the burned retard a crack shot with a rifle. :rolleyes: So what? Romero completely misses an opportunity here. The guy is valuable because he's a human being, not because he's got some special skill. That shouldn't matter, but it does in a zombie world. You show how people are shoved into roles not because of their worth as a person, but because of what they can do. Something like "Why am I a soldier at my age? Because I don't know how to keep the lights on. I never went to college. I don't know first aid. I worked in an office for 40 years filing TPS reports. I was gonna retire, but that was before the dead came. I don't have any 'useful' skills, so they gave me a gun and make me stand on this tower all day. Hey, I gotta eat." You could have Dennis Hopper going out on raids into the city. "I used to be CEO of a Fortune 500 company. But financial skills aren't useful now. There hasn't been a stock market for 10 years. So the only thing I can do is try to salvage goods from a dying world." You can just as easily show man's inhumanity in stressful situations without resorting to clubs over the head. But no, Romero has to show a zombie shooting range with bodies hanging upside down.

3) You want an end to come? You don't need to show the zombies getting smarter. You don't need to show them walk across a major river (and somehow not get washed downstream--right--though admittedly that did look cool when they came out of the river). You show peoples' inhumanity coming back to haunt them. The real problem with Land of the Dead comes in here--they're doomed from the start. The fall of that city had nothing to do with anything that went on between the people. If Dennis Hopper is a nice guy and treats everyone well, the zombies still cross the river. If Leguizamo gets his nice apartment and lives in style, the zombies still come through. If whats-his-name takes his car and goes to Canada, the zombies still come through. The fall needs to be precipitated by the actions of the characters for there to be any degree of tragedy. The zombies have to get in because of something the characters do. In Night, they got in because the people were fighting each other. In Dawn, they got in because the bikers went looting. In Day, they got in because of conflict between the characters. In Land, they got in because they took freakin' swimming lessons. They should have had someone die of a heart attack. The old man on the wall, supposed to keep an eye out for zombies, placed there because he had no other uses, keels over because they were asking him to do something too dangerous. And half an hour later, he gets up and shuffles back to his security checkpoint. "Hey, old man, how ya doing? You look tired tonight. But you still got another hour out there. I know it's cold, but we can't all just leave when we want to... aarrghh!!!" Man is destroyed by its own inhumanity. But no, George had zombies who had gone to the YMCA pool for swimming lessons.

[Dark_One79]

Originally posted by Wolfman
The more movies Romero makes, the more he feels he has to club us over the head with his message. I like political and social commentary, when it doesn't distract from the film. You're supposed to walk out of a movie and go "Hmm..." when you think about it, not stumble out and go "Ow! My head!" as you've been clubbed like a seal. It's almost as bad as Don't be a Menace to South Central while Drinkin' your Juice in the 'Hood, where Keenan Ivory Wayans would look at the camera and say "Message!"

Romero's message is childish and simplistic. You can compare it to current events if you want, but don't bother, because Romero certainly wasn't thinking about the here and now. Romero is stuck in the 1960s. He never left. This is the same class warfare stuff that went on 40 freakin' years ago.

Romero really could have made this a good movie. There's ample opportunity to criticize a completely meritocratic society (and that's what a post-apocalyptic world would be). There are dozens of better stories to tell than the one he chose. Think about it.

1) What about the sick? It's said in the movie that whenever anyone dies, by zombie bite or otherwise, they become a zombie. He should have shown the isolation and inhumanity that goes on when those who are sick and dying are isolated from friends, family, and loved ones. At what point do you take someone with a life-threatening injury and just throw them into a pen instead of treating them, because you don't want them to "turn" in the middle of an operation? Romero could have focused on the total inhumanity that we would demonstrate in such a situation. You've got a bad case of the flu? You go to jail. No trial, no hearing, no appeal. We can't afford you to wander off and sleep in the streets and die of something. You can make all the terrorism analogies you want with that. But Romero missed it.

2) What about those with no skills? Screw the rich, they're useless. They had power in the old order. But what about good people who have no useful skills? Yeah, so you make the burned retard a crack shot with a rifle. :rolleyes: So what? Romero completely misses an opportunity here. The guy is valuable because he's a human being, not because he's got some special skill. That shouldn't matter, but it does in a zombie world. You show how people are shoved into roles not because of their worth as a person, but because of what they can do. Something like "Why am I a soldier at my age? Because I don't know how to keep the lights on. I never went to college. I don't know first aid. I worked in an office for 40 years filing TPS reports. I was gonna retire, but that was before the dead came. I don't have any 'useful' skills, so they gave me a gun and make me stand on this tower all day. Hey, I gotta eat." You could have Dennis Hopper going out on raids into the city. "I used to be CEO of a Fortune 500 company. But financial skills aren't useful now. There hasn't been a stock market for 10 years. So the only thing I can do is try to salvage goods from a dying world." You can just as easily show man's inhumanity in stressful situations without resorting to clubs over the head. But no, Romero has to show a zombie shooting range with bodies hanging upside down.

3) You want an end to come? You don't need to show the zombies getting smarter. You don't need to show them walk across a major river (and somehow not get washed downstream--right--though admittedly that did look cool when they came out of the river). You show peoples' inhumanity coming back to haunt them. The real problem with Land of the Dead comes in here--they're doomed from the start. The fall of that city had nothing to do with anything that went on between the people. If Dennis Hopper is a nice guy and treats everyone well, the zombies still cross the river. If Leguizamo gets his nice apartment and lives in style, the zombies still come through. If whats-his-name takes his car and goes to Canada, the zombies still come through. The fall needs to be precipitated by the actions of the characters for there to be any degree of tragedy. The zombies have to get in because of something the characters do. In Night, they got in because the people were fighting each other. In Dawn, they got in because the bikers went looting. In Day, they got in because of conflict between the characters. In Land, they got in because they took freakin' swimming lessons. They should have had someone die of a heart attack. The old man on the wall, supposed to keep an eye out for zombies, placed there because he had no other uses, keels over because they were asking him to do something too dangerous. And half an hour later, he gets up and shuffles back to his security checkpoint. "Hey, old man, how ya doing? You look tired tonight. But you still got another hour out there. I know it's cold, but we can't all just leave when we want to... aarrghh!!!" Man is destroyed by its own inhumanity. But no, George had zombies who had gone to the YMCA pool for swimming lessons.

I want to buy this man a beer! Well said pal.