So far in my viewing of the first two episodes of Dead Set, a British television series about filming a Big Brother TV show during a zombie apocalypse, no one has used the word “zombie”. The characters use vague pronouns like “it” or “them” of “things”, but never settle on a name for the undead* monsters.
Why not use the z-word? As a novice to the zombie apocalypse genre, perhaps referring to the monsters as “things” and not “zombies” is common. This does add to the confusion and heightens the terror around the monsters. By not calling them “zombies”, a well-known and defined category of monster, the audience is left more uneasy and does not know (entirely) what to expect from the creatures – like these creatures, which are fast-moving zombies (who can’t climb gates, or swim, apparently).
Another reason could be that in the world of the show, the idea of a zombie doesn’t exist. As a result, the characters have never seen horror films or TV shows with zombies and don’t have that familiar classification for the undead.
Since we knew several of these characters before they changed, perhaps the show avoids “zombie” because referring to them as an other is dehumanizing. Often the characters still refer to known zombies by their given names, such as the producer Peter and contestant Pippa when talking about the (now zombie) host Davina. By still using their names, killing them has an emotional aspect since the characters still associate their human versions with the creatures.
Whatever reason the writers used, not using the term “zombie” irked me as a viewer and resulted in several fumbling “th-th-those THINGS” in the dialogue.
* Shakespeare frequently used “un” words to draw certain emphasis to the opposite of the word or the revocation of a verb, such as “unking” or “unbroke” (both from Richard II). Since one becomes a zombie after dying from a zombie’s bite and returning to “life”, using a Shakespearean interpretation of “undead” makes the for an interesting analysis of the zombification process. Terming them “undead” reflects their transformation back through a reversed process of dying.
I completely agree that not using the word “zombie” irked me as well. Probably more than it should. But every instance where the characters struggle to find a term to refer to the monsters in the show I cringed. It is difficult to suspend your disbelief when the same question keeps recurring from one scene to the other.
Zombies are not a new topic. Resurrection and tackling the phenomenon that is death is an ancient topic probably dating earlier than any religion. Ideas of what comes after death, and its finality have always been around, and have heavily shifted the way our world works. Homo Sapiens tend to be obsessed with death, and the idea of coming back to life in any shape or form is a very fascinating one.
As such, it would make more sense if the show would just embrace the trope, accept that it’s a story set in a world that isn’t novel at all (another place where we see this is in the summary descriptions that the show offers, when it refers to some “mysterious” reason for which the dead are coming back to life. We’ve seen it so many times now, there is no reason to even address the issue of how zombies come about as we all know that the true value of all zombie-related media is in the human interaction caused by the impending doom. How do our heroes tackle the apocalypse is the true question, not why zombies can walk without proper bodily functions.) and create a unique scenario (as it does with the Big Brother setting) for us to enjoy.
In conclusion, I feel that many aspects of the show draw attention away from its believability for no reason. Not because zombies aren’t believable, but because the way it tackles the topic is so generic and overdone that it simply becomes boring and unimmersive. Not to bash on the show however, which is still entertaining in other aspects.
Peace,
Duka
I love the Shakespeare twist at the end of your post. I agree it’s important to pay attention to that little “un” prefix—it is definitely doing a lot of work when placed in front of a word like “dead.” As you hint, it’s similar to the “un” in undo, as when we undo a command on our computers, except that something horribly glitchy happens.
(By the way, it looks like your image is no longer showing up!)