Zombified: America Has Been Bitten! Zombie Films in 21st Century America

Abstract

This research followed the evolution of the zombie film, highlighting its origins and creeping into the surge of zombie film production in the 21st century. Furthering this, I asked why zombies have become so popular today and subsequently examined the reasoning behind this skyrocket of zombie production in the early 2000s. I determined that zombies have effectively crept into Americans' consciousness because of several events that have occurred in the 21st century, including 9/11, biological epidemics, and an increase in technological reliance. Each of these things has allowed Americans to identify with the thematic material in zombie films more highly than ever before. In order to reinforce this concept, I paired specific examples from 21st century zombie films with scholarly sources, ultimately explaining that zombie movies are going to be around for quite some time.