The Walking Dead
Apr. 8th, 2015 04:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhienelleth So, I've been marathoning this show. I should preface this post by saying that horror is not my genre. When I was seven, my then-babysitter let me watch The Amityville Horror, which gave me nightmares. And after that, my childhood best friend and her family were huge horror buffs, and constantly rented everything from the Friday the 13th series of films, to Poltergeist, to whatever was popular at the time (unbeknownst to my parents). I can remember having nightmares about Poltergeist, too. I didn't want to be uncool in front of my friend and her family, so I watched these movies and hid my head inside my sleeping bag at the parts that were too scary for me. How old was I? Probably between 7 and 14 years old. Like many kids who are avid readers who grow up to play RPGs and write stories themselves, I had a vivid imagination. I was really good at taking the things I saw, and scaring the bejeezus out of myself with my own imaginings.
Anyway, fast forward to adulthood, and I don't watch horror movies. I never really analyzed why until recently. It was just an instant "no". When pressed, I would say I don't like being scared, and this is true. I'm not a fan of movies that make you jump. I'm even less of a fan of gratuitous gore and violence, like the Saw movies, for example. I just see no reason for those to exist, beyond carrying out someone's really sick fantasies. So, for several years now, practically everyone I know has been watching this show, and saying how awesome it is, and being absolutely floored when I say I don't watch it.
Recently, some friends of mine got into American Horror Story. They told me how good it is, and knowing my preferences, told me I should try it anyway and see if it was something I could watch, because it is just that good. Needing something to watch while working out, I gave it a shot. I did not make it past the first episode.
I don't know why this failed attempt led me to The Walking Dead, but it did. I was scrolling for another show to watch, and thought "WTH, I tried the other one, everyone says this one is so good, I'll try it, too." And I did. The first episode was a little slow, but the characters were intriguing. I did look away from the screen a few times during gratuitous ickiness, but I went ahead and queued up episode 2, and then 3. Sometimes, when the camera lingered too long on someone trying to make their way safely through a herd of zombies, I would fast forward, because that kind of suspense drawn out too long gives me an uncomfortable level of anxiety. But I kept watching. And the longer I watched, the more I had to know what was happening with these characters.
The upshot is, I have binge watched three and a half seasons in approximately a week. I don't know why I am able to watch this show when I couldn't watch AHS. I will say that sometimes, it makes me feel physically ill, and sometimes I have to look away and cover my ears. There have been a couple of almost-nightmares, and times when I thought I might have to step away. But I am still engaged, still want to know what is happening with these characters (Daryl, you are my favorite, although Carol is right up there.)
However, I have discovered another issue with this show that has little to do with the genre. Perhaps this is something that is noticeable only because I am literally watching whole seasons back to back. But this show, like Game of Thrones, is depressing as hell. I am all for torturing characters and putting them through the most difficult shit possible. It makes for great development and story movement. That being said, it helps if there IS a character arc beyond simple survival, and it helps if there are moments of levity to lighten the tone and give everyone something to live for. TWD has these, but they are precious few and far between, and always, always immediately eclipsed by something so horrible, you forget there was ever a glimpse of happiness.
In the first season, when they get to the CDC and then realize the guy has locked them all in to die a fiery death together, and people are arguing about living or dying, I didn't agree with those who chose to remain behind. Like, seriously? Fight to live, people! But now? I am wondering what there is to live for. Seriously. There appears to be no chance at all for humanity. There are just more and more walkers, no matter how many they kill. No place is safe, no matter how much it might seem to be, with walls and weapons and everything. If the walkers don't kill you, the other people for sure will. In fact, the other people are worse, usually. Anyone you make the mistake of caring about dies, usually horribly, with few exceptions. The remaining survivors are so apt to kill you, you can't risk trusting anyone, or stopping for random hitchhikers who are literally begging for help. This is a world where even the most innocent characters become utterly jaded. As much as I want to know who will ultimately survive the zombie apocalypse, there has to be more to a story to make a show truly great. We should know things like, what started it? How? Why? Is there any hope of a cure, at all? It would seem not. Our characters can't even get their bearings long enough to find out. Anytime they get a little peace and hope, something new and worse happens to them, inevitably killing off someone we have become attached to and traumatizing everyone else further.
Then there is the ridiculous way the show stacks the odds against them. For example, the walkers/biters/zombies do nothing but shuffle slowly and make a bunch of noise anytime they are on screen, except when twenty of them decide to pop up out of nowhere to instantly surround our heroes in the middle of an open meadow or road. It's really kind of ridiculous.
I honestly don't know if I am going to keep watching. I need something, some small glimmer of hope for the future to invest in, and after almost four seasons, there is none. I understand from the comics people think an uber-villain is being cast for season 6, one who will make everything to come before seem like a trip through story book land. I don't know that I can stomach that, I really don't. Endless despair and losing everything and everyone, I think even I might have taken the easy road out in this universe. Maybe I just need a break. Rec me something else to watch, people.
Anyway, fast forward to adulthood, and I don't watch horror movies. I never really analyzed why until recently. It was just an instant "no". When pressed, I would say I don't like being scared, and this is true. I'm not a fan of movies that make you jump. I'm even less of a fan of gratuitous gore and violence, like the Saw movies, for example. I just see no reason for those to exist, beyond carrying out someone's really sick fantasies. So, for several years now, practically everyone I know has been watching this show, and saying how awesome it is, and being absolutely floored when I say I don't watch it.
Recently, some friends of mine got into American Horror Story. They told me how good it is, and knowing my preferences, told me I should try it anyway and see if it was something I could watch, because it is just that good. Needing something to watch while working out, I gave it a shot. I did not make it past the first episode.
I don't know why this failed attempt led me to The Walking Dead, but it did. I was scrolling for another show to watch, and thought "WTH, I tried the other one, everyone says this one is so good, I'll try it, too." And I did. The first episode was a little slow, but the characters were intriguing. I did look away from the screen a few times during gratuitous ickiness, but I went ahead and queued up episode 2, and then 3. Sometimes, when the camera lingered too long on someone trying to make their way safely through a herd of zombies, I would fast forward, because that kind of suspense drawn out too long gives me an uncomfortable level of anxiety. But I kept watching. And the longer I watched, the more I had to know what was happening with these characters.
The upshot is, I have binge watched three and a half seasons in approximately a week. I don't know why I am able to watch this show when I couldn't watch AHS. I will say that sometimes, it makes me feel physically ill, and sometimes I have to look away and cover my ears. There have been a couple of almost-nightmares, and times when I thought I might have to step away. But I am still engaged, still want to know what is happening with these characters (Daryl, you are my favorite, although Carol is right up there.)
However, I have discovered another issue with this show that has little to do with the genre. Perhaps this is something that is noticeable only because I am literally watching whole seasons back to back. But this show, like Game of Thrones, is depressing as hell. I am all for torturing characters and putting them through the most difficult shit possible. It makes for great development and story movement. That being said, it helps if there IS a character arc beyond simple survival, and it helps if there are moments of levity to lighten the tone and give everyone something to live for. TWD has these, but they are precious few and far between, and always, always immediately eclipsed by something so horrible, you forget there was ever a glimpse of happiness.
In the first season, when they get to the CDC and then realize the guy has locked them all in to die a fiery death together, and people are arguing about living or dying, I didn't agree with those who chose to remain behind. Like, seriously? Fight to live, people! But now? I am wondering what there is to live for. Seriously. There appears to be no chance at all for humanity. There are just more and more walkers, no matter how many they kill. No place is safe, no matter how much it might seem to be, with walls and weapons and everything. If the walkers don't kill you, the other people for sure will. In fact, the other people are worse, usually. Anyone you make the mistake of caring about dies, usually horribly, with few exceptions. The remaining survivors are so apt to kill you, you can't risk trusting anyone, or stopping for random hitchhikers who are literally begging for help. This is a world where even the most innocent characters become utterly jaded. As much as I want to know who will ultimately survive the zombie apocalypse, there has to be more to a story to make a show truly great. We should know things like, what started it? How? Why? Is there any hope of a cure, at all? It would seem not. Our characters can't even get their bearings long enough to find out. Anytime they get a little peace and hope, something new and worse happens to them, inevitably killing off someone we have become attached to and traumatizing everyone else further.
Then there is the ridiculous way the show stacks the odds against them. For example, the walkers/biters/zombies do nothing but shuffle slowly and make a bunch of noise anytime they are on screen, except when twenty of them decide to pop up out of nowhere to instantly surround our heroes in the middle of an open meadow or road. It's really kind of ridiculous.
I honestly don't know if I am going to keep watching. I need something, some small glimmer of hope for the future to invest in, and after almost four seasons, there is none. I understand from the comics people think an uber-villain is being cast for season 6, one who will make everything to come before seem like a trip through story book land. I don't know that I can stomach that, I really don't. Endless despair and losing everything and everyone, I think even I might have taken the easy road out in this universe. Maybe I just need a break. Rec me something else to watch, people.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-09 08:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-14 01:16 am (UTC):(
If the characters weren't as awesome as they are, I would not still be watching. But they are, and so far, it keeps me going.