26 Questions: Zombies

1. Does Addison have white pubes?

2. Why are the opening scenes and musical number pretty great? Where did the dynamic choreography, decent worldbuilding, and meticulously seamless instrumentation come from? And where does it go?

3. What does Bree do? What does she do that a fourth-wall break couldn't do for the story?

4. Why did the school staff not train their students with zombie drills? Shouldn't teachers instruct their students to orderly retreat to zombie safe rooms to avoid aimless stampedes?

5. If zombies are such violent threats to be segregated and shoved against basement walls, why is nobody ever guarding the basement door? Why are football linemen on a historically losing team tasked to be vigilantes?

6. While the scenes from Addison and Zed's first meeting to Addison's apology are fine, why does the film think these scenes have more emotional weight than they actually do?

7. Ethnic minorities only receive proper treatment if they contribute to civilized society — where have I heard that before?

8. Is Addison a white knight solely because of her underlying condition? Does the movie imply the only people who can respect minorities without incentive are those who relate to their struggles?

9. Do I have to declare "Someday" as phenomenal? That its choreography, lyrics, prop usage, and flirting are iconic and adorable? How did they make a towel and a colander so hot? Where can I get some of that chemistry?

10. Oh, what could go so wrong with a girl and a zombie? Am I the only one who finds this lyric ironic to sing? Inside a survival bunker? Stocked with bunk beds, prepackaged meals, and medical equipment?

11. Isn't this lyric the central issue with this movie? Couldn't Zed predictably kill Addison? Isn't Addison being a tad too reckless with a zombie she met a day ago? Are we forgetting her grandfather lost an ear to a zombie?

12. While zombies are peaceful, doesn't their natural impulse for brains justify Seabrook's caution? Why would Disney draw a parallel between zombies and racial minorities when zombiephobia has a logical basis, whereas racial prejudice is irrational?

13. Doesn't that comparison imply that racial minorities are innately more threatening, more violent, more uncivilized than their "perfect" and "normal" counterparts?

14. Is Zed truly winning if he can't be his true self? Is Seabrook truly tolerant if their acceptance is paid in football wins?

15. Is it bad writing when the movie only addresses the underlined question? Is it concerning that Disney only tackles the strikethrough question as a throwaway, rhetorical question at the Homecoming game?

Zed: Addison, if I don't win, zombies will never be accepted.

Addison: I know how that feels.

16. Do you, Addison? Have you experienced everyday exclusion and harassment like the zombies do? Your pressure to fit in is warranted, but is it comparable to the routine ostracization and assault of zombies?

17. Zombies have paltry privilege — does the burdensome task of wearing a wig erase yours? Do you not have the protection of your manicured lawns, your mother's electoral power, and your father's entire police squad?

18. Is your empathy an extension of your shame or your lust?

19. Should I feel bad that I have warmed up to "BAMM"?

20. In what way does "Stand" — a superficial anthem out of the Rachel Platten school of empty empowerment — actually support the zombies? Is Addison’s wig removal supposed to be an act of solidarity? Why does her public stunt feel more self-indulgent than self-sacrificial?

21. While humans were the ones who sabotaged the Z-bands, doesn’t that prove the technology is vulnerable? The Homecoming incident shouldn’t completely reset zombie progress, but aren’t software updates and stricter safeguards reasonable when lives were put at risk?

22. Why is the worth of a minority group based on their entertainment value? Must they dance for your approval? To be clear, I'm not blaming the film for portraying reality — why isn't human worth intrinsic?

23. Am I supposed to forgive everyone after the cheer competition for being too forgiving? Is Disney suggesting systemic racism is simply cured by a change of heart? Does Disney dream about a utopia where social injustice is resolved by a interracial high-school couple making goo-goo eyes?

24. What happens when another Z-band malfunctions? When a human is injured or killed by a zombie? Will Seabrook revert to its anti-zombie culture? Will zombies perform another glorified stunt to win back Seabrook?

25. How can zombies and humans live in harmony if zombies pose a logical-yet-contained threat to humans? Even if you trust Pompeii won't erupt, shouldn't you realize the volcano could destroy your town?

26. Why do the end credits play a sanitized, lower-key, empty-calorie, personality-devoid version of the movie's best song, "My Year"?

Zombies is a terribly flawed plot "saved" by its acting, choreography, and the chemistry of our two leads. The racial allegory is casually explored, not developing enough to offer compelling insight.

Even with sharper detail and properly-paced growth, the allegory would fall flat on its premise. The discrimination of real racial minorities and fictional zombies have entirely different motivations. Flesh-eating monsters have inherently violent impulses; actual human beings do not. While I doubt the producers created this plot to promote bigotry, I am certain they did not consider these bigoted implications.

Disney wants to earn brownie points without confronting the challenges of social injustice. In their efforts to attract everyone and antagonize no one, Disney delivered a milquetoast mutilation of modern race relations mixed with the dialogue of early-2010's Wattpad fanfiction.

Is Disney a lazy storyteller, a corporate coward, or a white knight?

Yes.

Like the students at Seabrook, Zombies chases social clout without actually doing their homework.

A white knight is someone who tries to protect the princess. On the internet, it's usually some virgin protecting some moral code without having any experience of life hardships, preaching some "tolerance" without having any grasp on the context.

Typically, these people live in an imaginary world where they elaborate an imaginary imagerie of some topic and try to defend that against people who experience that topic in real life and know what they're talking about, and that not everything is as great as people think it is.

MisterGoo, Reddit Comment

Full Copyright of Cover Image: Zoms vs. Poms — Courtesy of Disney (CC BY-SA)