9 Mar 2009
The ZOMFather: I’m so Zomblogging this
So you have a chance to meet a boyhood hero.
One George A. Romero (*A wonderful human being, should you care to know*). Director/Writer/Allaroundfilmicguru. He who gave the world Night of the Living Dead. Dawn of the Dead. Martin. Angry Wives (*AKA Season of the Witch*). Day of the Dead. CREEPSHOW (*My son demanded I tell George this is his favorite movie*). Tales from the Darkside. Land of the Dead. Diary of the Dead. And the soon to hit as-yet-untitled “? of the Dead” (*Yes, that means I saw behind the scenes stuff from the in-production film and you didn’t neenerneenerneener*). Yeah, there are tons o’ geeky ramblings I could insert right here. Force you to read me being giddy and retarded. Or, I could just assume the photo suffices (More here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30491193@N03/sets/72157614402404530/).
Moving on…
You, obviously, take said chance and spend a full 3 days chatting with the man, watching his films, partying with fellow ZOMBIE ENTHUSIASTS and basically creaming yourself to the point of dehydration. A grand time, to be sure. Fun, fun fun. But you don’t expect the messages/commentary of his work to come beating down your door, smacking you near sober (*I said “near”. I am a professional.*). Especially when you think you’re so well-versed, that you’ve nothing new to glean from his library.
George’s (*”Shit. Don’t call me ‘Mister Romero’” said with a waving-off hand and accompanying smile*) films, as I hope most of you know, are full to the brim with roastings of current society. Given his genius, those messages age extremely well. The man’s nothing if not on point regarding what we do and why we do it. More over, he cares. His work, so far as he’s concerned, is there to make us question our motives, actions and the outcome of both. The world we build and those we could.
On the second night of festivities, at a concert/screening, in full zombie face paint (*and no inconsequential amount of libations coursing through the ol’ circulatory system. SEE: Professional*), watching a film by one of the greatest filmmakers ever, realizing I was in a room full of MY PEOPLE, I felt moved to Twitter the happening. Which is no big deal, aside from the epiphany that Diary of the Dead is Romero “looking directly into the narcissitic and boundary free culture that now exists in the world of camera phones, computers and YouTube.” ”a meditation on life and death in the infinitely mediated world of blogs, file-sharing and incessant virtual connection.”***
George got me. Again. There I am, half way through thumbing a Tweet on my phone, and it hits me. I’m watching one of George’s flicks, doing, without being consciously aware, exactly what he’s portraying onscreen. Self-reflection via zombie movies. Pay attention folks. This is important.
“They’re us.”
George knows. He understands. And he’s patient. He coaxes us into finding out for ourselves. He knows he can’t just tell us. He provides us places to go to mull ourselves over. To the ten year old zombie afficionado in me, that means the fucking world.
***From The Light Factory and Reel Soul’s American Zombie event handbook
