Pro-male + anti-female relationship themes in the movie *spoilers*
Intro
First, set aside any misconception that this a negative or bigoted review. That being said, upon viewing this movie, I have no doubt that this movie highlights intimate male relationships in a post-apocalyptic world. Furthermore, it places women as absent or as hostile to very core of the male bond. Furthermore, Ben’s murder of Jerry seems to be a direct attack on the idea of a heterosexual family.
I am NOT suggesting that the characters Ben and Mickey are gay. They may in fact represent heterosexual characters. But that is not the point of my review.
Ben represents the hyper-masculine male. He keeps track of his zombie kills as if he were keeping track of his sexual conquests. Ben has a thick beard. His beard makes him look almost like a caveman. In fact, we see Ben bathing in a small waterfall – a scene that could easily find itself the pre-historic life of cavemen. Indeed, Ben is a warrior, a hunter and a risk-taker. Ben’s plans always work. Ben is always in control of his destiny. Ben can turn his back on zombies, without fear of attack, while scolding and educating Mickey on the virtues of modern-day manhood.
On the other hand, Mickey is an emasculated male. He hides in his music. Mickey is more verbal with his emotions. It is clear that Mickey consults with his own emotions before he acts. Mickey surrenders his physical safety to Ben’s survival acumen. He needs Ben’s strength and courage to stay alive. Mickey is scared or unable to kill. Perhaps, Mickey suffers from some sexual dysfunction which is represented by his fear to “perform” the act of killing zombies. Perhaps the greatest character flaw Mickey has is enduring attachment to women.
Zombie girl
Ben punishes Mickey’s longing for female relationships. Ben kills the only female Mickey is able to be intimate with – albeit it is a female zombie. However, upon closer examination of the sexy zombie female, we see she is a woman without a mind. She is incapable of love. Her only enduring quality is her decaying feminine body.
Ben debases Mickey’s desire for female sexual stimulation as a mere physical bodily function. Ben, laughing and mocking Mickey says, “…I’ll let you finish…” Ben says it as if he caught Mickey taking a dump, pissing or blowing his nose.
About Jerry
When we first see Jerry, he is hold a knife to Mickey’s neck. Ben assesses Jerry as a family man. After some heated negotiations, Ben tricks Jerry. Ben stalks Jerry and shoots him twice. The second shot was not necessary. However, Ben shot it with such malice that Ben seemed to be shooting something else besides Jerry. Indeed, Ben was shooting dead the idea that men could exist with their families. Ben after all, is a proponent of the hunger-gather lifestyle. Ben is against living in homes.
In fact, Ben turns Mickey’s stay at the house with a mural into a nightmare by locking Mickey in his bedroom with a zombie. Ben tortures Mickey in his house as a way to exorcise Mickey’s dream for a family or home-life.
About Annie
Ben is quick to attempt to deflate Mickey’s idea that Annie could be a potential female partner. Upon closer examination, Ben describes Annie as “butch” and perhaps sporting a “mullet” haircut. In essence, Ben tries to masculinize Annie as a way to mock Mickey’s lingering desire for female companionship.
Furthermore, the film shows Annie as a cold and malicious person. She is with a man when we first see her. However, this man, the Egghead, is merely a “shadow” to her. Annie is clearly the dominant force in her relationship with the Egghead.
The film turns the audience against Annie when she shoots Ben. Annie was both the film’s only potential heroine and sexual partner for Mickey. By shooting Ben, she seized to be either. Annie alludes to having sympathetic emotions towards Mickey by warning him to stay away from the Orchard. However, whatever benign intentions she has are quickly tainted when she shoots Ben and throws the car keys away.
The car
Life inside the car could serves symbolize the closeted life that gay men live in society. The mindless zombies outside are the unjustified critics of gay people. Mickey tries to hide themselves from the zombies by putting up curtains. In the car, the two men share their last emotional days together.
However, the reward of their closeted life together is only met with tragedy and death. This tragedy and death is predicted by Ben as they drink. The prescient nature of gay people to predict tragedy is not supernatural. Evidence abounds everywhere that suggests that they are regular targets of ridicule and mindless violence.
In the car, Ben again punishes Mickey’s desire for women. Ben blames Mickey’s hetero desires for getting Ben shot, the keys lost which allows them to be trapped in their car, surrounded by zombies.
The end
The ending plays out like a gay version of a Shakespearian tragedy. In the tradition of star-crossed lovers, when two people destined to be together are painful torn away, Ben has to shoot Mickey to save himself. The moral lesson is this: love for women is a character flaw that gets you killed. Ben then goes on a revenge mission out to kill the only woman that could’ve been Mickey’s sexual/romantic partner or maternal figure.
Indeed, in the end we are left with the image of the wounded Ben walking ahead of a pack of zombies. The visual effect is that Ben is leading the zombies to war. Perhaps too, the appearance that Ben is walking with zombies is a symbolic message that suggests that Ben, like the zombies, is now focused only on mindless, cruel and merciless violence.