Revision of my essay as per proffessor comments

Fan Ye

Professor Kat Eason

Essay2 draft 2

5 May 2014

People Prefer to Live with Hope

Some truth will hurt people’s feelings; therefore, a good lie will keep people to live for a longer time. This situation is being amplified in a zombie world. Kyle Bishop’s article named “ Dead Man Still Walking: Examining the Zombie Renaissance”. There is a turning moment that rise the audiences’ passion about zombies. After 9/11event, people have experienced several disasters, they are suffering about people that they lost, and the feeling about helpless. At that moment, zombie movies and books become popular than ever. World War Z written by Max Brook is a memoir book that uses a lot of interviews to show how World War of zombies happens. Max Brook is a famous American horror author, especially in zombie area. “Down of the dead” is a zombie horror movie directed by George A. Romero who is an American-Canadian film director. The movie also related to zombie. In the movie, the four survivors are trying to survive in an abandoned shopping mall, but there are only one woman survive to the end. In World War Z, Max Brooks critiques about audience’s attitude towards Hollywood. He uses Roy Elliot, who is a talented director, to imply the golden age of Hollywood. The success that Elliot achieves in the book suggests that Americans urged to watch something to give them hope to lead them forget the pressure.

When people in a depression mood, they need to have hope, since this is a really good antidepressants for depression, even though the hope could be a lie. In World War Z Home from USA chapter, the anonymous interviewer, who travels to Malibu, California, interview a director named Roy Elliot. During the initial mouths, many people died in ADS which is a condition called Asymptomatic Demise Syndrome. When people get ADS, they will lose their will and fall in sleep, then they will never wake up again. Roy Elliot was one of the survivors who are almost gets ADS because he feels the same way that those sick people do. However, he begins to make movies about how people beat zombies. This gives a hope to those survivors who are in desperation and also save Elliot' life. "As it turns out, the very night after Avalon made its debut, ADS cases dropped in LA by a whole 5 percent!" This a significant decline number to ADS cases. The reason why people get ADS because people feel that they are suffering, even though they will survive today, they probably will not get over tomorrow. Therefore, a lot of people give up. However, Elliot gives people a new perspective. A movie with affirmative content makes everyone's life brighter. Since they have things to do, they will not need to or think about waiting for death. The content in the movie about humanity championing the zombies inspire survivors. ADS is a mental disease; therefore, regular medicine will not help people but hope is different thing. Everyone can have hope, but without hope people will lost their spirit. Elliot did a right thing at right time. He makes movies about high technology about killing zombies, how people fight back zombies. Once there are people start to think about high technology about killing zombies, some scientists might try to produce kind of that weapon. People used to not have flight, right now, everyone take flight to everywhere. Even though those high technology might not exist in that time period; however, it is a good sign since it could enlighten people’s brain and sprit. All of Elliot’s positive contents inspire survivors with their own will and makes them feel that they have hope. The data shows how a art of lie works. Some technology might not be true, but people start to feel that they can fight with zombies. Max Brooks tries to tell the audiences that even though to reality are brutal, but a good lie can make people happy and become strong again. According to Bishop’s words “American popular culture has been colored by the feat of possible terrorist attacks and the grim realization that people are not as safe and secure as they might have once thought”.（new paragraph） At that moment, Post 9/11 terrorists’ attack happened, Iraq war started, bird-flue spread out, earthquake kills a lot of people. There was no security of tenure in the life. People lived in desperation. This is a good timing for zombie movie to become popular. Because when people face a great loss, they prefer to live with hope no matter the hope is a lie or not, since the only way that strength people’s will to make them survive. Max Brooks tries to make audience share the desperation from to book to the reality. It is hard for a lot of survivors to live like in the book. ADS is not only happens in the books, but also happens in the real world. Those attacks kill a million of people. When people are suffering in desperation, a hope of living can help cure their pain for a while. Elliot’s movie in the book is one of the cures for people’s desperation. When people staying in the movie theater, their emotion will go along with the plot happens. Their sprit will experience the championship about beating zombies. This is like people in reality watch those movies that hero beats terrorists. Their fear of the terrorist attack will decrease, the life-affirming aspects of art cure people’s broken hearts. Even though some stories do not happen in the real world, but this does not matter. Directors show the content that can make audiences receive antidepressants. This director will be honored like Roy Elliot in the book.

Though some of his contents are lies, people will not mind since they prefer to avoid cruel reality. In the “Down of the dead”, there are two scene about doctors. In the beginning of the movie, there are interviews happening in the TV station. One doctor and a television presenter are talking about zombies. There is an ironic part, people are all listen to the television presenter talking. No one tries to listen to doctor’s truth about world. Romero critiques about the whole society about living in a lie world where is no danger happen. When there has a white lie, people will always try to believe in it since the truth sometimes is too brutal to bear with it. Roy Elliot in the books points out “Yes, they were lies and sometimes that's not a bad thing. Lies are neither bad nor good. Like a fire they can either keep you warm or burn you to death, depending on how they're used. ” He notices that lie could be a good thing. In world War Z, there are too many people die and become zombies, survivors are deeply fear about death, but they do not have any methods to stop the zombie disease spread. The fear and desperation almost can drive everyone crazy, but the lies that Elliot made help them to stay happy and blind. In that way, people can finally have a good dream about the lives. He uses a metaphor about fire. A fire can either keep people warm or burn people to death. A lie also works on both ways. If a lie can save a lot of people from death, it is worth to keep lying. Since lives are so precious, human beings will do anything to make sure that people stay alive. Therefore, once lies stop people giving up their lives, it is a good start. No matter if it is lie or not, it is always a good news that there are more people survive. It reflects to the real world. People prefer to live in world that is full of hope. Because people with hope, they can fight for them and survive from all of the obstacles.

The golden age of Hollywood and nowadays’ Hollywood is totally different. Roy Elliot is one of the golden age of Hollywood, because in that era Hollywood gives audiences a image of hope and distract audiences’ pressure. In the article “Golden Age of Hollywood”, there is a sentence “Finally, Hollywood was able to cash in on the novelty of sound to not only dodge the effects of The Great Depression, but provide a nation with escapist entertainment in a time when they needed it most.” The golden age of Hollywood happens in 30’s to the late 50’s. At that time, people are suffering in the World War II. They are eager to release their pressure because they have too much. Therefore, Hollywood’s movies at that time give people a hope. Even though the story might not be true, some story cannot be true, but this makes people happy. In the World War Z, because of ADS, there are a lot of people die, Roy Elliot’s movies, which represent the gold Hollywood’s movies in the reality, provide people a space where they can ignore their depression for a while. The golden age of Hollywood’s movies did not have the same high technology like today, but people still remember that at that time, people loves Hollywood. Nowadays, Hollywood gives audiences’ idea is all crap and no things can be valued. Nowadays’ Hollywood, directors do not prefer to show human beings’ sprit and what audiences’ needs, they are more focus on how the technology. At the golden age of Hollywood, Hollywood’s movies gives audiences what they want, there are movies that can destroy the fear in people’s minds and saves the world, but nowadays, Hollywood only have bad influence to audiences and audiences start to neglect the Hollywood.

Works Cited

Brooks, Max. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. New York: Crown, 2006. Print.

Bishop, Kyle. "Dead Man Still Walking." Journal of Popular Film and Television (): 16-25. Print.

"∇troperville." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2014. <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M