Rituals and Stereotypes – The Walking Dead Assignment 1-3-3

 

Rituals and Stereotypes – The Walking Dead Assignment 1-3-3

Jamie Hunter

Franklin University

Professor Omar Alomari

HUM240-E1FF

January 19, 2012

Rituals and Stereotypes – The Walking Dead

             The main characters in the television show The Walking Dead are: Rick (the Sherriff) and Lori (the Sherriff’s wife), Carl (the Sherriff’s son), Shane (the Sherriff’s partner and best friend), Andrea, (the Attorney), Dale (the old guy), Glen (the pizza delivery boy), Daryl (the survivalist) Sophia (the abused wife), and T-Dog (the minority in the group). The show is about the zombie apocalypse and its human survivors. As the small group, who has formed a community and bonds fights zombies and try to maintain some type of normality, they are still faces with the same old everyday rituals and stereotypes as before the world went crazy.

They gather food and supplies as a group and then sit as a group to eat and share strategies; much like a family that sits at the table and discuss their day at school or work. It is important for the group to stay together and work together in order to survive.  Many families that eat together or socialize in some form or fashion stay together as a close knit family. Like any family or community the group still faces riffs and misunderstanding.

The characters in the show have varying opinions about each other. For instance in one episode, part of the group left to go search for a member of the group who has been separated during a zombie attack. It is the third of fourth time they have gone out and have gone without Glen (the old guy) and T-dog (the minority). Although T-dog has been severely hurt during the previous attack by the zombies, he makes mention to Glen that they were left behind on the search because he was black and Glen was old. T-dog himself stereotypically believes his race made him less capable when it was because he was injured.

The show’s producers add to the stereotypes. They name the character T-dog and hint on the show that he is from a gang, although there are many white, Hispanic and Asian gangs.  They have a female character that is abused by her husband, although men are abused by women they show features a woman. The survivors many times go through the ritual of tending to the wounded even when they know the outcome of them turning into zombies once bitten is the same. The show stays with the theme that it is people’s nature to be ritualism and stereotypical, that is what makes it appealing; people can see themselves. 

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