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Top 5 Zombie Apocalypses OF ALL TIME

2011-11-17 · John · watch on YouTube · Pop culture · advice recommendation

Lower-confidence wave

2011 videos did not pass the QA gate (17 %); their analysis is shown but less reliable.

John counts down his five favourite zombie apocalypses (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, The Walking Dead comic, Night of the Living Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, I Am Legend), arguing that the best ones use 'viral' zombies because the genre is about exposing the fragility of human social orders.

What is said

00:00:00 — Greeting (Wednesday), thanks for the Beckoning of Lovely; a golden age of zombie apocalypses, perhaps tied to unemployment; are zombies people?

  • ★ John says the Beckoning of Lovely was lovely and thanks everyone who was there. — 00:00:00
  • ★★★ John observes that we are in a golden age of zombie apocalypses and suggests it might be related to high unemployment and a general feeling of malaise. (hedged) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John's description apologises for uploading late: he is in Grand Haven, Michigan, recording an audio version of The Fault in Our Stars. — 00:00:00 · The Fault in Our Stars
  • ★★ John's description reports that the Nerdfighter Kiva bank has passed $106,000 in loans. — 00:00:00 · Bank of Nerdfighteria, Kiva
  • ★★ John wonders whether zombies, being 'ex-human', are still people, and says he loves zombie apocalypses because they ask the big questions. (playful) — 00:00:29

00:00:29 — No. 5 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies; No. 4 The Walking Dead comic (better than the TV show)

  • ★★ At No. 5, John praises Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: it still feels like a Jane Austen novel, never becomes a shtick and is very readable, but is short on zombies. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ At No. 4, John picks The Walking Dead comic over the TV show: small-town cop, brilliant illustrations and the right kind of zombies. — 00:00:55

00:01:24 — Two kinds of zombie apocalypse; the viral kind is superior because the genre exposes the fragility of social orders

  • ★★★ John distinguishes apocalypses where all the dead reanimate from those where only the virus-infected do, and prefers the viral kind as more like what would really happen. (hedged) — 00:01:24
  • ★★★ John argues that at its core the zombie apocalypse is about exposing the fragility of human social orders. — 00:01:24

00:01:53 — No. 3 George Romero's Night of the Living Dead: most influential, but the wrong kind of zombies

  • ★★ John says George Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead basically invented modern zombies, though it never uses the word; zombies originally come from Haitian folklore. — 00:01:53 · zombie
  • ★★ John ranks Night of the Living Dead only third, despite calling it the most influential zombie work, because its zombies are the 'boring, shuffley' kind rather than viral. — 00:02:22

00:02:22 — No. 2 Left 4 Dead 2, with Jonathan Coulton's 'Re: Your Brains'

  • ★★ At No. 2, John picks Left 4 Dead 2 as the only zombie video game featuring Jonathan Coulton's 'Re: Your Brains', which he calls the best zombie apocalypse song. — 00:02:22

00:02:52 — No. 1 Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend (Shaun of the Dead is No. 6); without it no disease-apocalypse fears

  • ★★★ At No. 1, John picks Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend, which he says invented everything awesome about zombie apocalypses; Shaun of the Dead is his No. 6. — 00:02:52
  • ★★ John suggests that without Matheson's novel we might not worry about disease apocalypses at all, only 'boring' ones like meteors and food shortages. (hedged) — 00:02:52

00:03:21 — Meteor apocalypses are boring; praise for Hank's Monday song; sign-off and gesticulation joke

  • ★ John declares meteor apocalypses boring and cliche, joking that he may be inviting one. (playful) (hedged) — 00:03:21
  • ★ John compliments Hank on his song on Monday. — 00:03:21

Humor (significant)

  • John links the golden age of zombie apocalypses to unemployment and general malaise. — 00:00:00 > «I think what's bad for people is good for zombies.»
  • Explaining why Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is only No. 5, John states his standard for zombie novels. — 00:00:55 > «In an ideal zombie apocalypse novel, I want to see at least a one-to-one paragraph to zombie killing ratio.»
  • Announcing his No. 1, John heads off the expected favourite. — 00:02:52 > «not Shaun of the Dead, that's number 6 on my list, sorry fanboys.»
  • After calling meteor apocalypses boring and admitting he may be inviting one, John addresses the world directly. — 00:03:21 > «World, if you end that way, it's super cliche.»

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