Stephanie Austin
“We are the walking dead” is a famous line from both the graphic novel and show The Walking Dead. The implications of the phrase are manifold, as the series tells the story of survivors in the aftermath of a zombie outbreak. Among other names for the undead, they use the term “walkers” which, in the above quote, connects the living and the dead.
AMC’s critically acclaimed show has been a frequent source for theory and criticism, likely due to its being one of the most popular examples of zombie literature since George Romero’s Living Dead films. After all, his films are a clear inspiration for the design of the shambling walkers of the show. Scholarship on the TV series frequently crosses over with disability studies.[1] It is common for characters to have their limbs removed to prevent the spread of infection after a walker bite, and characters even maim each other during conflicts. One of the show’s common tropes is not the threat of the walkers but the danger that the living pose to one another. Often, these threats overlap with mental health.
The quote above is from an iconic moment of the show. The line is delivered by the leader of the main group of survivors, Rick Grimes. The former sheriff and central protagonist of the comic and show provides the namesake for the series as he explains how his group will survive by comparing their actions to his grandfather fighting in WWII (season 5 episode 10). This paper will evaluate the connections between walkers and humans, as this line suggests, but specifically in the context of the show, as a crucial moment in the first season that does not appear in the comics builds on the world that these characters inhabit, and specifically knowledge of the cause of the apocalyptic event. I argue that the show aligns the walkers and humans not only through the actions they must take to survive, but also through the depiction of mental illness. As a result, the show portrays mental illness in a monstrous light, not only because of these connections, but through the ways characters treat cases of mental illness. These characters are depicted as tragic, monstrous, criminal, and mentally ill.
Closer inspection of this element of the show can facilitate reflection on current understandings of mental illness and criminality. One problem with the show is what I will call “the curative arc.” This paper draws on Eli Clare’s work with cure but specifically thinks through the implications of cure in terms of mental illness. In The Walking Dead, the curative arc occurs when protagonists show signs of mental illness which the show criminalizes. They are ejected from the group and must perform a redemptive act while symptoms of their mental illness diminish or dissipate. Their redemption accompanied by the absence of symptoms indicates that they are “cured” and convinces the main group to accept them back into the fold.
But the character Morgan
Jones, whose struggles with PTSD are most clearly aligned with monstrosity and
criminality through visuals and narrative elements, follows a different narrative. A key distinction is that he does not receive
redemption. Outside factors lead the
creators of the show to write him out of the story and he has no opportunity to
complete this curative arc.[2] Morgan’s situation presents a rare
opportunity for speculation in a work that is mainly science fiction. His narrative arc resists the cure ideology
which is behind a majority of how the show handles mental health. Rather than functioning as a mentally ill
scapegoat, Morgan opens up the show and the audience to opportunities
otherwise: the pursuit of and the opportunity to lead a life outside a struggle
for cure-based acceptance.
[1] See Jamie McDaniel “‘You Can Point a Finger at a Zombie. Sometimes They Fall off.’: Contemporary Zombie Films, Embedded Ableism, and Disability as Metaphor” who discusses Hershel Greene’s loss of his leg and Heather L. Castro and Dave Beisecker “They Just Want me to be Like Them” who discuss Lizzie’s mental illness.
[2] In fact, Morgan’s actor played a hand in his move to the spin-off series, according to Paul Tassi’s “It was Lennie James’ Choice to Leave ‘The Walking Dead’ for ‘Fear the Walking Dead’.”
Sources
Castro, Heather L. and Dave Beisecker. “They Just Want Me to be Like Them.” The Ultimate Walking Dead and Philosophy: Hungry for More, edited by Wayne Yuen, Open Court, 2016, pp. 165-73.
McDaniel, Jamie. “‘You Can Point a Finger at a Zombie. Sometimes They Fall off.’: Contemporary Zombie Films, Embedded Ableism, and Disability as Metaphor.” The Midwest Quarterly, vol. 57, no. 4, 2016, p. 423-446. E
Tassi, Paul.” It Was Lennie James’ Choice To Leave ‘The Walking Dead’ For ‘Fear The Walking Dead.’” Forbes, 6 Apr. 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2018/04/06/it-was-lennie-james-choice-to-leave-the-walking-dead-for-fear-the-walking-dead/#6b1965ad6f43, Accessed 30 Apr. 2019.
“Them.” The Walking Dead, season 5, episode 10, AMC, 15 Feb. 2015, Netflix,
https://www.netflix.com/watch/80010536?trackId=200257859.
Visionary Fiction: Fugitive World-Making and Ethnofuturisms 