by Eojin (Jin) Choi, Shuang Guan, & Tiauna Lewis
Jin, Shuang, and Tiauna's movie review is a response to a field trip to see the new movie, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), as part of our Spring 2016 seminar, Languages of Fear, Racism, and Zombies at Swarthmore College. **SPOILER ALERT**
Jin, Shuang, and Tiauna's movie review is a response to a field trip to see the new movie, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), as part of our Spring 2016 seminar, Languages of Fear, Racism, and Zombies at Swarthmore College. **SPOILER ALERT**
The Bennett sisters work their way through the party in full style.
Following the trend of mash-ups between history, literature, and the supernatural, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies takes the British classic by Jane Austen and adds in a zombie-fighting quest. The love story between Jane and Mr. Bingley, and between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, unfolds against a backdrop of a zombie outbreak that is rapidly taking over England. In the end, Darcy and Elizabeth overcome their initial impressions of each other and work together to minimize the spread of the outbreak.
In the movie, viewers see hundreds of zombies that constantly hunt for brains while being hunted down themselves. Historically, this stems from the Haitian belief, in which zombies came in multiple forms: They were spirits stolen by magicians, humans who willingly became zombies, or mindless servants of their zombie creator. In American society, however, the historical appeal of the zombie initially came largely from the creature's lack of autonomy. Many even considered zombies to be the ideal slaves, since they could work for long hours and survive on minimal amounts of food. This characterization of the zombie as a mindless corpse is what the American public is most familiar with today.
In the movie, viewers see hundreds of zombies that constantly hunt for brains while being hunted down themselves. Historically, this stems from the Haitian belief, in which zombies came in multiple forms: They were spirits stolen by magicians, humans who willingly became zombies, or mindless servants of their zombie creator. In American society, however, the historical appeal of the zombie initially came largely from the creature's lack of autonomy. Many even considered zombies to be the ideal slaves, since they could work for long hours and survive on minimal amounts of food. This characterization of the zombie as a mindless corpse is what the American public is most familiar with today.
As Ann Kordas writes in the edited volume Race, Oppression, and the Zombie (2011):
Zombies have been regarded both as creatures of horror and creatures of despair, objects to be alternately feared and pitied. |  |
This was also the case in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which centered upon the main characters' interactions with the undead.
However, the greatest disappointment in the movie was the stunted portrayal of zombies and human-zombie relationships. When Wickham introduces the Church of Lazarus and the idea that zombies can be conscious, unthreatening beings with whom humans should co-exist, there's an untapped potential to delve into deeper questions.
We wanted to know how the humans in the storyline feel about zombies, why they fear them, why they are so quick to kill them and feel little remorse, and what exactly characterizes a zombie. Addressing these areas would not only make the movie more cerebral, but would encourage viewers to extrapolate their analysis from the movie to current issues.
However, the greatest disappointment in the movie was the stunted portrayal of zombies and human-zombie relationships. When Wickham introduces the Church of Lazarus and the idea that zombies can be conscious, unthreatening beings with whom humans should co-exist, there's an untapped potential to delve into deeper questions.
We wanted to know how the humans in the storyline feel about zombies, why they fear them, why they are so quick to kill them and feel little remorse, and what exactly characterizes a zombie. Addressing these areas would not only make the movie more cerebral, but would encourage viewers to extrapolate their analysis from the movie to current issues.
Jin (center), Shuang (light blue), and Tiauna (top right) with seminar students and Prof. Thomas (lower right) outside the movie theater in West Philadelphia. We can think of zombies as representing "other" groups, like immigrants, people of color, undocumented workers, and terrorists. Instead the movie reduces this more complicated social system to the simple trope of good versus evil. In the end, Wickham isn't truly sympathetic towards the undead, but wants to use them as his army. And Darcy has no moral qualms with feeding human brains to these same zombies in order to turn them against Wickham.
The movie would have been much more interesting had the zombies not been just pawns used by both sides, but fleshed-out characters--pun intended!
The movie does begin to humanize zombies by bringing up contrasting attitudes towards them. Mr. Darcy extends the cold, unforgiving attitude that when someone becomes a zombie, one is justified, even obligated, to kill them because they lose all humanity and social standing. In the opening scene, Darcy doesn't care who the newly-infected zombie is; he's on a mission to kill him before the virus spreads. Though others at the afternoon soiree are horrified after Darcy slices the zombie's skull open and start whispering about the deceased and his niece, Darcy is totally unbothered by his murderous act and the identity of his victim.
On the other hand, after Jane is wounded on her way to Bingley's estate due to a confrontation with zombies in the forest, Elizabeth defends her sister from Mr. Darcy's zombie-detecting flies, absolutely indignant that he would disrespect Jane in such a manner. She must be aware of the possibility that Jane was bitten, but that doesn't prevent her from still seeing Jane as her sister and caring about her.
Later, during the unexpected zombie infestation at Bingley's ball, when Darcy is suspicious of Bingley's unconsciousness and asks Elizabeth whether he's been bitten or not, to be ready to kill him, she replies, "Your abilities as a warrior are beyond reproach--if only you were as good a friend." While Elizabeth is able to see Bingley as Bingley and Darcy's best friend, Darcy is all too ready to turn his friend into an enemy. However, instead of investigating these attitudes any deeper--for example, why can Elizabeth be sympathetic to those close to her, but still easily kill zombies whom she doesn't know very well--the movie pushes them to the side to finish out the larger love story and good versus evil battle.
The movie would have been much more interesting had the zombies not been just pawns used by both sides, but fleshed-out characters--pun intended!
The movie does begin to humanize zombies by bringing up contrasting attitudes towards them. Mr. Darcy extends the cold, unforgiving attitude that when someone becomes a zombie, one is justified, even obligated, to kill them because they lose all humanity and social standing. In the opening scene, Darcy doesn't care who the newly-infected zombie is; he's on a mission to kill him before the virus spreads. Though others at the afternoon soiree are horrified after Darcy slices the zombie's skull open and start whispering about the deceased and his niece, Darcy is totally unbothered by his murderous act and the identity of his victim.
On the other hand, after Jane is wounded on her way to Bingley's estate due to a confrontation with zombies in the forest, Elizabeth defends her sister from Mr. Darcy's zombie-detecting flies, absolutely indignant that he would disrespect Jane in such a manner. She must be aware of the possibility that Jane was bitten, but that doesn't prevent her from still seeing Jane as her sister and caring about her.
Later, during the unexpected zombie infestation at Bingley's ball, when Darcy is suspicious of Bingley's unconsciousness and asks Elizabeth whether he's been bitten or not, to be ready to kill him, she replies, "Your abilities as a warrior are beyond reproach--if only you were as good a friend." While Elizabeth is able to see Bingley as Bingley and Darcy's best friend, Darcy is all too ready to turn his friend into an enemy. However, instead of investigating these attitudes any deeper--for example, why can Elizabeth be sympathetic to those close to her, but still easily kill zombies whom she doesn't know very well--the movie pushes them to the side to finish out the larger love story and good versus evil battle.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains
must be in want of more brains.
Despite the flaws of the film, the director, writers, and producers gave respect to the original writing of Jane Austen. For example, the opening line of the movie is, "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." This is a direct, playful reconstruction of the iconic first line of the book, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Additionally, those who worked on the film used scenes such as the physical clash during Darcy's proposal to carry the narrative forward in their unique interpretation.
About the Authors.
Eojin (Jin) Choi is a first-year student at Swarthmore College. She loves going out into the city and can't go through a day without coffee.
Shuang Guan is a Swarthmore College student. Her friends say she spends too much time peeling oranges. She says it's a craft.
Tiauna Lewis is a student at Swarthmore College. Born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, she enjoys slam poetry, Arabic grammar, and celebrating the beauty of human connections.
Shuang Guan is a Swarthmore College student. Her friends say she spends too much time peeling oranges. She says it's a craft.
Tiauna Lewis is a student at Swarthmore College. Born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, she enjoys slam poetry, Arabic grammar, and celebrating the beauty of human connections.
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