Miguel - Dead Weight?

[Flesh Eater]

I look at Miguel as dead weight through out the entire film. He's a damn likeable guy and I feel bad for him, but he's unstable and unreliable. Being down in that bunker with Rhodes is bad enough, but having to escape and worry about Miguel is just as bad. After he got bit in the arm, I would have put a slug in his melon. I know that Sarah loves him and all, but for me it just isn't worth it.

[The Dead Walk!]

I don't see him as such a bad guy, but I've always hated his guts.

He whines and cries and slaps Sarah (not cool). Yeah, I get it... he's cracking from the pressure and fear... but come on!

And the icing on the cake is that he's so fucking selfish, he decides to screw everyone over by letting the zombies in.

What an ass.

[Flesh Eater]

That's what I mean. He's unstable. I would almost rather be down there with Rhodes instead of Miguel.

That scene where he slaps Sarah pissed me off. Here she is trying to comfort him and he acts like a dick. Selfish dick at that.

[Flesh Eater]

Another thing. WTF? They save your ass not only from Rhodes and Steele, but from the damn Zombies and you screw everything up by letting them in? I'm telling ya, a bullet to the head.

[tannerboyle]

I wouldn't go so far as to call him dead weight--he was just a guy cracking under pressure.

The dead were coming back to life--an event that would no doubt drive gaggles of fraggles insane at the first sight of it.

Then, he's sent down into a cave with a bunch of guys who hate Latinos. He's isolated, alienated, and frightened. So, he lashes out.

I've always thought that his suicide is pretty much more of a product of GAR's poor screenwriting skills than a development of that aspect of Miguel's character.

In the original Dawn, once the Mall is secured, the film is pretty much over. GAR had to think of a way to get the ghouls back into the Mall, and he needed more humans to showcase some grisly deaths. Hence, the bikers...

Here, he had to get the ghouls into the compound so that they could eat the bad guys. So, Miguel hears the gunshots, assumes that Sarah and the rest are dead, and decides to commit suicide and get revenge on Rhodes by letting the ghouls into the compound...even though he's been literally petrified of the ghouls from the first second he's onscreen.

Dead weight? Nope. A lame plot device? Yep.

[The Dead Walk!]

Aug 15, 2008 0:32:24 GMT -5 tannerboyle said:

In the original Dawn, once the Mall is secured, the film is pretty much over. GAR had to think of a way to get the ghouls back into the Mall, and he needed more humans to showcase some grisly deaths. Hence, the bikers...

Well, I always felt after the mall secured it was more of like act 2... where they start their own little society, and claim the mall as their own... eating whatever they want, wearing whatever they want, having fancy dinners, playing video games, etc. I always sort of saw this as tying into the consumerism commentary.

[tannerboyle]

In effect, both of us are right.

Question--explain to me your take on the social commentary of Dawn. What is GAR saying? What do the characters, and events, in the story represent? Who is the main character?

[Flesh Eater]

In the original Day script, Miguel is killed rather early. For GAR to include him in this film from start to finish is stronger, IMHO. I don't think Miguel even cared for Sarah. After he slaps her it's pretty much F you. In the end, he doesn't give two craps weather she is dead or alive. All he really cares about is ending his own life, F everyone else.

[The Dead Walk!]

Oh wow, that's quite a question you're laying on me, haha.

In short I see the commentary mainly focusing on, as I said previously, consumerism. Romero is basically saying that at our core, we're selfish creatures who want, want, want. I mean the scene where the bikers break in to raid the mall, Flyboy says to himself something like "It's ours, we took it". As if our four heroes are any different than the biker gang. The zombies themselves are consumers... they're simply a reflection of ourselves. Romero is saying that Americans are mindless consumers.

This is only one facet of what could be interpreted in DAWN. And I did a quick version of that one facet. I wrote a paper on this very subject once, and it was quite in-depth.

I'd love to get down and dirty on the whole issue right now, but I'm leaving for a trip tomorrow morning and I gots to get me some sleep.

[Flesh Eater]

Also, remember when Roger says: "We whipped em' and we got it all"


The bank scene as well.

[Flyboy]

Miguel's beard bothered me.

The whole crew could've just taken shelter in there without fear of dying.

[Flesh Eater]

It is rather scary. I bet it was smelly after shooting all day in FL.

[blackknight273]

I think most of the people in the bunker were dead weight starting with the insane doctor.

[Flesh Eater]

Hey, without the Dr. we wouldn't have had Bub. The Dr. was good comic relief.

[captainrhodes]

I did like miguel but he was really unstable,ud think the soldiers would have learned not to put him in the corral after he let the 1st zombie go that nearly killed rickles,then again they did say there was no one else for the job,he also ran away at the start leaving sarah in a zombie infested city,hes deffo someone u couldnt rely on in that type of situation,ur right he does die a lot earlier in the original script he really goes insane the script but serves more purpose i think.

Great big bushy beard!