Post by UndeadNed on Nov 12, 2008 21:18:28 GMT -5
I watched Land of the Dead (The Directors Cut) again for the first time in about 2 years, and surprisingly I was quite impressed with it. The fact that I watched it till 3am in the morning may’ve influenced my feelings, but some of the things that seemed stupid about it before made a little more sense to me this time around. Big Daddy for instance I used to think George got it all wrong by having a guy who was a gas station attendant being able to command the loyalty of all the other zombies nearby. After all who is this guy there’s no indication he was in the military and a gas station attendant is hardly someone who is likely to be leadership material if he had been working such a low level job in his previous life. I also realized at the time I had been too focused on Day of the Dead and Bub, and they way he acted as Big Daddy was a huge contrast to him and Big Daddy’s behavior just seemed stupid in comparison. But then it hit me when a person dies in Romero’s universe and then reanimates as a zombie they are reduced to the most basic and most primordial of all instincts the need to feed.
Now with Bub I believe he turned out the way he did because of his interaction with Logan. I know what you’re thinking “Well Duh! Because Logan Trained him”. Yes he did, but also by interacting with a human Bub essentially regained more of his humanity, and was able to tap into memories of his previous life brought on by encouragement from Logan. He essentially moved beyond that simple primordial instinct.
Now if you contrast that with Big Daddy, its safe to assume he has had no interaction with anyone other then zombies so he hasn’t been able to progress mentally the way Bub has, and has turned more into an animal or a primate (because of no outside influence) with a survival instinct and the ability to use tools. As well as still possessing memories or memory muscle movements (I forget the exact term for it) as he feels the need to head out to the pump every time the bell rings.
Also in terms of Big Daddy’s way of communicating, in stone age (or before stone age) times that’s pretty much how primates and people communicated - through grunts and yelling before they developed language. They usually operated in small groups or societies with an Alpha male in charge usually because he was the biggest and strongest or most aggressive and sometimes the smartest.
So when you look at it in that respect, Big Daddy’s behavior actually makes more sense. He hasn’t so much evolved as he has reverted back to a caveman/animal sort of mentality and thus his past becomes irrelevant because anyone can become the Alpha male of the group if they’re strong or aggressive enough. Also look at the way he handles all the tools, its only through a bit of trial and error that he figures out how to use them, he’s not an evolved super intelligent zombie he’s basically just a caveman learning how to use tools. And if you watch those scenes again he isn't so much remembering how to use tools as he is learning through trial and error (with the exception of the gas pump)
Now with Bub I believe he turned out the way he did because of his interaction with Logan. I know what you’re thinking “Well Duh! Because Logan Trained him”. Yes he did, but also by interacting with a human Bub essentially regained more of his humanity, and was able to tap into memories of his previous life brought on by encouragement from Logan. He essentially moved beyond that simple primordial instinct.
Now if you contrast that with Big Daddy, its safe to assume he has had no interaction with anyone other then zombies so he hasn’t been able to progress mentally the way Bub has, and has turned more into an animal or a primate (because of no outside influence) with a survival instinct and the ability to use tools. As well as still possessing memories or memory muscle movements (I forget the exact term for it) as he feels the need to head out to the pump every time the bell rings.
Also in terms of Big Daddy’s way of communicating, in stone age (or before stone age) times that’s pretty much how primates and people communicated - through grunts and yelling before they developed language. They usually operated in small groups or societies with an Alpha male in charge usually because he was the biggest and strongest or most aggressive and sometimes the smartest.
So when you look at it in that respect, Big Daddy’s behavior actually makes more sense. He hasn’t so much evolved as he has reverted back to a caveman/animal sort of mentality and thus his past becomes irrelevant because anyone can become the Alpha male of the group if they’re strong or aggressive enough. Also look at the way he handles all the tools, its only through a bit of trial and error that he figures out how to use them, he’s not an evolved super intelligent zombie he’s basically just a caveman learning how to use tools. And if you watch those scenes again he isn't so much remembering how to use tools as he is learning through trial and error (with the exception of the gas pump)
