Posted By John Sears on February 6, 2019

It is sadly no secret that the Zombie Rights Campaign has been doing less work publicly over the last year, though we have striven to always keep the Differently Animated in our hearts and minds.

We still care deeply about the plight of the Undead here at the ZRC. In 2019 we hope to revamp the site, blog, and store, and plot a strategy toward greater public awareness of the rights of the Differently Animated, and concrete actions we can take to advance The Cause.

Thanks in advance for your patience and understanding.

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Posted By John Sears on December 6, 2018

The trailer for the Walking Dead’s next half-season is out, and as expected, the Zombie-co-existing Whisperers are the officially designated Next Enemy.

Obviously a disappointing turn of events, Zombie Rights-wise.

There will no doubt be a lot of blood, and ichor, spilled, and a lot of extremely morally dubious choices made by the alleged heroes of the show, before they triumph over… well.. tolerance?

It’s all very sad.

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Tags: Robert Kirkman, Television

Posted By John Sears on November 30, 2018

Well, they finally did it (or did they?).

AMC’s flagship show promoting Undead Intolerance has boldly moved into the future.

The subjective future of their characters anyway.

Several years after Rick-not-quite-perished detonating a perfectly good bridge just because Zombies wanted to use it, we see the post-apocalyptic communities still huddling behind their walls, still hoarding resources and excluding the Differently Animated.

But a new threat looms in the wilderness, which the designated ‘heroes’ gradually uncover… the famed ‘Whisperers’ from the comic series, who finally appear in the final episode of the first half.

What is the big threat of the Whisperers? Well… they live side by side with Zombies.

They communicate with Zombies.

They co-exist with Zombies.

And, from our perspective in the final episode, they even defend Zombies from the typically short-sighted attacks of the cast of The Walking Dead.

Naturally, The Whisperers will be the long-running show’s new antagonists. But why shouldn’t they be seen as pioneers? Revolutionaries looking for a better, more peaceful way to live than walls and dogs and pointless pit traps?

A bigger world, right? That was Rick’s supposed brain storm?

The Whisperers seem to have that going for them.

Just a thought.

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Tags: Robert Kirkman, Television

Posted By John Sears on April 17, 2018

Well, as predicted, TWD did not give us Zombie Carl.

It also didn’t give us an escape from Negan’s endless chattery.

Instead there was another half season of scheming, double-crosses, triple-crosses… if our math is right, the finale had a quintuple cross at the end. Like nesting dolls made of treachery.

So there was a lot of that. But in the end, not much, you know… plot progress.

And there weren’t very many Walking “Dead” either, except as a vast party of some sort in the distance, rendered in CG. Frankly the CG Zombies were probably having a better time than our cast (or the audience).

Through much of the second half, the Undead only show up when some minor character is being unceremoniously ushered off the program (or in Carl’s case, ushered off with, shall we say, no great haste).

Or as a sort of roving geographic obstacle.

Or a gruesome stunt, like the one in the graveyard with a large piece of grinding equipment we refuse to dignify with a discussion, and which was far too graphic to depict here on a family friendly blog.

But the sense that this is a world where the Living co-exist with (and we would hope, come to peaceful terms with) the Undead has fallen by the wayside these Negan-tastic seasons.

Now on to Fear the Walking Dead, apparently, which has fan-favorite (for a Living character at least) Morgan crossing over to attempt to save the franchise.

Our work is never done.

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Posted By John Sears on December 19, 2017

We were uneasy about this latest season of The Walking Dead here on the ZRC blog, as mentioned in a post last summer, and so far, our suspicions have been handily borne out.

But the show should really be rebranded ‘The Talking Negan’ by now. Good grief. We never thought we’d say this here at the ZRC blog, given the past treatment of the Undead on TWD, but wasn’t this show about Zombies at some point?

We seem to recall it. Dimly. In the past. Before the bat. Before all the whistling. Before the chatting.

Season 8 has been all about the scheming and plotting so far, but now that the midseason finale is over, we can talk about… Carl.

Carl was, of course, bitten, in self-defense, by an Undead individual he was cruelly accosting. Which means that Carl will himself become Undead in due course.

After the season break. Because ratings.

Now, we don’t want to get our hopes up too high – we are talking about The Walking Dead here – but an actual Undead cast member, is that too much to ask? Instead of just…writing them off the show?

Yeah… probably not happening.

But maybe Undead Carl could eat Negan? An acceptable compromise, given the circumstances?

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Tags: Robert Kirkman, Television

Posted By John Sears on December 15, 2017

Just a quick update to wish you and yours, Living and Undead alike, a happy holiday season from the Zombie Rights Campaign.

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Posted By John Sears on November 15, 2017

Now that the third season of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Season 3 is over, the ZRC has been giving some thoughts to this spinoff.

Naturally, we are still opposed.

From the title on down, it is still hardly a nuanced portrayal of the Differently Animated, even as Season 3 proved determined to delve into complicated issues of historical grievance, water rights and survival in a desperate natural environment. One wonders why the Living characters, and the writers for that matter, need an Undead enemy for their show.

And the simple reason seems to be: prejudice. Ignorance. Sensationalism.

But the show’s creators seem to be wiping the slate clean too, along with much of the fictional landscape, before a presumed Season 4. Maybe we will get a fresh portrayal of the Undead as well?

Probably not. But it couldn’t hurt.

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Posted By John Sears on October 31, 2017

Tragically, your Zombie Rights Activists are not up to any grand hijinks this year. Instead we have to simply wish everyone out there, Living and Differently Animated alike, a safe and very Zombie Friendly holiday.

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Posted By John Sears on October 20, 2017

As The Walking Dead Season 8 prepares to kick off, one thing is painfully clear – Zombie Tolerance isn’t coming anytime soon.

Come to think of it, the story’s hardly about the Undead anymore, which is its own sort of hurtful. These days, cable television’s highest profile exercise in unkindness toward the Differently Animated is more like the Negan Scene Chewing Hour (with occasional Undead cameo).

Here at the ZRC, we’re unsure how to feel about that.

Except Negan. We really wish he’d pipe down.

Shhh.

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Posted By John Sears on July 15, 2017

(Walkers…welcome? We hope so!)

On a recent West Coast outing, the Zombie Rights Campaign staff had time for a short detour to the Zombee Donuts and Bakeshop, located in Fullerton, California.

As the name suggests, and the website confirms, this is a bakery, focused on donuts and similar pastries, with a decidedly Undead theme.

As their website describes:

We serve Zombee and monster themed donuts that are fun to look at and delicious as well. Come try some of our signature themed donuts such as “The Eyeball” that is a red velvet/vanilla velvet cake donut dipped in white icing with a chocolate ganache donut hole in the center. We also have “The Monster” donut which is a raised round donut with homemade whipped cream filling and Monster energy drink infused icing with, of course, a Zombie face. We also have our famous “Sin-a-Snake” cinnamon roll. And no one can get enough of our “Maple Bacon Bar”. Everything is better with bacon. We also have our famous “Walker Donut” that has a little surprise in his head. Having a bad day? Bite his head OFF! Also, there are our gourmet donuts like the “PB&J”, “Cookies-n-Scream” and our “Nutella Donut”.

Come for the donuts and baked goods and stay for the atmosphere.

We had the chance to see this atmosphere and try these baked goods in person, and the Zombie Rights Campaign is largely supportive! The donuts are quite tasty, and colorfully decorated in various Undead and Differently Animated themes:

We wanted to the Monster donut in particular, with its adorable Zombie green face. Now, if you dislike energy drinks, it is clearly not the pastry for you, but the ZRC reviewers found it pleasantly.. well, like a donut crossed with an energy drink.

A word of caution on the decor and some of the merchandise, however: a bit of outreach could be useful here. Not everything is, strictly speaking, Zombie friendly. In fact some things on display are distinctly Zombie-Unfriendly, particularly the Walking Dead references.

Still, all in all, the Zombie Rights Campaign was pleased. We need more establishments that proudly proclaim that they welcome Undead patronage.

We rate the Zombee Donuts and Bakeshop as Zombie Tolerant.

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Tags: Public Appearance, ZRC Reviews