If you’re like us, you’ve seen a lot of ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ movies, and something may have started to stand out for you as well: Most of the people we’re supposed to sympathize with in these films are complete and utter jerks.

Yet, they’re not *portrayed* that way. They’re, allegedly, your heros for 90 minutes. The rampant criminality, callousness, sociopathy and mayhem are just unfortunate side effects of the situation they supposedly find themselves in. All is forgiven, and absolved, by the ‘Apocalypse’.

Thus a man who is perfectly willing to leave others to die if it gets him one step closer to a snack cake? Hero of ‘Zombieland’.

A journalist who abandons her job and the public she supposedly serves in a critical moment to steal the company helicopter? Heroine of ‘Dawn of the Dead’.

Let’s not even talk about Robert Kirkman’s characters. Honestly, by the end of the second trade I was way past hoping the ‘Zombies’ would eat them and just begging an uncaring universe to finish the story off in one splash panel, a meteor wiping the whole sorry cast off the planet.

Spoiler alert: it didn’t happen.

Into this tradition of jerks running amok in the End Times comes a new short film, ‘Zombies and Assholes’:

A group of degenerates delight in the pleasures of annoying both staff and patrons at the lavish Eden Restaurant. But on this day, after a quick dine and dash, they are faced by a zombified staff who begin attacking customers. Stuck in a stalled car, determined to die with clear consciences, they confess their intertwined sexual indiscretions. Will they survive, and if so, who will win – Zombies or Assholes?

Interesting premise. Unfortunately the trailer makes it clear that honesty about the Survivors doesn’t carry over to the Differently Animated, who are still the same old Romero cliches.

Come on, filmmakers! You’re halfway to acknowledging the truth! Survivors are jerks, and Zombies… well, they’re just people, really. Not saying all the Differently Animated are candidates for sainthood; just saying that the guy who runs down other people for sport while searching for Twinkies isn’t the *good guy*.

At any rate, I’ve embedded the trailer below. Take a look for yourself.

Tags: Movies

This entry was posted by John Sears on Sunday, March 6th, 2011 at 12:43 am and is filed under Zombie Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.