We wanted to highlight yet *another* apparently successful Zombie Public Event here on the ZRC blog, and also to point out how even the most peaceable and outgoing Zombie activities can suffer slander from the Mainstream Media, as well as unfortunate bias from organizers:

On Saturday, hundreds gathered in downtown Boston for the seventh annual Boston Zombie March. Individuals dressed as the undead and staggered down the streets, starting at South Station and eventually ending at T.T. the Bear for an after-party. The Zombie March only has two rules: “don’t scare kids and don’t actually gnaw your neighbors.” (here.)

Those seem like good rules to live, or Unlive, by in general, but why would you feel they have to be pointed out to Zombies?

Still, they were, repeatedly:

We made it through Judgment Day unscathed but, this Saturday, the dead will indeed walk the Earth. It’s time for Boston Zombie March VII, the only time to dress up like a brain-gobbling fiend of hell and lurch around the city without getting some sort of citation. The only rules for the citywide stagger (which kicks off at South Station) are: don’t scare kids and don’t actually gnaw your neighbors. Even if you skip the march, you should still check out the after-party at T.T. the Bear’s . . . it’ll be a scream.

This condescension is just unacceptable, especially in a public event featuring the Differently Animated community’s heartfelt participation. The notion that you need to give Zombies a special talking-to in order to avoid violence or terrified children is absurd; we certainly didn’t have any of that at the Madison rally, and the many events held in Chicago for the Undead aren’t marred by such things.

In spite of this sort of pandering to the Romero-Kirkman crowd, the outing seems to have gone off well enough, and there are some nice pictures available too:

(A Zombie takes a nice break from the party atmosphere)

(said party atmosphere)

Now, do these party-going Zombies look like the sort of people who need repeated lecturing about how to behave? I think not.

Hopefully the organizers and press in Boston will take note of the continuing good behavior of the Differently Animated and respond accordingly; if not, they can certainly expect a stern letter from the ZRC next year.

Tags: Journamalism, Mainstream Media, Zombie Public Event

This entry was posted by John Sears on Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 at 12:01 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.