‘Humans vs. Zombies’ for Charity Raises Difficult and Ugly Questions
We’ve condemned the open-air game of simulated Living Supremacist conflict known and played on many campuses as ‘Humans vs. Zombies’ before here at the ZRC.
It’s repulsive, divisive and perpetuates harmful stereotypes of the Differently Animated. A ‘game’ like that should have no place at an institution of higher learning.
Thus this news story has us feeling a bit conflicted:
Humans vs. Zombies is a week-long game similar to tag. It started Monday, May 23, at 12:01 a.m. and will continue until Sunday, May 29. Players start off as humans and defend themselves against zombies with Nerf blasters or rolled-up sock balls, but if they are tagged by a zombie, they will become one within an hour. The actual game started in 2005 at Goucher College and has since been played all over the world. Until this week, Eugene had not been one of those places to experience the game.
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Although they are following the standard weeklong game, they added the element of playing for charity. Players get sponsors, who agree to pay a certain amount of money for their time in the game as a human. The money will be donated to the Red Cross to help the Japanese tsunami relief effort.
Argh! It’s so Living Supremacist, but it’s also for a good cause; a cause we’ve supported here at the ZRC!
I can’t bring myself to condemn this as strongly as I might want; grr. But just look at the way they frame it, with the reward going for time spent ‘as a human’, as if Zombies are not, in fact, human beings! As if a player who becomes a ‘Zombie’ in the game should be punished for ‘losing’!
But it is for charity…
Basically, I guess, to the students playing this game at the University of Oregon: you’re being a bunch of Anti-Zombie jerks, but for charity. Next time, hold a bake sale or something, and make it inclusive of the Differently Animated population. We’ll let you off a bit lightly this time.
It’s what the Zombies would want.
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