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ZOMBIES, AS WE KNOW THEM TODAY, HAVE UNDERGONE A DRAMATIC TRANSFORMATION FROM THEIR ROOTS IN HAITIAN FOLKLORE, WHERE THEY WERE ORIGINALLY SEEN AS HUMANS RESURRECTED THROUGH VOODOO MAGIC. IN THIS CONTEXT, A "ZOMBI" WAS NOT A MINDLESS MONSTER BUT A PERSON STRIPPED OF THEIR FREE WILL, UNDER THE CONTROL OF A SORCERER OR "BOKOR." THESE EARLY DEPICTIONS REFLECTED THE HORRORS OF SLAVERY AND THE LOSS OF AUTONOMY, WHERE THE DEAD WERE NOT ONLY PHYSICALLY ENSLAVED BUT ALSO SPIRITUALLY SUBJUGATED, THEIR SOULS CONTROLLED BY DARK FORCES. THIS IDEA OF MANIPULATION AND CONTROL RESONATED WITH THE EXPERIENCES OF COLONIALISM, ADDING A DEEP LAYER OF SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL COMMENTARY TO THE MYTHOLOGY.
THE MODERN CONCEPTION OF ZOMBIES AS RAVENOUS, DECAYING FLESH-EATERS EMERGED IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, PARTICULARLY IN THE 1932 FILM WHITE ZOMBIE, STARRING BELA LUGOSI. WHILE THIS FILM DREW FROM THE VOODOO ORIGINS, IT PRESENTED ZOMBIES MORE AS WORKERS WITHOUT AGENCY, MINDLESSLY FOLLOWING THE WILL OF THEIR MASTER. THIS VERSION PAVED THE WAY FOR THE LATER EVOLUTION OF THE ZOMBIE AS A CREATURE OF HORROR. HOWEVER, IT WASN’T UNTIL THE 1960S, WITH GEORGE A. ROMERO’S ICONIC NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968), THAT THE ZOMBIE TRULY BEGAN TO TAKE ON ITS FLESH-EATING, APOCALYPTIC FORM. ROMERO’S FILM INTRODUCED THE CONCEPT OF THE "UNDEAD," REANIMATED CORPSES DRIVEN SOLELY BY AN INSATIABLE HUNGER FOR HUMAN FLESH. THIS MARKED A DEPARTURE FROM THE VOODOO ORIGINS, AND INSTEAD OF BEING CONTROLLED BY MAGIC, THESE ZOMBIES WERE MINDLESS, UNSTOPPABLE FORCES OF DESTRUCTION.
ROMERO'S ZOMBIES ALSO BECAME POTENT SYMBOLS, REFLECTING THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CLIMATE OF THE TIME. THE 1960S WERE MARKED BY A SENSE OF SOCIETAL UPHEAVAL, FROM THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT TO THE VIETNAM WAR, AND THE ZOMBIES CAME TO REPRESENT THE MINDLESS CONFORMITY OF MASS CULTURE, CONSUMERISM, AND EVEN THE FEAR OF NUCLEAR ANNIHILATION. AS THE GENRE EXPANDED THROUGH THE LATE 20TH CENTURY, ZOMBIES WERE INCREASINGLY SEEN AS EMBODIMENTS OF SOCIETAL COLLAPSE. THEY BECAME METAPHORS FOR THE FRAGILITY OF CIVILIZATION, REPRESENTING THE BREAKDOWN OF SOCIAL ORDER AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE HUMAN PSYCHE WHEN FACED WITH THE END OF THE WORLD.
THROUGHOUT THE 21ST CENTURY, ZOMBIES CONTINUED TO EVOLVE IN BOTH FORM AND SYMBOLISM. WITH FILMS LIKE 28 DAYS LATER (2002) AND TELEVISION SHOWS LIKE THE WALKING DEAD (2010), ZOMBIES; THE RESPONSE YOU GET WHEN YOU ASK A QUESTION ON THE POLITICS STREAM
