Monday, July 24, 2017

To George

          By the time this post is actually published a little over a week will have passed since Mr. Romero has left this mortal coil. I imagine that in that time, the internet and its fickle nature will have moved on with their lives.
          However, I still feel it necessary to pen something about just how deeply, and in how many ways George Romero’s work has impacted my memories and the way I have chosen to entertain myself over the years.

          As such, I guess it makes the most sense to start at the beginning. I watched the original black and white version of Night of the Living Dead with my father when I was about twelve years old. It was strange to me, not because he was letting me watch a fairly violent, gory movie at such a young age, but because it was a horror movie. And let’s just say my dad was more a Clint Eastwood than Clive Barker fan. I remember asking, “Is it in color?” in the way a whiny preteen might pose the question.

          I recall sitting in our living room in the house I grew up. Quickly, I was transported to a graveyard in Pennsylvania and within seconds I had forgotten that I might’ve had an issue with black and white films. Immersion was cemented when I heard those words, “They’re coming to get you Barbara…”

          Much like zombie-based pop culture, that was not the last I had heard of George Romero, nor was it the last time he would have an influence on what I was doing with my free time, or my then burgeoning interest in the living dead.

          If I fast forward through time, I can recall countless examples of his influence in media. Everything from video games (Resident Evil) to more movies, Shaun of the Dead, not to mention the countless comics, and books I consumed during my late teens and early twenties. And course, World War Z and The Walking Dead would've never come to pass without Romero! The man even starred in his own game, Call of the Dead as part of the Black Ops zombie franchise!
 
          Honestly, some of what Romero fathered was truly groundbreaking, adding their own mark to zombie lore, others were not much more than a gore fest. But they all had one thing in common; Romero had inspired them all.
         As I grew older, I began to realize that not only did the man invent an entire subgenre based on his work, he also had quite a bit of meaty commentary behind his work, to back up the flesh-eating ghouls that we were seeing on screen. As evidenced by this and other quotable items he's uttered in regard to his filmmaking over the years; "My zombies will never take over the world, because I need the humans. The humans are the ones I dislike the most, and they're where the trouble really lies."
        In conclusion, I think it'd be really easy to say something droll about Mr. Romero such as; "He will rise from the grave and live in infamy." However, I believe the man deserves better than that, and as such, I will simply say: Thanks for the memories. Your legacy has had, and will continue to have, an everlasting reach.
 

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