The Walking Dead TV Series Analysis (Rough Draft)

A television show series that has for a while been of my interest is “The Walking Dead.” Based off of the 2003 black and white comic book series  “The Walking Dead” by the author Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard, this tv series has gained excellent ratings since its first premiered on on October 31, 2010 cable AMC channel. This television series revolves around the plot of events occurring after a zombie apocalypse has occurred. The interesting thing that sets apart this  tv series from any ordinary zombie apocalypse movie or other show is because instead of focusing only on the main idea of survival against the large hoards of zombies, “The Walking Dead” TV series focuses on the elements of emotions and relations.

                                           Originally rated for the viewers to be “TV-14,” the demographics for the audience is “18-49” year olds.  The targeted audience of “The Walking Dead” series can be basically anyone who enjoys zombie flicks or, as a matter of fact, it can be for anyone who enjoys gore.

                                           Analyzing particular episodes and analyzing characters within this series, you can get a better idea of the values or beliefs that this series wants to present. In the first season of the series you find a redneck character named Merle. Merle is seen as a very tough character in this series. We see him being this figure who “doesn’t beg” in front of anyone or in fact even God. In a particular episode, when chained on top of the rooftop, Merle takes the situation into his own hands and saws off his own hand in order to survive from the zombies that were coming towards him. He has this hard shelled personality in him that seeks no help from mankind or God. Further into the series, Merle had also become a villain. Despite Merle being portrayed as someone who was a “bad guy” from the start; by going on a suicide mission in order to kill the Governer, Merle proved the thory that even a bad guy can become a good guy at the end. This character appeals to the audiences who have also had a rough childhood and feel helpless to their own situation. They can change for the better.

                                           Another concept that “The Walking Dead” series examines is the concept of racism. This again is seen through the character of Merle. In the first season, we see T-Dog, the sole African American character in the majority surviving group of white people.  Merle in particular detests T-Dog because he is not white.  The concept of racism is seen when Merle constantly makes T-Dog feel inferior by ordering him around and using the term “nigger.” Later , when T-Dog and Merle got into an argument, you see Merle beat T-Dog and spit on his face. Rick then takes control of the situation by cuffing Merle to the rooftop telling T-Dog to watch over him. When the sudden outbreak of zombies is released and everyone was trying to escape, despite Merle’s attitude towards T-Dog, T-Dog attempted to save Merle. This shows the value that despite the racism that Merle showed towards T-Dog, there was still humanity in him to attempt to save Merle.

                                           The values in the Walking Dead surface when you start to looks into the relationships of the survivors during the crisis of the zombie apocalypse. A particular relation that spawned from the series was of Carol’s. She represents the figure of a perfect wife. Her husband Ed, is a individual who likes to have authority. Carol’s marriage with Ed gives him the authority he wants by him constantly pushing around Carol. For instance, there was this one episode, where Carol was washing the laundry with other two female characters of the series and when she began to open up and joke around with the other two females. This catches Ed’s attention and he tells the ladies to stop conversing and wash the laundry properly. This upsets one of the females who reacts by talking back to Ed. This angers Ed and he tells Carol to come with him. When Carol refuses to do so, this in effect leads to Ed slapping Carol on the face. The by standing character Shayne in response, starts to beat up Ed for his behavior. At the end, Carol still tends to her beaten husband. Throughout the series, you notice that the relation between Ed and Carol is abusive. Regardless the abuse, she still cares for him. In the series, we see Carol cowering in front of Ed but once Ed had died she became more of a braver woman who could stand her ground. The relation with Ed was limiting her and she became a victim of battered wife syndrome. She was so dependent on her husband, that she became entirely submissive.  This uncovers the belief that woman have when they stay in an abusive relation. They think that the abusive husband will change when in fact the woman has changed herself.