{"id":11551,"date":"2025-03-07T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/?page_id=11551"},"modified":"2025-03-13T12:59:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T16:59:21","slug":"scifimarch13","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/scifi2025\/scifimarch13\/","title":{"rendered":"March 13th: Zone One (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Plan for the Day<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Midterm Exam<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consumption Satire<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Zombies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/scifi2025\/scifimarch13\/zone-one-friday\/\">Colson Whitehead&#8217;s <em>Zone One<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you read ahead, awesome! But let&#8217;s keep the discussion to the first 100 pages or maybe all of the &#8220;Friday&#8221; section (pp. 1-128). I want to foreground the discussion on Zombies and capitalism, specifically consumption. We&#8217;ve touched on this already, and you might have come across a webpage on my vast website of great resources, but I&#8217;ll adapt that here. If all goes according to plan, I have a video we can watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Consumption Satire<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Consumption is a major component of the base in capitalism. One criticism of media is that it influences or at least projects the need to consume in order for us to feel good or just normal. The Zombie films are texts that deliberately poke fun at conventions or practices that a society has. Poking fun at behaviors through media or literature is called satire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, our culture loves to consume things\u2013products, food, oil, BS, etc. We are provided opportunities to devour resources and buy our way to happiness. Unfortunately, we sometimes don\u2019t live within our means as&nbsp;<strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/splendad.com\/ads\/show\/446-Nationwide-MC-Hammer\" target=\"_blank\">this Nationwide commercial<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;points out. Consumers, which could be synonymous with \u201ccitizens,\u201d in America have&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/research.stlouisfed.org\/fred2\/series\/PSAVERT\" target=\"_blank\">an extremely low savings rate<\/a>, which means we spend almost as much as we make as an aggregate. This rate shot up during the pandemic, but it&#8217;s returned to around 4%. To satirize the blind, destructive consumption in which citizens engage, zombies are shown in movies, video games, etc. as eating people. Well, there are&nbsp;<em>zombies<\/em>&nbsp;all over the place in real life\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Important Points about Consumption<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Media influences people to buy into concepts. What we\u2019ve noticed is that, as a culture of excess, our \u201cbasic\u201d needs have been met\u2013food, clothing, shelter\u2013so we are free to pursue leisure activities. While that can mean a trip to the mountains or the beach or Mickey\u2019s House, leisure can be product based: we consume products that make us feel good, and commercials reinforce those good feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s bizarre in our economic system is that our base\u2013\u201cthe economic means of production within a society\u201d (Bressler, p. 193)\u2013pushes us to spend beyond our means. In order to drive the economy, we have to purchase consumer goods. What we see with the excess\u2013buffets, shoes, video games, hi-tech gadgets\u2013is that we over consume and are drawn to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, media consumption begets media consumption. Think about the \u201crole\u201d of the news media surrounding events like movies openings, Black Friday\/Zombie Bride shopping, iPhone releases, etc. Those events get covered for us by the news media\u2026they are \u201cnews\u201d items. As Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi tell us, TV and other media are powerfully attractive \u201csubstances,\u201d and viewers experience feelings of guilt when they feel they watch too much, and those feelings are different depending on class (para. 12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Zombies at the Mall and Black Friday Shoppers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Look at the two images below. I don\u2019t know how much more obvious to make the argument\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2020\/06\/ToscanoAaron_Figure6-1_DawnDead1978_001.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"944\" height=\"602\" src=\"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2020\/06\/ToscanoAaron_Figure6-1_DawnDead1978_001.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6618\" style=\"width:708px;height:452px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2020\/06\/ToscanoAaron_Figure6-1_DawnDead1978_001.jpg 944w, http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2020\/06\/ToscanoAaron_Figure6-1_DawnDead1978_001-300x191.jpg 300w, http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2020\/06\/ToscanoAaron_Figure6-1_DawnDead1978_001-768x490.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 944px) 100vw, 944px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em><small>Dawn of the Dead<\/small><\/em><small>, directed by George Romero, (1978; United Film Distribution Company, 2004) DVD.<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2023\/10\/ToscanoAaron_Figure6-2_ParrishRichard-LimaNews_BlackFriday_300dpi.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1013\" height=\"600\" src=\"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2023\/10\/ToscanoAaron_Figure6-2_ParrishRichard-LimaNews_BlackFriday_300dpi.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10245\" style=\"width:760px;height:450px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2023\/10\/ToscanoAaron_Figure6-2_ParrishRichard-LimaNews_BlackFriday_300dpi.jpg 1013w, http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2023\/10\/ToscanoAaron_Figure6-2_ParrishRichard-LimaNews_BlackFriday_300dpi-300x178.jpg 300w, http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/121\/2023\/10\/ToscanoAaron_Figure6-2_ParrishRichard-LimaNews_BlackFriday_300dpi-768x455.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1013px) 100vw, 1013px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><small>&#8220;Shoppers hungry for Black Friday deals this Thanksgiving.&#8221; Photograph from&nbsp;<em>The Lima News<\/em>&nbsp;(22 Nov. 2018). Copyright (C) 2018, Richard Parrish.<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Colson Whitehead&#8217;s<\/strong> <em>Zone One<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of having a list of quotations, I&#8217;d like you to think about the following in relation to the first 100 pages or so of the novel. Consider comparing this narrative to other zombie texts you&#8217;re familiar with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Consumption (probably already did this)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Work (jobs)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>fulfillment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>games played (pp. 100-101)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>School<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/place\/Manhattan,+New+York,+NY\/@40.7894843,-74.017849,11.71z\/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x89c2588f046ee661:0xa0b3281fcecc08c!8m2!3d40.7830603!4d-73.9712488!16zL20vMGNjNTY?entry=ttu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Manhattan<\/a><\/strong>, New York City, New York<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Anti-terrorism planters (p. 94)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What&#8217;s his beef with Connecticut?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fl%C3%A2neur\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fl\u00e2neur<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Note on Architecture in Postmodernity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Fredric Jameson sees it as aspiring to \u201ca total space, a complete word, a miniature city\u201d (p. 40).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Generate multi-layered spaces for inhabitants<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Often structures will help users (consumers) have a totalizing experience (Mall, Towne Centre, Vegas Casino, etc.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robert_Venturi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Robert Venturi\u2019s<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;Learning from Las Vegas discusses Vegas Casinos\u2019 attempt to be a totalizing experience<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Familiarity across distances (McDonald\u2019s in Charlotte is the same in LA)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Next Class<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Continue reading Colson Whitehead&#8217;s <em>Zone One<\/em>. We&#8217;ll finish &#8220;Friday&#8221; and move onto &#8220;Saturday&#8221; and &#8220;Sunday&#8221; next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p>Works Cited<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bressler, Charles E.&nbsp;<em>Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice<\/em>. (4th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kubey, Robert and Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. \u201cTelevision Addiction is No Mere Metaphor.\u201d <em>Scientific American<\/em> 286.2 Feb. 2002. 74-80. <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/television-addiction-is-n-2004-01\/\" target=\"_blank\">{Currently behind a pay wall.}<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marx, Karl and Engels, Friedrich. \u201cThe Ruling Class and the Ruling Ideas.\u201d <em>Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks<\/em>. Eds. Meenakshi Gigi Durham and Douglas M. Keller. Trans. Richard Dixon et. al. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001. 39-42.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plan for the Day If you read ahead, awesome! But let&#8217;s keep the discussion to the first 100 pages or maybe all of the &#8220;Friday&#8221; section (pp. 1-128). I want to foreground the discussion on Zombies and capitalism, specifically consumption. We&#8217;ve touched on this already, and you might have come across a webpage on my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":598,"featured_media":0,"parent":11366,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11551","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P2HAOx-30j","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/598"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11551"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11564,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11551\/revisions\/11564"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/aaron-toscano\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}