Current mood:	amused
Current music:	Sing Sing - Sing Sing And I

This Zombie Revolution Will Be Televised
As others have posted, the Zombie Lurch was a success. My photos are now posted online here. And I was there to witness the whole thing, from the creative costumes and protest signs, to the reactions from confused, amused and annoyed bystanders. Best of all were the collisions between zombies, socialists handing out copies of the Socialist Worker, and Christian fundamentalists.



(See others' photos here and here). The Capitol was definitely the best place for a zombie protest to begin. That is, after all, where most Madison protests begin. Of course, I was hardly the only one out there to cover the Lurch. Lots of people were there with cameras, even many of the zombies themselves, and I saw a few videocameras – some quite sophisticated. News outlets and I'm guessing the odd student documentarian or two wanted to capture this moment of sheer surreality, even by Madison standards.

At first, the zombies simply gathered in front of the “Forward” statute. They seemed to come from all walks of life. Not surprisingly, probably more college students than anyone else, but there were plenty of middle aged people, and even families. Not all of them were fully acting zombie yet – some causally chatted, and snapped photos of each other. But there seemed to be two leaders – one a woman, who looked to be in her mid-20's, with long dark curly hair. And a fellow who looked like he was dressed like the zombie leader from Land of the Dead. (The former, I noticed, interviewed with Channel 27 when everything wound down, explaining what she took to be the essence of the zombie freedom cause, and dispelling zombie stereotypes such as “All zombies like brains.”) Finally, carrying their signs, and grunting like zombies, and with the occasional shout of “Brains!” the Lurch started in earnest. The two leaders wanted to make this an orderly zombie lurch, so they made sure to keep all the zombies on the sidewalk, so as to not violate traffic laws. Alas, there were no signs urging support of Zomb-Aid, so Chris Martin's efforts may have been in vain.

For the most part, reactions seemed more amused than anything else, which is good. Most people know what Madison is, and that something like this is to be expected. Occasionally, zombies would throw themselves against the windows of restaurants, shops and the Overture Center on the way down State. A few people looked appalled, and I even snapped a photo of two people defiantly trying to ignore the zombies begging for their brains.

Occasionally, there'd be a chant:

“What do we want?”
“Brains!”
“When do we want them?”
“Brains!”

An aside. About halfway through the march, I had the thought that this whole event may indicate that the renaissance in zombie films is now over. Or if not over, to have peaked. If it's become so prominent in the public imagination than an event like this could be possible, it really cannot go any further. The financial disappointment of Romero's own Land of the Dead may be a sign that the moment has indeed passed, perhaps with 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead being the high points. Though I should first see Land of the Dead myself first – I still haven't. This piece from Reason magazine contended, with all seriousness, that Land of the Dead was the most important film of the year, a point Tim Cavanaugh claimed reaffirmed with the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

The March seemed to grow, both in zombies and zombie supporters, as it marched down State. About a third of the way down the street, a firetruck drove by... and then, a cop car. It was then that I saw that two cops were now walking with the group. Hmm. Then, I saw that we had what every protest has these days – counter-protesters. One woman with a sign saying that zombies ate her husband. And a fellow with a sign decrying the nation's lack of zombie preparedness. There were also non-zombie supporters who marched in solidarity. One zombie had a sign reading “Undead and Proud.” The supporters had signs that read “Proud Parents of a Zombie.” Then there were the "fellow travelers." Just as any anti-war protest would be incomplete without someone there to protest in favor of Cuba or Palestine, the zombie protest had a few advocates for mad scientist rights too.

The interaction between the guy who paints full paintings (usually of sci-fi landscapes) with spray paint and the zombies was disappointing – in large part because he ignored them, and tried to stick to his work. But then there's a panhandler (yes, panhandling's illegal on State Street) who's often near State Street Brats – one zombie lurched over toward him, as if he was going to attack him. But he paused, and pulled out some change, dropping it in his cup. The panhandler strikes me as a big druggie, and was likely somewhat stoned when he cheered the zombies on, saying “Can I have some spare brains?” and “You don't need your change anymore!”

Also next to State Street Brats, the socialists I mentioned earlier were there. They were there not only to hand out copies of the Socialist Worker, but to also collect enough signatures to get the Iraq War referendum on the ballot. They seemed a little startled by the zombies at first, but then some laughed. But not all of them were so easy going. I got a photo of a guy urging a zombie to sign his petition and take a SW. Realizing I had just taken his picture, the guy turned to me, and snarled, “Did I give you permission to take my picture? You have to ask people first before you do that!” I wondered if he was a wee bit paranoid, perhaps thinking I was from Zombie Joe McCarthy's office, collecting evidence of socialists being rude to zombies. But not eager to start anything, I apologized, and moved on with the crowd.

Then, we hit campus, and the high point of the trip – Christian fundamentalists standing on the library mall, handing out tracts (no Chick tracts, alas, just crappy text-tracts mostly), holding up signs, and preaching the Word of God. Wow! What a dramatic collision this was going to be, I thought, and boy was I right. Now, the guy in front of the group, the one actually handing out the tracts, had a sense of humor. He laughed, and tried to urge his zombie brothers and sisters to accept Christ, or at least a tract. Unfortunately, the other Christians in his flock really flipped out. Given their likely views of anything connected to Halloween, why wouldn't they?

If you see the photos of that group, what you see are the two or three guys who normally alternate preaching (including a Chinese guy who's English is only marginally better than my German), and one guy holding an accordion – and someone's wife, I assume. She doesn't preach. She normally just stands there, holding a sign. When the zombies first showed up, they confusedly tried to continue their preaching, but when they realized that were in the middle of a zombie onslaught, they changed tactics. As the zombies demanded their brains, the Christians did their best to ignore them by singing “Amazing Grace” and other hymns, to the tune of their accordion. Imagine, if you will, the sound of their singing slightly off-key to accordion music, as dozens of zombies growl and grumble around them. One zombie, I think, tried to “sing” along. One guy had fake blood with him, and he spilled it precariously close to the fundies. The fundies did not look pleased. Man, only in Madison. New York City's got nothing on us.

The denouement came as the zombies finally filed past all the Christians, making their way to Memorial Union. There, at the Rathskellar, the zombies lined up for beer and snacks, and celebrated their successful march for zombie rights.