Night of The Living Dead

Night of The Living Dead is a 1968 timeless American horror film, which was both written and directed by George A. Romero. The moment I first heard that the underlying theme to this black horror film involved zombies, I wasn’t too excited about watching it. The reason being because after I had watched the first episode of the Netflix original “The Walking Dead,” I had told myself that I would never watch another film involving zombies again. Zombies appeared to be quiet grossum and overall disturbing to me. On the other hand, I could sit for days and nights binge watching anything that had the leading role of vampires in it. However, after getting cozied up in bed and making a huge bowl of popcorn for myself, my mindset completely changed when I watched Night of The living Dead. The further along in the film that I got the more intrigued I had become. This wasn’t like any horror film you see today with zombies in it. It had a complete different tone of horror to it. The protagonist Ben, is portrayed through the film as this heroic African American figure who stumbles across a nearby farmhouse. Little did he know, that there was a terrified white women named Barbra who was hiding in the farmhouse as well. Ben quickly takes notice that Barbra is mentally unstable due to being in complete shock. None the less, Ben does everything in his power to protect the both of them from being attacked by the zombies who are hunting them. This film breaks down all social norms when it comes to a black man and a white women being under the same roof together. Black men have had this negative stigma to them in films as being the possible rapists of white women. In the case of the Night of The living Dead, George A. Romero shuts down this stigma attached to black men by showing the protagonist playing a leading heroic role who is trying to protect the white women who he has unexpectedly crossed paths with. He shows kindness, support, and overall a sense of protection. Ben is shown not only fighting to keep himself alive, but those around him as well. One thing that bothered me, was that when Barbra saw Ben she acted as if he was a monster himself due to the color of his skin. Even after showing her that his intentions were pure and he wanted to keep them safe, she still gave the vibe that she was afraid of him when in reality the only thing she should have been afraid of were the zombies outside of the farmhouse. Overall, I really appreciated how George A. Romero portrayed Ben as this heroic character, giving the audience a deeper insight to black horror and shutting down the negativity followed behind certain social norms. I can definitely say that the Night of The living Dead will not be the last horror zombie film that I will watch.