Yoonji Huh
Seoul International School
Abstract
This essay explores the evolution of the zombie figure in cinema as a reflection of shifting power dynamics between the oppressor and the oppressed. From early twentieth-century portrayals rooted in slavery and subjugation to modern representations embodying chaos and rebellion, zombies have mirrored changing social anxieties and hierarchies. The analysis focuses on Miss Zombie (Sabu, 2013) and Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968), two films that reinterpret the zombie trope to critique societal norms and moral boundaries. The essay argues that cinematic zombies serve as allegories for human exploitation, loss of autonomy, and the cyclical struggle between dominance and submission. Through aesthetic, narrative, and symbolic shifts, zombie cinema reveals how power continuously reshapes itself—reminding viewers that the monstrous often resides not in the undead, but within the structures that seek to dominate them.
