Cristina Cifuentes
RWS200-10
Professor Nelson
28 March 2014
Night Of the Living Dead vs. Resident Evil For years women have suffered to be seen as equals to men. They fought for the rights to vote, to work in the same fields as men, and over all be seen as a human just as strong and capable as any man. In the Night of the Living Dead, George A. Romero argues that although women have the capability of being equal to men, they are controlled by their emotions and therefore are inferior to men. On the other hand, Paul W. S. Anderson director of Resident Evil, argues that woman are controlled by emotions but it does not make them inferior to men, instead he argues that although women have emotional attachments, they are not weak and incapable, rather they can be the hero and survivor. Although both directors are able to make multiple claims through the lense of gender roles in their films, they differ slightly from each other and send different messages. I will analyze how Anderson’s film modifies and contradicts the claims made in Romero’s film. In the Night of the Living Dead (NLD), George A. Romero introduces the idea of women being useless in a zombie attack because of their emotional attachments overwhelming them. Romero claims women are controlled by their emotions and cannot contribute to their own survival. In NLD, Romero introduces the lead actress, Barbara who becomes traumatized after witnessing her brother murdered by a zombie. Once she finds shelter, she seems to have completely lost her mind. A man, Ben who has taken shelter in the same house takes care of her while she acts out and stares absent-mindedly at walls. She does not help at all in the boarding of the house, protecting the house, or contributing to the discussion of a plan to survive. Romero is not the only one to provide a distressed and confused lead actress in a zombie horror film. Paul W. S. Anderson, in his first Resident Evil film begins his plot with a woman, Alice, who wakes up confused suffering from nerve gas and has no idea who she is. A team of agents for Umbrella Corporation, which she quickly learns is where she also works, captures her. She has to fight off zombies with no memory of who she is or what she is fighting for other than her life. Anderson changes the view Romero originally built about women and to a new and improved view. Anderson modifies Romero’s claim that women are confused and useless when they are in a zombie attack, by having Alice begin by being confused and useless, but by eventually figuring out who she is and realizing what is happening, she begins to fend off zombies and help her team makes make their way to safety. She trusts her instincts on knowing how to fight and defend herself, while she still does not remember who she is. As Resident Evil progresses Alice is no longer useless, but instead is the one who saves the most lives and is the strongest soldier on the team. By making Romero’s claim less extreme, Anderson portrays women as not entirely useless. Anderson claims that although women can be overwhelmed by their emotions, they are capable of taking their control back and are completely capable of surviving a zombie attack. Anderson’s audience is able to see that Alice’s personality is strong enough to overcome her emotions and fight for her life, where Barbara was mentally weak and did not have the desire to fight. By making a new interpretation of women, more people are likely to enjoy this movie because of the strong female roles. Many women would watch Night of the Living Dead today and complain about women being portrayed as too weak and useless. With Resident Evil women are happy to see a strong female role. Not only does Romero portray woman as being completely useless, but he also illuminates how women make rash decisions which leads to their death. In the NLD film, Romero shows the women act on instinct and not follow the group’s plan. By doing this the women put