La Moretta

Warning! They are here!

I wish I knew how to embed a video clip, but I haven't had the chance to learn. So I must strongly urge you to click here.

http://jalopnik.com/5141930/we-told-you-not-to-hack-the-electronic-road-signs-didnt-we

Negotiating with zombies is not an option

One of the trends I've seen in monster/sci-fi films for a while is the presence of newfound shades of gray. In almost all of the major hits, we've seen that the bad guys aren't always so bad -- in fact, sometimes it's revealed that the humans are the ones who are lacking humanity. A few examples of this are:

• Battlestar Galactica -- In addition to being uniformly great-looking, many of the Cylons are morally conflicted and some of them are highly spiritual. They are also the real romantics in the show, although their definition of romance does not include monogamy. One Cylon is so madly in love with a human female that he kidnaps her and dedicates himself to winning her heart, even though it means that she will kill him repeatedly in the process. (He's my fave -- Leoben.)
• I am Legend -- The humanoid monsters have loyalty to each other, and it begins to become clear that whatever these former humans have become, they are not without feeling. In contrast, Will Smith's character has become emotionally flattened and odd due to his isolation from other humans.
• True Blood -- Campfest though it is, the vampires are a mixed bag of frosty-cold goodness and comic-book evil, just like the humans are driven by both their baser desires and their higher impulses. 
• Even in Land of the Dead, the zombies are beginning to have loyalty to other zombies and to organize. It is suggested at the end of the film that there might be a way to co-exist, although some people see that as unrealistic.

It's fitting that these more nuanced "bad guys" have emerged at the end of a time when so much of our public discourse has involved depicting issues in extremes, as good or evil.