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Vaughn P. Patania's avatar

For me the most interesting aspect of apocalyptic horror fiction is the response and recovery...providing the apocalypse is a credible one that allows for the possibility of human survival and eventual recovery (for instance a massive planetoid strike that reduces the whole surface of the planet to molten magma would be right out). That's why - as an example - although "The Road" struck a cord with me emotionally - I could not fully engage with the characters and their situation because I didn't understand what had brought their world low and why - years, apparently, after the triggering event - this situation for survivors was still so primitive and desperate. Same with the generally execrable "Walking Dead" universe of stories where the characters never did seem to learn how to overcome the issues of their new normal and spent a lot of time flailing uselessly about. Did the zombie virus preferentially kill anyone with an IQ over 90?

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Statichaze's avatar

I've been in the headspace of a much more critical discussion of World War Z. You're not wrong with it's unique mechanical-narrative framing being a boon for cinema if replicated. That doesn't take away it's politics which is to put it mildly is a time capsule fusion of 2000's liberalism and 'reformist' doctrine. This to my mind makes "How are we going to adapt Yonkers and the Redeker plan?" a bigger question to ask any future adaptation rather than the ones you've already answered in this article.

To get back to the main topic: This considerations and discussion with more neutral space does lean me more towards the mini-series. The differences in research and locational negation should provide more peer review and updating on it's politics. My only nitpick is that the adaptation should have a mixture of hi-fi/lo-fi presentation distinct from the Burns style to both preserve the post-apocalyptic with new tech of the setting and the context of the interviewing breaking this work into it's own out of a neutral goverment report.

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