In some ways, writers are an easy audience. Or at least I am. I adore story, drama, and emotion. That’s why I write books. Because I love to create exactly the story, drama, and emotion I want and I do it the “right way,” at least for me. Yeah, it takes effort for me to consider an audience because I know what I want and who cares about anyone else.
So I still have a lot to learn. I used to think story was king. I’m a big fan of Robert McKee, and he says that if you have a good story, other parts of your project can be iffy because people can overlook a lot for a good story.
But now I don’t think story is king. I think it’s the crown prince, though. Who is the king? Emotion. I think people lock onto art because of the emotional impact, or at least I do.
So in The Walking Dead, I think the series gets the emotions right. Yeah, it’s been hammered by critics and bloggers and Chris Devlin (who is awesome by the way) as being completely illogical and ill-planned. Most people call the characters zombie bait.
For example, in the first season, the survivors are camping out during the zombie apocalypse. Their only defense is a bunch of cans on a string. The camp was dubbed Camp Dinner Bell by some people because would you really be out in the open in tents if there was a zombie apocalypse on? Probably not. On the outskirts of Atlanta, there are tons of buildings you could hide in. Like with walls and doors and everything.
Part of me understands the criticism, but mostly, I just don’t care. Why? Because of the emotional impact of the series. It takes the end of the world seriously. It takes zombies seriously. And it might get the logistics wrong, but it gets the emotions just right.
How does it do that? I think the characters are good, the dialogue is good, and the acting is superior. So I am drawn in. So, does that mean characters are more important than story?
Hmm. I’ll have to ponder that because in essence, the emotions come from the characters.
But who am I kidding? It all has to work. I have a friend who says writing novels is like building a table with 23 legs and every one of them has to be measured perfectly. But if I was going to skimp, where would I skimp? What has to be solid? The characters. Emotion trumps story. Or am I showing my age?
When I was fourteen, I would have watched The Walking Dead for the gore and story. Will these people survive the zombie apocalypse? Now I watch it for the characters because I know they will all die. It’s not if they get to the end, because hey, in the zombie genre, everybody dies. It’s not if, it’s the how they do it. What can I learn about being human from their journey?
Oh, I am getting so old. Luckily, men stop maturing at around 14, so I can still enjoy the gore.
“Yeah, it’s been hammered by critics and bloggers and Chris Devlin (who is awesome by the way)”
Aw, thanks!
Myself, I can’t separate story from plot from emotion from characters. It all starts with character. Don’t ask what happens next, ask what the characters do next. Walking Dead failed to do that. They (I think) sat around in the writers room going, “You know what would be SO COOL? If [someone, doesn’t matter who] got trapped [somewhere where there are zombies] and [someone else] got their leg eaten off! Dude, that would rock!”
So they moved the characters around like mindless pawns and didn’t consider having them make any sense or be consistent. It wasn’t the plot that was illogical–it was the writing. I ended up so frustrated by the writing, I gave up after the 3rd episode.
But I don’t think I speak for the majority of viewers or zombie fans. The show is still a huge success, so…writing critique is totally subjective.
Braiiiins…..
I agree that Chris Devlin is awesome. 🙂
But I strongly disagree that the writing is bad in The Walking Dead. I have never been so stressed out (emotional!) watching a TV show. Every episode practically gives me a heart attack. This wouldn’t happen without both excellent writing and excellent acting.
On the other hand, if one were to look at the plot logically…
It is not logical. The reason for this is they’re following the plot of the comic book series, right?
I’m able to go with the flow because humans do not always act logically–especially when they’re being chased by zombies!
I’m going to split the difference on these comments. I agree that The Walking Dead is awesome… for the most part. I love the interactions and I ignore the stupidity of them being outside because its a friggin’ zombie movie. The whole thing is implausible. Dead are rising to eat people. It’s scary good fun. Where would the fun be if everyone was just holed up in a big, fortified building? Even the prison needs a gaping hole in the back to keep things interesting.
The one area I have a problem with is the characters behaving out of character. In one scene Laurie is encouraging Rick to kill Shane. When he does, she loses her mind in anger. That doesn’t make sense. Shane almost raped her in one scene. I’d be pulling out the gun and doing it myself (and I don’t like guns). I really think they made Laurie so pissed at Rick because they saw the tide on social media was against her. So they ramped up on that without considering that the character would never have done that. They were playing to the crowd.
A few things like that have upset me. But again, it’s a zombie movie. And for a zombie movie, it is actually fairly insightful, emotional and full of awesome. The characters are always between a rock and a hard place. I’m not sure I agree that they will all die. I think what makes this show addictive is the glimmer of hope that some of them will survive. That’s why I’m addicted… for the hope.
I agree with Lesley in that people don’t always act logically. When I was 13 my house burned to the ground, but as it was burning, I was told to go grab some clothes. I went in (the unburning side of the house) and picked out 2 pairs of jeans, 2 shirts, 2 pairs of socks, 2 sets of pj’s and grabbed my tooth brush. My step-dad grabbed 2 vacuum cleaners. (We were the Noah’s ark of stuff to grab.) I wrote a story about it a few years later and my teacher said it was unrealistic. People would do that. I said, “Well, we did.” In a situation like that I was in denial I’d lose everything and just figured I’d need to have clothes for a few days until the smoke cleared out. It made sense to me at the time. So to try to guess what is realistic or logical for people being attacked by zombies isn’t fair until you yourself have been attacked by zombies.
Lesley, thanks!
“On the other hand, if one were to look at the plot logically…
It is not logical. The reason for this is they’re following the plot of the comic book series, right?”
Comic books have provided some great writing and characters over the years. Look at Iron Man, the movie. Excellent writing and not at all cardboard characters. Or Spiderman. Some of the Batman movies…. Yes, Walking Dead is based on a comic, but that doesn’t mean the characters have to be jerked around to suit the plot.
Tamela,
“The whole thing is implausible. Dead are rising to eat people. It’s scary good fun. Where would the fun be if everyone was just holed up in a big, fortified building?”
I totally agree with this and in the case where a sci-fi/supernatural/horror story has great, CONSISTENT characters, I can overlook a lot. (I think one of the reason my friends and I sat around bashing the crazy amounts of scientific and biological inaccuracies in Prometheus was because they didn’t give us any characters to care about.)
“The one area I have a problem with is the characters behaving out of character.”
Yeah, this is my point. I didn’t feel like I even knew the characters because the writers were so willing to change them drastically so they would go do this thing that didn’t make any sense for them so they could get to the cool zombie gore sooner. Plus, I didn’t really care about any of them in the first place. I sort of cared about Rick, but for the most part, I was rooting for the zombies.
It would be so much more admirable if the writers wouldn’t take the easy way out and would really give themselves a challenge. Have the characters be holed up in a fortified building and STILL have to save themselves from nearly being killed. I thought it would be cool, to explain the complete lack of guns in Atlanta that plagued the beginning of the series, if something happened to metal in the wake of the zombie apocalypse. What if you had to fight zombies without using guns?
Zombie stories that did it much better:
Night of the Living Dead
Shaun of the Dead
28 Days Later (They made zombies fast!)
Dawn of the Dead (Zac Snyder remake)
I know this is blasphemy, but I don’t really care for the zombies. For me they are just a tool that creates drama. What I like is how each individual deals with the zombies. The havoc that the constant threat of being eaten alive or being bitten and coming back as one wrecks on an individual’s mind. In the latest episode, Rick is literally confronted with his future if he doesn’t bring himself out of his delusional state about Lori. I loved the phone calls in the earlier episodes. I’ve been disappointed with the Governor. I just thought there would be more to that. I find him boring at this point. TWD is a show that can appeal to a wide audience.
Now, what I would like to know is why the show keeps tossing the creative minds aside who came up with the show….
Love this comment! House is burning, step-dad grabs two vaccuum cleaners. Not one, but two. As far as the other arguing, well, I’ve already said my piece. Or is that peace? No, zombies, I’ve already said my…
braaaaiiiinnnnnssss.
I like zombies because of the whole, we-are-meat-gore aspect. No soul, just hungry meat. And I think part of the zombie genre is that everyone dies. In the original by George A Romero, the hero, who was brilliant African American man, did everything right and was still zombie dinner.
There is no getting out of life alive. And when we are dead? Do the dead feed on the living? My grandmother is dead, and yet she still chews on my mom. So yeah, the dead can feed on the living in a very real way. Ghosts are real, as real as the legacy of mental illness that some people leave behind.
I’ve given up on it. Not because of the writing or lack of emotion but because I HATE ALL THE CHARACTERS (except for Daryl).
I hope they all die soon and the show goes away. I hope Carl goes first, and then his stupid, insane, overly-emotional father goes next. Then the blonde chick. She’s dumber than a post. Honestly. I hate them all. Zombie bait, indeed. It’s all they’re good for.
Gotta admit. I watch the show for Daryl. And the self-hating abused wife who loves him. There, I said. That Betsy Dornbusch can get me to admit the darndest things.
“I like zombies because of the whole, we-are-meat-gore aspect. No soul, just hungry meat. And I think part of the zombie genre is that everyone dies. In the original by George A Romero, the hero, who was brilliant African American man, did everything right and was still zombie dinner.”
From Joss Whedon, Comic Con 2013: ““They’ve become fodder, you can mow them down and it’s OK. In the 80s, it was foreigners,” Whedon joked, adding he wanted to investigate, “Not taking the easy way out,” with zombies.”
Also, just to cross t’s and dot i’s, the hero in Night of the Living Dead was shot dead by the sheriff, he didn’t become zombie food.
Chris Devlin, I stand corrected.
And love that Joss Whedon, but WARM BODIES, while I liked, didn’t really warm my heart to the whole, “zombies are people too”, thing. Zombies eat your brains. Period. Kill them before they do.