Why Most Zombie Movies Overlook Essential Urban Survival Strategies

While watching The Walking Dead the other night, I couldn't help but wonder about the unexplored elements that most zombie movies seem to ignore. Buildings, houses, and all the urban infrastructure present in the world, yet characters consistently forget to take full advantage of them by building in cities or urban areas. Instead, they often venture into the wilderness, like building Hilltop or Alexandria. Why not fortify a few streets downtown, install a generator, and build high-rise apartments to survive in the coming years?

This scenario becomes even more perplexing considering that it has been 20 years since the apocalypse, and any potential zombies would have already become undead. Yet, raiders and scavengers still engage in their activities in the countryside. This raises questions about why there are still essentials like canned food and medical supplies around. It is highly unlikely that these items would last as long as the 20 years one might imagine the zombie apocalypse lasting.

Urban Survival: A Misunderstood Facet of Zombie Survival

While it can make for better television, the absence of urbanization and infrastructure in zombie movies doesn't solve the bigger problem. Characters in these films need to develop believable reasons for why they struggle with basic construction skills or why they have no idea how to operate everyday machinery like concrete pumping trucks. Folding sheets of scrap metal and using nails to construct buildings seems highly impractical in the context of a zombie apocalypse.

The Reality of Urban Survival

It's important to understand that the tenacity of living organisms in a post-apocalyptic world is not only about human beings reducing the zombie population. Predatory animals, as well, would pose a significant threat, particularly to the living survivors. Creatures that have persisted for centuries in a harsh environment would easily outlast and overcome a mindless, disease-ridden zombie horde.

The intelligence level of zombies, which is supposed to be functionally nonexistent, would make them an easy target for both humans and nature itself. A real zombie apocalypse would be more of a short-term event, akin to a flu pandemic. The biting method of zombie infection is highly inefficient, making it unlikely that the disease would spread as quickly or drastically as portrayed in movies and TV shows. Moreover, zombies would likely be immobile within days, due to the effects of sun exposure, freezing, or decay.

The Bottom Line: Realistic Survival Strategies

In conclusion, while zombie movies frequently delve into the excitement and conflict of scavenging and battling zombies, they often overlook critical urban survival strategies. Building in cities, utilizing urban infrastructure, and managing medical supplies would be far more effective in a real-world zombie apocalypse. This emphasis on urban survival would not only improve the realism of these stories but also provide a more practical blueprint for readers and viewers to follow.

Key Takeaways:

Urban infrastructure is often underutilized in zombie movies. Buildings and urban locations could provide better protection and resources. Predatory animals and other natural factors also pose significant threats to survivors. The portrayal of long-term survival in zombie movies is drastically unrealistic.

By acknowledging and addressing these issues, zombie literature and cinematography can better reflect the true challenges of surviving such an extreme scenario.