You would think George A. Romero would be a perfect fit for ‘The Walking Dead.” The horror legend basically gave birth to the genre alongside John Russo with “Night of the Living Dead” and has had a hand in television production before with series like the recently undead “Tales From The Darkside.” What could go wrong?
That’s why I was shocked to read he turned down offers to work on the AMC ratings juggernaut and isn’t very fond of the series, according to /Film:
It feels like I don’t have a horse in the race. They asked me to do a couple of episodes of The Walking Dead but I didn’t want to be a part of it. Basically it’s just a soap opera with a zombie occasionally. I always used the zombie as a character for satire or a political criticism and I find that missing in what’s happening now.
I’ll give him that, it is basically a soap opera. And most of these current serial dramas are big budget soap operas, like ‘Sons Of Anarchy’ with its twists, turns and nose-flaring storylines. But then he turns around and says this:
Once they bleed out of pop culture I’ll be able to go back and do them again. I don’t want to touch them now. Gosh, they are all over the place. ‘The Walking Dead‘ is the number one television series in the States, World War Z, games, commercials… Ugh! It’s too much!
I feel a little odd calling a 73-year-old, master of his craft and hero to millions everywhere a hipster, but that’s what I’m gonna do. He sounds like a hipster.
“Oh zombies are too mainstream right now. I was into zombies way before they were even in the public eye and they meant something then. I’m totally into writing zombie comics that allude to the 2009 financial crisis now.” And then he whips his ponytail about.
If he’s not a hipster then that’s some of the strangest old man talk you’ll ever hear. There’s really no way to tell the difference between the two though, they both inhabit Denny’s at various times throughout a day and wear the same clothing. I’m no expert though being a Waffle House man myself because deep down, I’m trash and I know it.
I’ll agree that the zombie genre is over-saturated at the moment and taking a step back isn’t the worst thing he could be doing. But at the same time, he could help really lead the voice of where the genre should be going instead of letting dung like “World War Z” infest theaters. I would love a little Romero injected into the character driven melodrama of ‘The Walking Dead.’
Via gettyimages
