Article
Thunder without Rain: Fascist Maculinity in AMC's The Walking Dead
Horror Studies
(2016)
Abstract
In this article, I offer a critique of the five seasons of the television series The Walking Dead broadcast to date (2010–2015). As the popularity of this show continues to rise, many viewers have demonstrated a willingness to praise TWD without carefully examining its narrative commitments to violence or to attack media critics who point out negative elements at work. My critique contends that the series is decidedly fascistic in nature, and celebratory of fascist masculinity as the key to surviving an apocalyptic situation. I analyze the show through a comparison with the literature of the Freikorps as detailed by Klaus Theweleit’s study of fascism, Male Fantasies. I examine in detail the prevalence of the ‘soldier male’ in TWD, the limited roles for women, and the representation of the ghoulish undead, drawing upon Theweleit and related scholarship on fascist aesthetics.
Keywords
- fascism,
- masculinity,
- Male Fantasies,
- ghouls,
- critique,
- The Walking Dead
Disciplines
Publication Date
April, 2016
Citation Information
Stephen Olbrys Gencarella. "Thunder without Rain: Fascist Maculinity in AMC's The Walking Dead" Horror Studies Vol. 7 Iss. 1 (2016) p. 125 - 146 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/stephen_gencarella/3/