Friday, September 28, 2012

Reflection: Mythology in Everyday Life

    Mythology has never ceased to interest me. It is the center point of all cultures and despite modern lives becoming more secular, it can be seen in pop-culture world wide. It's attempts at demystifying creationism and death are both varied yet inter connective. These questions have been with man kind from the beginning and no matter what region of the earth you are from, you are culturally soaked in ideas and myths that reflect your beliefs. There are many examples of how these mythologies still exist and have even been commodified in popular culture. One of particular interest is our love of the flesh eating undead.
    According to Wikipedia, the zombie origin is from an African descent associated with voodoo practice. This myth was eventually popularized in the 60's thanks to George A. Romero's terrifying films and still holds relevance today. AMC's the Walking Dead is a cultural phenomenon. It's popularity as a comic has spun off into a television show, video game, and theme park attraction. Why we are so attracted to the idea of our loved ones coming back to rip us to shreds and eat our flesh needs a lot of research from both a sociological and semiotic approach, but one thing is sure, this mythology about life after death has existed for years and doesn't seem to be dying fast (No pun intended).
   There is no escape from mythology. They are the most important stories we have to share, and one could even argue that all stories stem from some sort of mythology. All you have to do is look at the cover of a movie or record and you will see connections to mythologies thousands of years old. Every death metal album cover is caked in blood and features the demonic image of some satanic figure or another. We are steeped in myths no matter where we go.

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