George Romero
- You may be looking for Romero and not even know it!
George A. Romero is a New York born Zombie Rights advocate and practicing necromancer based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While he himself is not a zombie, he has been influential in advancing the zombie civil rights fight through his writings and documentary films. He is also noted for his violent rivalry with militant human rights activists based out of Italy. Some of these activists include Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Born in New York, New York in February of 1910 to parents that believed in tolerance of all races and classes. When he was a very young boy his family fell on hard times when his father lost his job as a New York City bus driver to cheap zombie labor. His father though, was not upset with the zombie about losing his job because he felt the replacement "was just trying to make an unliving".
While attending college at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, young George met and fell in love with Nancy, a young zombie coed majoring in Culinary Arts. The two were inseparable and married shortly thereafter. Unfortunately their love was shortlived, as the marriage ended only seven years later due to irreconcilable differences. But it was during this time that George began to see how people treated zombies and those that are in their company. On several occasions, while out with his wife they were chased by a mob of people with pitchforks and torches, and even when he was alone, he was constantly called names such as 'zombie-lover' and 'braineater' by his peers. This unfair treatment led him to make his first documentary called "Night of the Living Dead" (1968)
Documentary Films[edit | edit source]
Night of the Living Dead (1968) Night of the Living Dead was about the mistreatment of zombies at the hands of humans and the Zombie Rights Riot of 1965 in rural PA. Interposed with actual newscasts of the 60's this film opened many an eye to the plight of the zombies. But unfortunately many Homo-Sapiens Superiors also use this as a training film and to show that man's fight against the undead is not an impossible one. Romero is said to have been appalled that this extremist group is using his film in such a manner.
Season of the Witch (1971) Also known as Hungry Wives or George's Wife, this film (Romero's 3rd in the genre) documents the events ensuing after Romero's first wife Carrie Gump received a bite during the making of his previous zombie-massacre documentary, The Dead Taste Like Vanilla. In it, George gets into a dangerous battle against his film crew in order to protect his dead wife, who had begun trying to bite George and his crew. George knocks her out of a third-story window to prevent her from receiving any head-shots. A small zombie-outbreak then takes place at the street level, where Romero and his backup film crew go on to document the cruel and inhuman treatment of the zombies by locals. The team also captured the dangerous rescue of George's wife from the designs of the townsfolk and the primary film crew (which included KKK Wizard Charlton Heston).
George's Wife received several awards and remains one of Romero's best known and best loved film documentaries. He also for this film received a medal of honor for his courageousness as a journalist. Romero later renamed and remarried his wife in 1981.
O.J. Simpson: Juice on the Loose (1974) This film is about the famed zombie hunter O.J. Simpson who killed his own wife and her "friend" with nothing but a knife when they turned into zombies and tried to eat his children. Mr. Simpson has long claimed that he is not responsible for the deaths of any zombie whatsoever let alone those of his wife and her friend. The government though, has leaked that he has been instrumental in exterminating nearly 400 zombies.
Dawn of the Dead (1978) This documentary was hugely successful in showing the horrors at a local PA shopping mall where over 150 zombies out shopping during the Christmas holiday of 1978, lost their lives due to widespread panic where zombies were thought responsible for the disappearance of an 8 year old boy, who was later found in a toy store playing with Star Wars action figures.
Day of the Dead (1985) This film details the experiments done on zombies by the United States Army in one of their secret research facilities and the mutiny that tried to save them and make good their escape. It should be noted however, that this film was called a hoax by the U.S. government upon its release in 1985, although, some believe this to be a cover-up, as the filmmakers have stated many times that they risked their lives to obtain this footage only because they wanted to get the message of zombie brutality out into the public.......and to see some boobies...but hey...don't we all?
Bambi (1991) Probably the most terrifying and thought-provoking film ever made by Mr. Romero, it gives an interesting insight into the deer psyche and what might drive a hunter to shoot them. Oh yeah. It has a rabbit in it who has a terrible attitude toward female rabbits and steals vodka. This character continues to draw cutting remarks from the elusive current Papal Advisor and Empress of the United States, Sinead O'Connor, and other hard core militant child-molesting lesbians. "A film without zombies should not portray alcoholism unless it encourages a kind of, pedophilia subliminally," stated O'Connor in a 1997 Headbanger's Ball interview. She went on to quote biblical passages to show how Romero and the video stores are going to be fucked on judgement day (December 2012) unless they remake the film with zombies and beg forgiveness.
Land of the Dead (2005) This excursion by Romero, back into documentary film 20 years after the last, details the human separatist movement's fight against zombies and their walled, heavily fortified city of Pittsburgh, and its capital, Fiddler's Green. This film is considered by many to be a classic showcase of panic stricken humans killing the scores of zombie goodwill ambassadors led by Big Daddy who, the film clearly shows, were just trying to be granted an audience with the humans to discuss fair treatment and cohabitation of the surrounding area. The separatists claimed that they thought Big Daddy was the reputedly un-dead Martin Luther King, Jr. and that they were only reacting as any group in a position of leadership ought to. The separatists were however redeemed when one small band of them opened the gates of the city and fled to the north with their new allies, setting off fireworks on their way as a celebration of liberty.
Fiction Films[edit | edit source]
A lot of Romero's fiction films are collaborations with his long time friend Stephen King.
There's Always Vanilla (1971) - This movie came about when he and his wife were on honeymoon in Venice and she ordered a dinner of roasted entrails in brain sauce for them to share, when the dinner came Romero couldn't bring himself to eat it and asked his wife what he should do, to which she replied that "there's always Vanilla", referring to the dessert that came with the entree, vanilla ice cream. He ate them together and got the idea for his second documentary film, The Dead Taste Like Vanilla (1971).
The Crazies (1973) - A documentary which explains the roots of the eventual election of U.S. Senator Rick Santorum.
Hungry Wives/George's Wife (rel. 1973) Some critics claim that this film is actually fictional and made as a slimy but successful attempt to win awards in the documentary category and to popularize Romero as a philanthropic hero. They point to the unlikelihood that the director would have had a back-up film crew with more loyalty to "King George" than the primary one. (see Season of the Witch, above)
Martin (1977) - A fictional movie based on a true acquaintance of Romero's named Martin Alucard. In the film Martin is a self styled Vampire, who drinks the blood of the living. The real Martin is believed to have been a vampire by many and was seldom seen in the daytime. When he was asked about the vampire myth, he stated that he just likes to party at night and sleep during the day. In the end, is shown that he´s just an emo freak that believes he´s a vampire.
Knightriders (1981) - This movie was the basis for the television series Knight Rider. In the big screen version, Michael Knight is the dean of a school for spies that have talking cars as partners that assist them in solving crimes and investigating mysterious happenings. The picture won several awards for outstanding comedy of the year. (Note: The telepath chick from "Babylon Five" gets naked in it...worth a look)
Creepshow 2 (1987) - This movie was made after Mr. Romero and acclaimed horror novelist Stephen King became friends and decided to work on the relationship between humans and other misunderstood peoples. Apparently, King had already wrote a book with many stories along these lines, but just hadn't been able to get a movie made about it to get the broad audience he wanted until he met George.
Monkey Shines (1988)
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)
The Dark Half (1993)
Bruiser (2000)
Writings[edit | edit source]
Mr. Romero has also written many essays on the peaceful coexistence of zombie and human kind.
I Too, Have a Dream — this essay is basically a reworking of an earlier speech by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King detailing Romero's hope that one day man and zombie can be friends without any public backlash, and that zombies will be able to shop with humans without fear of undeath.
My Brother, My Zombie — this essay was written shortly after his brother (Zach Romero) was mugged and partially eaten by a zombie in 1994, then shortly thereafter transformed into a zombie. In this writing, he details how even some zombie supporters have turned their backs on family members who have turned into zombies and that even though his brother is now undead, he is still his brother. He points as well to his alleged rescue and long-term successful relationship with his wife, the zombie Christine Forrest. He also details that we need more law enforcement officers on the street, because if this had been a mugging by a human, his brother could have been shot in the head and have no chance at coming back to life as a productive member of zombie society.
To Begin, Anew — this short story is based largely on certain aspects of his documentary Land of the Dead. However, this is a fictionalized account with the leaders of Pittsburgh being half zombies and half humans. When asked about this story, Romero says that he wanted to show that peaceful cohabitation could be achieved, and in this story he shows how humans working with, rather than against zombies, deal with everyday problems of a large city, such as crime, hunger, medicare, and taxes among other things.
Allies[edit | edit source]
Some other zombie rights activists that currently ally with George Romero are as follows.
Michael Jackson - He is pretty good making Thriller. And also had got his hair caught on fire and he jumped out the window. I said "Michael Jackson jumped out the window!" and I laughed. That was in "Spy Hard." Jackson also portrayed a zombie in "Return of the Living Dead, Part 2".
Simon Pegg - Co-creator and producer of the hugely successful Shaun of the Dead which details a young boy named Shaun being raised until adulthood by a family unit of zombies.
Edgar Wright - Co-creator and producer of the hugely successful Shaun of the Dead which details a young boy named Shaun being raised until adulthood by a family unit of zombies.
Stephen King - A long time friend and collaborator of Romero's, King was and still is an influential zombie rights movement writer. King lobbied for the Zombie Work Act of 1983 and helped to establish fair work treatment and pay for zombies.
Peter Jackson - Director of the double documentary Braindead/DeadAlive, which tell the story of how a dreadful mother can transform a good lad (along with his good friend the lawn mower and his latina chick) into blood thirsty zombie-killers. It's the story of how a peaceful group of zombies having a good party, are brutally murdered by the trio aforementioned. It was highly acclaimed, and most teenagers started to go to zombie parties as they were pictured as "terribly fun".
Umbrella Corporation - A huge company that devotes money to zombie causes, hires zombies exclusively, and is trying to develop simulated human brains for zombies to eat.
Zombaid - Along with Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright, and Coldplay (who have two zombie members) George Romero helped to found this annual benefit concert that supports zombiatairism. The first concert was held in London, England, with the following years being held in Chicago, Sweden, and next year in Los Angeles. The Misfits, a famous zombie punk band, usually headlines.
Nelson Mandela - South African civil rights/zombie rights activist. Nelson Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was also active in his own country as a civil rights leader.
Enemies[edit | edit source]
There is a small but growing movement among other organizations calling for the "extermination" of zombies.
Joe Pilato - A former friend of Romero's, Pilato has publicly stated the need to "....put a bullet in heads of everyone of those undead #$%^*." and in several violent outbursts "What is wrong with you people? This is a war. A mother#$%^&*)! war !!".
Danny Boyle - While a fellow advocate, Boyle has a vastly different perspective on zombies, insisting they are nothing more then innocent victims of the plague.
The Bush Administration - Since the government is against them, they've got to be wrong, right?
Others include:
- Bruce Campbell
- Elvis
- the FVZA
- Danny Trejo
- Sarah Michelle Gellar
- Michael Rooker
- Robert Englund
- Your Mom
- Your Dad
- Your Sister
- Your Brother
- Steven Segal
What he is Currently Doing[edit | edit source]
At last report, Romero was working on a fictional film showcasing an aging zombie rock band called the Diamond Dead, but information has leaked that this film is supposedly a metaphor for the long abused zombies in African diamond mines. But, we will have to wait to see if these reports have any truth about them.
See also[edit | edit source]
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