Zombies and discrimination. Racial prejudice and policies of exclusion in the television series In the Flesh

Journal title MONDI MIGRANTI
Author/s Ilaria Villa
Publishing Year 2017 Issue 2017/2
Language Italian Pages 19 P. 185-203 File size 188 KB
DOI 10.3280/MM2017-002010
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The zombie in cinema, television and literature has often been used to represent the fear of the other. A recent and very interesting example in this tradition is the British television series In the Flesh (2013-2014), which, for the first time in the history of the zombie genre, portrays zombies receiving medical treatment. Thanks to the treatment, the zombies are given back their consciousness and are able to live a normal life again, but many people fight against the reintegration of the undead: this is a way to represent the discrimination of migrants in contemporary society. The association between migrants and zombies can be seen and analysed in many aspects of the story, both in the personal and in the political sphere. The most interesting aspect of the series is that it does not only talk about discrimination, but brings the viewer to question their own prejudices and to consider certain assumptions related to immigration management which they may have never challenged.

Keywords: Zombies; migrants; television; discrimination; tv series

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Ilaria Villa, Zombie discriminati. Pregiudizi razziali e politiche di esclusione nella serie televisiva In the Flesh in "MONDI MIGRANTI" 2/2017, pp 185-203, DOI: 10.3280/MM2017-002010