Questioning Hegemonic Masculinity: Postracial Imaginations of the Post-Zombie-Apocalypse in The Walking Dead
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Critics locate the rising popularity of post-apocalyptic narratives in their potential to reflect contemporary desires and anxieties, providing opportunities to reexamine the present and imagine a different future. Post-apocalyptic narratives address global crises that concern the audience worldwide, which highlight the issues of racial and national conflicts and place the current hegemonic leaderships under question. Although many post-apocalyptic narratives tend to justify a retreat to conventional values in the survivors’ efforts to reconstruct the ruined world, they also invite a critical re-examination of such values and ideologies of the past. Recent trend of zombie apocalypse/post-apocalypse genres also reflects the sociopolitical, cultural anxieties as well as questions vis-à-vis the changing world order. The article examines AMC’s zombie post-apocalypse television series The Walking Dead (2010-2022) to discuss its concurrent reflection of conservatism and progressive imaginings for the reconstruction of our world. The show is structured to propose a normative hero against whom all other characters are tested for their leadership qualities. By analyzing the relationship between the show’s hero, Rick, and the Asian American lead character, Glenn, the article looks at the show’s adherence to white hegemonic masculinity and the conflicting impulses for an alternative. While the article acknowledges a possibility of challenge to hegemony from Glenn’s portrayal, it also examines the show’s reproduction of conventional social structures, particularly its emphasis on the postracial “color-blind” ideology. In the post-apocalypse, The Walking Dead makes a case that the most effective method of survival is rooted in a patriarchal rule where white hegemonic masculinity prevails. As the show progresses, it also invites an alternative vision from the viewers, reflecting the viewers’ ambivalent relationship with the configuration of current hegemonic masculinity as social and cultural boundaries are continuously being rebuilt and reinforced.
Abstract
Critics locate the rising popularity of post-apocalyptic narratives in their potential to reflect contemporary desires and anxieties, providing opportunities to reexamine the present and imagine a different future. Post-apocalyptic narratives address global crises that concern the audience worldwide, which highlight the issues of racial and national conflicts and place the current hegemonic leaderships under question. Although many post-apocalyptic narratives tend to justify a retreat to conventional values in the survivors’ efforts to reconstruct the ruined world, they also invite a critical re-examination of such values and ideologies of the past. Recent trend of zombie apocalypse/post-apocalypse genres also reflects the sociopolitical, cultural anxieties as well as questions vis-à-vis the changing world order. The article examines AMC’s zombie post-apocalypse television series The Walking Dead (2010-2022) to discuss its concurrent reflection of conservatism and progressive imaginings for the reconstruction of our world. The show is structured to propose a normative hero against whom all other characters are tested for their leadership qualities. By analyzing the relationship between the show’s hero, Rick, and the Asian American lead character, Glenn, the article looks at the show’s adherence to white hegemonic masculinity and the conflicting impulses for an alternative. While the article acknowledges a possibility of challenge to hegemony from Glenn’s portrayal, it also examines the show’s reproduction of conventional social structures, particularly its emphasis on the postracial “color-blind” ideology. In the post-apocalypse, The Walking Dead makes a case that the most effective method of survival is rooted in a patriarchal rule where white hegemonic masculinity prevails. As the show progresses, it also invites an alternative vision from the viewers, reflecting the viewers’ ambivalent relationship with the configuration of current hegemonic masculinity as social and cultural boundaries are continuously being rebuilt and reinforced.
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