Romero's "Diary of the Dead (2007)" eerily mirrors aspects of 2011 civil unrest around the world

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You know, somewhere down the line I heard that George A. Romero's "Diary of the Dead was technically not considered a part of his "Dead Series,"  and I excluded watching it again for this project.  I think my mistake was reading it was "not a direct sequel,"  in one of the descriptions, but all of them are really not a direct sequel.

All of Romero's movies in this series have a significant amount of social commentary.  I remember watching "Diary" in 2007.  By then, Google was a good 4 or 5 years old, Facebook had been around for  three years, Youtube was two years old and Twitter, please, Twitter was a year old.

One thing was for sure, the internet was already an alternative source for news.  "Diary" opens with a news reporter arriving a the scene of a homicide then learning that the bodies of the dead behind her are getting back up.  We watch a gruesome attack unfold in front of the camera.

                                                                     

Diary of the Dead

The news reporter is attacked off camera but later falls into frame.
The cameraman runs to her aide.  The footage then cuts out.Several newscasts are heard and a voice over describes the mainstream media's neglect of truth.  The voiceover then goes on to describe that the footage from the beginning of the news reporter being attacked was uploaded to the internet by the cameraman so that people around the world can see what is really happening.

We can all agree that a zombie attack or epidemic to the proportions of Romero's "Diary," or any of his other films have not happened...yet, but one thing is for sure, his commentary is dead on (no pun).  The media has always had a way with distorting reality and reporting on what they deem as newsworthy, but with the advent of the internet and it's freedom from regulation, until they get their greasy paws on it or figured out how to regulate it, we are all reporters and journalists.  The only problem it presents so far is because anyone can put anything up on the internet you have to sift through the garbage.

One thing is absolutely certain, George A. Romero is a genius.  He can make a splatter film.  He can make Zombie films.  But he can also make social commentary and forecast.   look at Youtube, Facebook and Google today.

Neda lies dying from a sniper's gunshot during Iranian
protests in 2009.  It was all caught on camera.

Who would have thought that protests in Iran in 2009 would have sparked so much worldwide attention.  Sure, the mainstream media is not all bad but putting thousands  upon thousands of cameras into the hands of the people instantly gave a face to Neda Agha-Soltan whose death was caught on camera and gave a face to the struggle and injustice in Iran.  

Who would have thought that something like Twitter among other social networks, whom many including me perceived as useless would help Egypt uprise and bring down an tired and oppressive government?

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