#4180

There are different versions and meanings of the “zombie” in Haitian Vodou practices. The version that America used as a model was a reanimated, soulless corpse taken from its grave to serve the master who had awakened it. This is where Hollywood got its inspiration for the “zombie” as we know it today. We see zombies today as soulless, voiceless, monsters deprived of intellect. White anxieties concerning African Americans show a lot throughout the representation of the zombie. We see that in Haitian Vodou practices the zombie was awakened to serve his master which ties into slavery. Slaves were brought to America solely to serve their masters. Also, slaves were meant to not speak back, show emotion, have interests, or be educated. This is also symbolized through the idea of the “zombie”. While watching the movie White Zombie we see zombies working in the sugar mill. These zombies are “lifeless” and continue working even when a worker falls into the mill. To me, this symbolized how whites wanted their black slaves to perform. They were meant to work their lives away with no purpose for anything else. Whited feared that the slaves would revolt or turn against them. They refused slaves from reading with fears that they’d become educated. Slaves were restricted from practicing their native religions or speaking native languages because of the fear of the unknown. The film brings back the fear of the unknown. Americans didn’t know or understand the Vodou religion so they immediately turned it into something negative. As Rushton and Moreman state in their book, “Though the official state religion of Haiti is Catholicism, the vast majority of Haitians practice the religious syncretism that is Vodou, a tradition that is often misunderstood at best, and vilified at worst” (Rushton & Moreman 2).  This shows throughout history and pop culture today. There are many lores and ideas of “voodoo” which can be considered evil. Many people know Vodou as voodoo dolls and black magic. They don’t understand where the practice actually originates from and what the intended purposes are.

Moreman, Christopher M., and Cory James Rushton. Race, Oppression and the Zombie: Essays on Cross-Cultural Appropriations of the Caribbean Tradition. McFarland & Co., 2011.

Cloudy, 8.0 C Measured the length and poured water. Probably 1.1 cm long.