Kim Paffenroth by Gospel of the Living Dead

Kim Paffenroth by Gospel of the Living Dead

Author:Gospel of the Living Dead
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-06-01T13:08:50+00:00


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alog of sins and atrocities, only to destroy the whole human race (the vast majority of it heterosexual) because of homosexuality. But the explanation elicits more exasperation from us, because it seems almost certain that in such a situation as depicted in Dawn of the Dead, many Christians would eagerly grasp on to such a diagnosis. It was even discussed after the recent tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, when some Christians speculated that the cataclysmic floods had been targeted by God against southeast Asia and New Orleans, so as to punish them for allowing prostitution (never mind how many children and other innocents died in the catastrophe). Such an explanation is so convincing and acceptable to many Christians because it makes no judgment of them, it accuses them of no sin, but conveniently blames the whole disaster on some alien group that many Christians are inclined to dislike in the first place. It is convenient and cost-free scapegoating, and many Christians seem eager to accept it, no matter how vengeful and unfair it makes our God seem, and Dawn of the Dead holds up such ignorance for the ridicule it deserves.

Later in the movie, Glen reveals that he is gay, and here again, it is the other characters’ reaction to him that shows they are ignorant and not weighing the situation correctly. C. J. and Bart are at that point incarcerated by the rest of the group, and they have to listen to Glen describe his homosexual feelings, in terms that are polite and not lewd or graphic. He does not at any time express an interest in C. J. or Bart or make advances or suggestions, but like many vain, homophobic men, that seems to be what frightens and disgusts them—that they might be the object of homosexual attraction, and somehow thereby implicated as homosexual themselves. C.

J. protests against this supposed torment, crying out, “I’m in hell!” It is another hilarious, ironic scene at the expense of the human survivors, for it shows how their values are skewed. C. J. and the others are, in fact, in a place very much like the first circle of hell, surrounded by walking cannibal corpses who will never relent or go away. They are trapped, unable to escape, with dwindling supplies, and about to be torn to pieces and eaten alive at any moment. In that overall context, why would one cry out that listening to a gay man describe his feelings was “hell”? One would think that a world with horrors as deadly and pervasive as armies of the insatiable paffenroth.qxd 5/10/2006 1:33 PM Page 106

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undead might help people to see that the other things they find distasteful or inconvenient are fairly easy to tolerate, but instead they lash out at other people’s idiosyncracies even more vehemently. As with the preacher who deems homosexuality more horrible than any of the myriad of human sins, C. J.



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