This scene from Dawn of The Dead (1978) finalises the ending of
the film as the characters Fran and Peter fly away from the mall in their
helicopter after losing their friends. These characters are portrayed as a Male Hero and a Female Survivor; however, George Romero challenges
the classic stereotypes of these characters as Fran has blonde hair and blue
eyes and Peter is black. More conventional horror films would often make these
types of characters victims. George Romero often challenged conventional
stereotypes of characters in the horror genre which could suggest it is a part
of his auteur style (a concept largely established
by Andrew Sarris in his essay “Notes of the Auteur Theory in 1962”). For
example, throughout the film we imagine Fran to be a female victim as she’s attractive and rather
powerless. However, as the film progresses, Fran becomes much more powerful and
learns to fly the helicopter in order for them to escape.
Similarly, Peter is a soldier and seen as the alpha male
throughout the film; in more conventional horrors, the black character often
has negative connotations and can be seen as a thug that rarely stand a chance
of survival; For example, in Dawn
of the Dead (2004) the
character Andre is black and is involved with drugs and has been in prison.
Similarly, in Romero’s Diary
of the Dead (2007) he has
a group of African Americans that are the heroes of the films and are also
given power over weapons and supplies which they can choose how to
distribute between the white people. In this film, Romero also decided to
include some reckless, troubled white characters. Again, this demonstrates how
his auteur style incorporates positive portrayals of black characters without any
negative connotations.
This scene also conveys the representation of a slow moving monster who has escaped onto the roof of the
mall. The zombies in this film often come across to the audience as very stupid
and sluggish which can create a feeling of sympathy; this makes the audience
generally sad and sorry for the zombies that are killed. The representation of
a slow moving monster in this film is kept very conventional as most of their
attributes do make you feel compassion for them.
Another conventional feature of the horror genre Romero uses is
the open ending. For
example, Fran and Peter both escape from the mall but the audience never learn
if they survived after this event. They are running low of fuel and their
chance of survival is low. This leaves the audience wondering what may have
happened and gets the film to stick in their minds. Like many horror
franchises, it also leaves open the possibility of a sequel as demonstrated in
films like Friday the 13th
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