MovieChat Forums > Dawn of the Dead (2004) Discussion > I have a theory

I have a theory

posted 9 years ago by sdbcea
23 replies | jump to latest

Fair warning. My english isn't perfect & this theory doesn't endorse my personal opinion or beliefs.

I've seen this movie a lot of times, throughout I might have figured out the background of this film and the reason of why the characters die.
I'm Christian and I think this movie is based on Christianity, morals. etc. but, I think the main reason of the "apocalypse" was taken too literal and far, as if sins were the worst thing you could do.

First of, the intro, the song. When the man comes around by Johnny Cash. If you read the lyrics it's about heaven, hell, the apocalypse. Something that a man with strong religious values would write, in this case Johnny Cash, the famous country singer that comes from a place in the United States where Christianity is strongly practiced.

Second, the reason of why characters die.

According for what I've learned about the bible and what the apocalypse book says. God stated that when the apocalypse comes, God will take to heaven all the people who's innocent. They all died from bite, and also bible says that somehow the presence of the first ones who die will torment the survivors in the end of the days.

Vivian, Louis - Both died when the disease started.
Nicole's father and the bloated woman - Both died a day after. (From all 4 we don't know that much but I could guess they have done nothing wrong with their lives).

Now, with the other characters.

*All of this characters died in a horrible way, according to bible, whoever survives and done wrong will suffer* (EXCEPT MICHAEL, HIS DEATH WAS QUICK, READ BELOW FOR EXPLANATION)

Bart - He was somehow bad and neutral, he always followed CJ, even if he wasn't that much of a bad guy, his legion was wrong. and he practiced sex out of wedlock.

Luda - She got pregnant and she wasn't even married. She was with a thief & possible murderer.

Andre - He was a thief, he did bad things, he probably killed someone.

Norma - She was a good lady, but she was a lesbian. We all could tell.

Andy - He was separated from his wife, about to get divorced, he was an alcoholic and loved violence. (see extras on youtube)

Tucker - I'm not sure about him, but judging by his looks he didn't have much education, and that could lead to him doing minimal bad things. Although he didn't suffer much, his death was quick. (Help me out in this one)

Monica - She was a whore, she was bisexual, she was probably a prostitute also.

Glen - He was nice too, but he was Gay and didn't believe in God.

Steve - He was a douche, he was a man full of lust, he was chaotic neutral, possible sex addict.

C.J. - You can tell he used to do bad things, he wasn't a happy man, probably killed people, selfish human being.

Michael - (This one's tough) I guess, he was a nice man, probably believed in God so his sins were minor, he was married 3 times, which means he was divorced 3 times and according to bible, God dislikes that blah blah. Maybe that's the reason why his death was quick and painless.

THOSE WHO SURVIVED AND EXPLANATION.

The end of the movie is to viewers decision, whether they survived or not. If you ask me, they did, cause they did nothing wrong. and the bible says, that those who did nothing wrong and survived will stay in earth as a reminder that God is restoring the world and his faith in the human after a plague. In this case (the zombie apocalypse).

Kenneth - He was a Cop, single, a good man, he believed in God, He did good things.

Ana - She was shown having sex, but she was married. doesn't matter. She was a nice woman, she helped others since she was a nurse.

Terry - He was young, he didn't do anything bad ever, he was a regular guy with strong morals, he didn't follow what CJ wanted him to do.

Nicole - She was young as well, she was a good girl, she didn't do anything wrong. possibly believed in God, she had good values from her parents.

(From Terry and Nicole, they were in love, and according to bible that's a sign that God didn't lost faith in the love that humanity could have.)

and Chips the dog - Nothing happened to animals since they're creatures protected by God and God dislikes when animals get harmed unless they're for human to survive eating them. (bible thing).

Final thoughts.

That's how i interpreted the movie, I don't know what you think about my analysis, it took me an hour to write it almost eloquently, so, please leave comments about what you think and if i missed something, please let me know!! Thanks for reading.

[–] Lucifer1974 9 years ago

Religion is a premise that could easily be used to interpret this movie, and if you choose to believe that by all means it is plausible. For me I'm not religious and find that a god without worship is not a god at all, so for him to pass judgment on the entire planet seems extreme even by his standard.

Every version of a catastrophe in the bible, he (god) has always left witnesses, and granted they don't show the death of the final survivors it is surely assumed that they we were devoured (pun intended) in the end credits, as they are overwhelmed by the ensuing horde.

A lot of speculation on the characters in your theory, I have also speculated that Terry was a creep. He stalked Ana at first, but quickly diverted his attention towards a more suitable candidate when Nicole showed up. To me Terry gave the impression he had a dark secret, that they never expanded on...

To me there is not enough to support a god theory, You can't have a "God works in mysterious way" and "God gave us freewill" they counter each other. So either God is a Hypocrite or life just sucks in the DotD universe

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result

[–] sdbcea 9 years ago

I agree with you mostly. I guess the DotD universe sucks and some things doesn't make sense.

Anyways. Thank you for reading and replying ;)

[–] Lucifer1974 9 years ago

I loved reading it, too many times IMDb gets plagued with people who just want to spam the threads with nonsense. It is refreshing when people try to have a conversation, on their own theories.

There is some insights I never considered, as in each person represents something bigger than a simple character. I could see where you were going, just don't see the religious angle 

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result

[–] sdbcea 9 years ago

Again thank you so much. I also love reading something that isn't just spam or trolling post! :)

[–] Lucifer1974 9 years ago

Having a little more time tonight, I will try to expand on what I believe you were getting at.

Bart - was overconfident, and complacent in that he believed he could handle himself. Which once he was placed in a situation with no more safety he became chow.

Luda - All I could see that she was guilty of was being pregnant at the wrong time. Which from what we saw she did survive comparability better than most... but her fate was sealed. There is just no way in that scenario anything good could have happened for that baby, and probably its fate was the best case since it never suffered.

Andre - Crazy... but being a father will do that to you, and I have to believe if I lost everything at once I would also stroll down a path of psychotic insanity.

Norma - She really was the most empathetic person in the entire line, from her stories of sacrifice before reaching the mall. It was important to her to care when no one else would. My opinion her death was probably the most tragic.

Andy - can't give any bad rap to him, he showed off his marksmanship skill, but for a reason... He was trying to sell himself. Yeah he had the weapons and ammo, but he couldn't live off that and he knew it. So by showing off he gave them a reason to want to try and save him, which they tried.

Tucker - Like Norma he cared, and made more of an attempt then most to help. From riding shotgun with Norma, to pulling rear security from Andy's he made an attempt to contribute can't fault him either.

Monica - She had nothing to offer so she simply leeched off of Steve and paid with the only thing she had... can't fault her for using it, but if I was in that group she would need to find another skill trade quick or she would be bait on the next run outside the walls.

Glen - Another useless tool, other than harassing their prisoners (CJ and Bart) the movie never gave any importance of his character, again someone who need another skill trade.

Steve - In a society morality is very important to stay civil, and I am very familiar with the concept it easy to say something then do it... but the fact is Steve needed to die, and a lot sooner than he did. He was a waste of supplies, and had no real contribution to the group.

CJ - The only character in movie history that I hated at the beginning and loved him by the end. I have mentioned him before, but he was by far my most favorite. Even though the movie doesn't clearly show it but I believe he was the smartest person in the group. (and I would love to elaborate if you want)

Michael - He had much potential, but with so many Alpha males in the group he coward in the corner. He had some balls he would have made an excellent leader

Kenneth - Very selfish person, and only cared for himself (and Andy) by refusing to really integrate himself he really was no help to the group, another potential leader lost in the script.

Ana - Her skills were noteworthy but that was all her worth... she doomed the group with her ideals (not saying woman can't lead, just her)

Terry - mentioned him already, didn't trust him. Thought he was a creep, just can't put my finger directly on it. (potential serial killer, rapist, etc... I don't really know)

Nicole - a lot of people give her more flack then she deserves, she was a mental case who lost her entire family, she just couldn't cope... and even her group (other than Terry) shunned her for it.

Chips - I like dogs, but at this point I would have only kept him around because he would be future food for me...

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result

[–] sdbcea 9 years ago

You know what. You're absolutely right. I haven't thought about it that way, it makes a lot more sense than what I wrote. You seem like the kind of person that can see so much on a character's background I'm impressed.

Agree with all of it. Specially with CJ being the most intelligent person in the group, and If you desire to expand what you loved about him, be my guest 😀 I think that all of them had what it takes to survive, I think there were some mistakes they made that completely doomed them. If they had worked together they would have survived (somehow God became Jigsaw lol)

About the characters. I think all of them turned what they were before the zombie apocalypse into a more grotesque version of themselves, constantly struggling about the moral of humanity (kind of sounds like the plot of the walking dead huh). In essence everyone let their inner selves out but some where controlled by fear that's why they didn't survive.

Also forgot to add:

The baby was dead already. another innocent creature.

Nicole was obssesed with saving animals over human lives. she was dumb.

Generally I think it's all bad choices and bad luck. Which makes it more realistic. that's why I love this movie so much! 😃

[–] JupiterStorm 9 years ago

I don't think religion had anything to do with it. I think the plague was just a supernatural accident. The black plague wasn't some wrath brought on by God, neither was this plague. Something supernatural accidentally animated corpses that began spreading it through bites.

[–] sdbcea 9 years ago

You are right, but the evangelist scene with Ken Foree made me believe something else, that scene was put there for a reason. also Kenneth talking about hell and hail marys, like I said the song by johnny cash.

Not only that, several scenes led to believe this movie had something to do with religion because of the past of the characters, the typical stereotypes that religious people would hate: gay, lesbian, bisexual, murderers, thiefs, atheists.

Anyways, that's how interpreted it.

Thank you so much for commenting! I appreciate your point of view!

[–] JupiterStorm 9 years ago

That scene with the evangelist was put there for a sense of realism, and to include a cameo from an actor in the original and a cool line (when there is no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the earth). The zombie plague signalled the end of times, it's only natural religious people would say it was God's intervention. I think you're reading too much into it.

[–] thethperson-770-378239 9 years ago

I'm not the most religious person but having spent years in Catholic school and lots of bible study I can actually see where there could be religious implications in this film. Perhaps that was Zack Snyders plan perhaps not. All I know is there's a mysterious virus that sweeps the planet within 24 hours nobody knows where it came from who patient zero was. It's like it just appeared out of thin air. That's what I took away from it. I have always hoped Snyder would do a follow up to this film where maybe there was some revelation where this all came from who it started and where it goes from there but he's got his hands full with Batman and Superman so I'm not seeing this world being revisited unfortunately to the other posters above great theories this is type of discussion about a film I crave and can't find on these message boards anymore.

[–] sdbcea 9 years ago

Agree. We should create one! Thanks for the comment.

[–] Dream_Demon 9 years ago

My theory is that the plague is either a supernatural curse that spread by biting, as is implied by Kenneth not being infected despite being dunked in contaminated water right after getting slashed open, or is a supernatural virus (think Resident Evil) that can contaminate people through the spread of bodily fluids but doesn't actually kill people (it's the infections from the bacteria of zombies' mouths that kill via biting, not the virus), whose only supernatural properties are being able to resurrect the dead and turn them into the zombies we see in this movie, and is in fact easily dealt with by healthy (but not weakened) immune systems. If it's the latter, than Kenneth still likely won't rise up as a zombie (like Norma and Andre didn't rise up when they died) even after being contaminated since his immune system the virus would've dealt with it and is no longer in his body should he die without being killed via zombies biting him.

As for the plague's origins, I agree that it must be supernatural but not necessarily originate from God. The plague does not fit any of the plagues/supernatural disasters in Revelations and thus should not be associated with the Apocalypse. Instead, it is likely the work of foolish magicians/scientists who wound up unintentionally having the curse/supernatural virus get out of hand, demon(s) whose scheme to intentionally cause a plague-based disaster is indeed successful, or some other mishap/scheme.

Welcome to my Nightmare- Freddy Krueger

[–] sdbcea 9 years ago

Couldn't have said it better myself.
Thanks for your opinion, I agree 100% with your theory! and it's good to know about the relevations book, cause I haven't got there yet!
Also, maybe it combines, both... A scientific disaster caused by a supernatural force. So, it started out of nowhere by divine move or something and it spread through medical, scientific kind of thing, who knows.

Thanks again!

You were the answer. All that i needed was to justify. Justify my life.

[–] rick-deckard45 8 years ago

i think i read somewhere a long time ago, in an interview with one of the people who worked on the film (maybe snyder, maybe a writer) that originally the scene with ving rhames getting cut in the fountain was put in with such focus in order to establish that it was not a viral thing and there was some supernatural stuff at work... however i can't track it down now. in any even my friends and i were waiting for some big reveal that he was infected which never came along!

baby can you dig your man?
he's a righteous man.

[–] Darkchia_of_the_Dead 9 years ago

Chips is evil and the master of the zombie apocalypse.

[–] ivitt 8 years ago

Revelation is garbage and has nothing to do with Christianity other than the Roman Papacy put it in there from a non-descript writers made feelings toward the Roman Empire.

This was a religious take. The immoral died, the moral lived.

The Walking Dead is the opposite. It takes morality as a weakness and immorality as a strength.

[–] Carlie64 8 years ago

Thanks for the run down.

[–] CharlotteGoldenblatt 8 years ago

You lost me when you said Norma was a lesbian. I've seen this movie many many times at which point in the movie did they ever imply that Norma was a lesbian? I'm not following you.

[–] CharlotteGoldenblatt 8 years ago

Not to mention your assessment of CJ was completely off base. He may have started out acting like a douche but in the end he redeemed himself in more ways than one. It showed that deep down he was a good person at heart, so where the heck did you get that he was a possible murderer?

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Belforse 8 years ago

Basically it was a "joke" on the rapture. Only the sinless would survive. The little girl at the beginning is a good example. She was likely being molested and her sin was enjoying it.

[–] leybadana 8 years ago

Fair warning. My english isn't perfect & this theory doesn't endorse my personal opinion or beliefs.

I've seen this movie a lot of times, throughout I might have figured out the background of this film and the reason of why the characters die.
I'm Christian and I think this movie is based on Christianity, morals. etc. but, I think the main reason of the "apocalypse" was taken too literal and far, as if sins were the worst thing you could do.

First of, the intro, the song. When the man comes around by Johnny Cash. If you read the lyrics it's about heaven, hell, the apocalypse. Something that a man with strong religious values would write, in this case Johnny Cash, the famous country singer that comes from a place in the United States where Christianity is strongly practiced.

Second, the reason of why characters die.

According for what I've learned about the bible and what the apocalypse book says. God stated that when the apocalypse comes, God will take to heaven all the people who's innocent. They all died from bite, and also bible says that somehow the presence of the first ones who die will torment the survivors in the end of the days.

Vivian, Louis - Both died when the disease started.
Nicole's father and the bloated woman - Both died a day after. (From all 4 we don't know that much but I could guess they have done nothing wrong with their lives).

Now, with the other characters.

*All of this characters died in a horrible way, according to bible, whoever survives and done wrong will suffer* (EXCEPT MICHAEL, HIS DEATH WAS QUICK, READ BELOW FOR EXPLANATION)

Bart - He was somehow bad and neutral, he always followed CJ, even if he wasn't that much of a bad guy, his legion was wrong. and he practiced sex out of wedlock.

Luda - She got pregnant and she wasn't even married. She was with a thief & possible murderer.

Andre - He was a thief, he did bad things, he probably killed someone.

Norma - She was a good lady, but she was a lesbian. We all could tell.

Andy - He was separated from his wife, about to get divorced, he was an alcoholic and loved violence. (see extras on youtube)

Tucker - I'm not sure about him, but judging by his looks he didn't have much education, and that could lead to him doing minimal bad things. Although he didn't suffer much, his death was quick. (Help me out in this one)

Monica - She was a whore, she was bisexual, she was probably a prostitute also.

Glen - He was nice too, but he was Gay and didn't believe in God.

Steve - He was a douche, he was a man full of lust, he was chaotic neutral, possible sex addict.

C.J. - You can tell he used to do bad things, he wasn't a happy man, probably killed people, selfish human being.

Michael - (This one's tough) I guess, he was a nice man, probably believed in God so his sins were minor, he was married 3 times, which means he was divorced 3 times and according to bible, God dislikes that blah blah. Maybe that's the reason why his death was quick and painless.

THOSE WHO SURVIVED AND EXPLANATION.

The end of the movie is to viewers decision, whether they survived or not. If you ask me, they did, cause they did nothing wrong. and the bible says, that those who did nothing wrong and survived will stay in earth as a reminder that God is restoring the world and his faith in the human after a plague. In this case (the zombie apocalypse).

Kenneth - He was a Cop, single, a good man, he believed in God, He did good things.

Ana - She was shown having sex, but she was married. doesn't matter. She was a nice woman, she helped others since she was a nurse.

Terry - He was young, he didn't do anything bad ever, he was a regular guy with strong morals, he didn't follow what CJ wanted him to do.

Nicole - She was young as well, she was a good girl, she didn't do anything wrong. possibly believed in God, she had good values from her parents.

(From Terry and Nicole, they were in love, and according to bible that's a sign that God didn't lost faith in the love that humanity could have.)

and Chips the dog - Nothing happened to animals since they're creatures protected by God and God dislikes when animals get harmed unless they're for human to survive eating them. (bible thing).

Final thoughts.

That's how i interpreted the movie, I don't know what you think about my analysis, it took me an hour to write it almost eloquently, so, please leave comments about what you think and if i missed something, please let me know!! Thanks for reading.

I like your theory, but wish God, judgement, and religion were left out. It's a cool theory otherwise, & I enjoyed reading it.

--------------------------------
Graham Hess: There is no one looking out for us. We are all alone.

[–] riosweitzer-899-924312 7 years ago

I'm wondering how do you know that Luda wasn't married ? Because if you listen to Andre, he tells the guards that his wife was pregnant and that they couldn't run anymore. And if there's the argument that she's not wearing a wedding band, I would have to state that with pregnant women, hands and feet swell, so due to that her ring could have been too tight, so she had to remove it.