Ever thought of having a zombie for a pet? Well, “Fido” offers a look into what that might be like.
This Canadian-made spoof on 1950s America offers a comedy, romance and horror movie all wrapped in one. There are some critics who think this movie was not good at all, largely because of the childish theme of the boy-and-his-dog as well as its lacking of excessive gore. However, more analytical critics find Andrew Currie’s “Fido” to be an ingenious, and hysterical, political and social satire on 1950s and even present day America that not only examines what a post-zombie society of the George Romero tradition might look like, but also takes an ironic approach by identifying the issues of this utopian society and the resulting cultural zombies it produces. Ultimately, the true purpose of “Fido” is to answer Timmy’s question, “Are zombies dead or alive?”
As the movie begins, a black and white movie reel presents all the needed background information on this post-zombie society and lays the foundation for this social and political satire. A cloud of radiation from space had enveloped the earth, which somehow caused the dead to come back, giving rise to the Zombie Wars. After years of fighting and chaos, a scientist discovered that zombies could be killed by destroying the brain, and he invented a domestication collar which allows the reintegration of zombies into society as butlers, menial laborers, factory workers, and even pets. ZomCon Corporation becomes the acting military and police force to contain any zombie outbreaks and builds a fence around the community that separates them from the Wild Zone. This educational movie reel closes with ZomCon’s motto, “Better world through containment.” Sounds pretty good, right?
One critic, Roberts, declared “Fido” to be “the epitome of the correct way to do a political movie without being overtly political.” In a way Roberts is correct to say this because the tone of this comedy is so light at times that it seems more akin to a children’s movie — which tends to take away the audience’s focus on the satire and place more on the heartwarming boy and his dog narrative. Of course, this lightheartedness only makes the statements on society more impactful. Right at the start, thanks to “good-old American technology and know-how,” the world is saved from this terrifying threat and allows everyone to live out normal lives (Grant). ZomCon has created this utopian society completely safe from zombie outbreaks by putting up a perimeter fence around the community and essentially creating a police state.
“Fido” blatantly spoofs American history where the Zombie Wars replace World War II and ZomCon mirrors the FBI during the Red Scare and anti-communist crusade with the rampant McCarthyism. “The satire… is not so much sneaked in as ingeniously worked through a thoroughly imagined alternate universe” (Axemaker). This alternate universe succeeds in magnifying the issue of need for security and making that issue even more relatable with the present day. Following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, America has seen the level of security intensify to an incredible degree. Fear of terrorism from outside this country created a desired need to take military action against this Other. Similar to the zombie, fear of terrorism is also internal, because any regular person might be or could become a terrorist. And so, security rose as liberties fell, which was supported by the vast majority of Americans. This led Andrew Currie to pose the question, “How many liberties are we willing to give up in order to have a sense of security?” (Roberts).
In order to achieve this ultraconservative concept of security, the next logical step is to see a lack of rights for the minorities, in this case the women, children and zombies. This “goof on 1950s social-repression” places much emphasis on how these people groups are very similar in their social struggles (Burr). In fact, one could say that all these people groups are more or less a form of zombie, whether that is the literal zombie or the cultural zombie. One of the most apparent examples of this social-repression is the role of the woman. In this alternate universe, the feminist movement has not occurred, and the women are “homemakers whose purpose is to make their husband’s lives easier.” (Moreman 165) This is blatant throughout the movie with Timmy’s mom, Helen Robinson, as she faces her unfeeling and distant husband. Bill Robinson pays so little attention to his wife that he does not even notice her pregnancy.
Another hilarious scene is when the new Head of Security at ZomCon, Mr. Bottoms, and his wife go to ‘meet the Robinsons’ after they had moved in across the street. Mr. Bottoms talks about having to avoid attachment and goes on to say about his wife, “I’d take her head off in a second if I had to,” which Mrs. Bottoms responds to with a nonchalant laugh exclaiming, “He always says that.” This is just another example of how the oppression of women has caused them to be a cultural zombie because, for all intents and purposes, women are socially inferior to a point almost, if not equally, on the same level as the literal zombie.
As the film progresses past the opening movie reel, the children move on to “outdoor education,” or shooting practice. All throughout this movie, the children are very numb to the idea of killing, death and the ever looming threat of a zombie outbreak. Later on in the movie, we see the young protagonist, Timmy, riding to school with his father, Bill. They stop in front of the school, and the father tries to explain to his son that “feelings are not important.” This sense of high security and over-protectiveness has caused society to teach their children into feeling nothing, which is very similar to the condition of a zombie. This lack of feeling is evident in the two bullies ironically dressed like Cub Scouts who on multiple occasions point guns at Timmy and threaten his life. They even attempt to “save” Timmy from his pet zombie, Fido, by shutting off the domestication collar and try to kill it right before it eats Timmy. All of these instances point to the fact that even the children have become a form of the metaphorical or cultural zombie.
The cleverness of this movie lies in how this social-repression is mirrored in the equally repressed zombies. Thanks to the domestication collars, zombies now can participate in society, but not as equals. Rather, “the zombie is more akin to a slave, who is property, than a servant working for minimal wages in dead-end domestic labor” (Moreman 164). This sounds all too familiar to a past American society which then leads to the realization that the cast of this movie are all white actors playing middle class citizens with the white picket fence and traditional nuclear family. In other words, this is clearly a satire on the assumed white utopia of the 50s with the minorities, or undesirables, as the butlers, gardeners, menial laborers and so on. The use of the literal zombie under this 1950s context emphasizes the cultural zombie position of real life minorities during that time and even, perhaps to a lesser extent, today. According to Roberts, “Fido” is “probably the best example of zombies being used in the metaphorical analysis of society.”
All of these points lead back to Timmy’s question from the beginning of the movie, “Are zombies dead or alive?” Many scenes involving Timmy’s father, Bill, depict him as a lifeless and unconfident man. Fido, on the other hand, appears to show Bill’s wife, Helen, much more attention, even to the point of dancing with her. As a pet, the zombie mirrors, in a dark and comedic way, with the Lassie and his boy narrative, noting that the name of the boy as Timmy is no coincidence. The New York magazine described Fido’s character as “Lassie [who] walks on two legs, makes goo-goo eyes at Mom, and, when his ‘containment’ collar malfunctions, crunches into human flesh” (Edelstein). Despite Fido’s flesh munching habits, he does develop a bond with the people he comes across as a friend, protector and, perhaps, lover.
According to Roberts, “Fido” is “probably the best example of zombies being used in the metaphorical analysis of society.”
Most critics gave positive reviews to “Fido.” Many found this “light-hearted, dark comedy” to be both enjoyable as a comedy and thought provoking as a satire (Roberts). I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and saw it as a fun twist on this stereotypically horrifying genre. It is understandable why some like Carruthers might find this film as “a fairly genial zombie version of Old Yeller” and not much else. Granted as a zombie movie, “Fido” is somewhat lax on the gore factor with more focus on the satirical purpose of the film. With that said, the use of the boy-and-his-dog narrative made both a satirical impact and a truly heartwarming experience for the less hardcore zombie fan. Amazingly, Fido was played by Bill Connolly, a Scottish comedian, whom I did not recognize until the credits rolled. He supplied this movie its charm “with no dialogue and ashen make-up… [giving] Fido enough personality that we can’t help but love” (Hartley). The artistic style of the 1950s period props, cars and sets were very appealing with “colors… bright and rich to mimic Technicolor” (Kristen). The attention to detail in the period clothes, props and so forth succeeded in immersing the audience into this world.
Ultimately, “Fido” is a fun comedy with a zombie twist that is well worth watching, even to the hardcore zombie fans. Although its level of zombie gore is limited, this movie makes up for it in its hysterical satire on the 1950s and, to some extent, present-day America. It is worth noting that this movie received an R rating for just “zombie-related violence” despite it lacking truly visceral gore. In truth, this movie manages to deceive the audience into thinking this is a kid’s movie instead of a dark comedy just by its charm. Perhaps I am just becoming callous and unfeeling towards all the violence, or maybe I too am becoming a type of zombie.
About Rob McMenamy
