Task 10: Characters

I could talk endlessly about characters that I have come across since I've watched TV and read books, but at the moment there are a specific group of characters that I would like to focus on. I always haven't been able to get enough of post apocalyptic movies like mad max and resident
evil but the American TV series 'The Walking Dead' brings a new dynamic to the genre. The series is based on a comic book by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard. The story starts when a county sheriff named Rick Grimes wakes from an enduring coma to find the world he used to know no longer exists and is now plagued with flesh craving 'walkers' or as we callthem zombies. From there on the series documents a husband and fathers journey to finding his family. From the outset the plot of the show makes you think about being in the main characters shoes and how you would cope not knowing whether your wife, son and family are still alive and dealing with what you perceive as reality being torn away from under you like that. Eventually Rick does find his family that are held up with a group of people and you imagine the relief and happiness that must over whelm you, providing a short escape from the new reality you face. On the other hand, without trying to sound heartless, would it be a burden that you have found the ones you love instead because now it's your duty to protect and reassure them with that doubt in the back of your mindthat you may fail in doing so. Would it be better if you only had yourself to
worry about?
As trust and bonds build, Rick becomes a kind of leader for the group, main protector in a way, saving lives, sheltering and feeding the group. I think this aspect to the character is easily related to men in general because we like to see ourselves being the alpha male and possessing the
ability to protect . Another emphasis on the character being there to protect is his title of 'sheriff' because we associate the police as being there to keep us safe and maintain order.
After a longer period of time the group are forced to live this dystopian lifestyle, where a planned and structured routine begins to form in order to stay alive which starts to build characteristics for other characters. States of depression, rebellion and friendships arise under the large amount of pressure there under up to the point where a dominant character Shane, sacrifices another person to survive a horde of walkers. In this situation what lengths would you go to in order to stay alive? In my opinion I don't know whether I would have it in me to do something like that or whether I would like the person something that extreme of a situation could bring out of
me.
A lot of emotion is portrayed well in this TV show which entices you to relate and produce these thoughts about the things that happen. The strain that is put on relationships in extreme circumstances and how its overcome is demonstrated continuously which I think is a good message put across by the actors and script. Another aspect I particularly like about the main character Rick is the burden he willingly takes on when it comes to being the constant, the rock of the group and reliability of decisions he makes. For example when a little girl in the group is chased into woodlands by a walker, without a thought he is the only person in the group to react and try to save her. Obviously all these characteristics are exaggerated in this type of genre but there all aspects of life that relate to us as the viewer trying to inspire the best in us.
The reason I think I become so engrossed in the post apocalyptic genre is because I have always wondered what it would be like to have something like that happen, how I would react, how it would change me as a person and how things would end up.