Black Guy in George A Romero Films

George A. Romero is a legend to some, and to others he is just some old man, a film maker, but an old man none the less. George A. Romero is essentially the father of the modern day interpretation of the zombie as we know it now in film, games, comics and books. His first film was the black and white The Night of the Living Dead. Then a decade later, Dawn of the Dead, then in the next decade he made Day of the Dead. He is also responsible for Land of the Dead, an Diary of the Dead.

His zombie films are always pieces of there time. Land had the social commentary of consumerism, and class disparity. Diary was about the affects of social media on world altering events. Day was about the mistrust and abusive practices of military in relation to civilians. Dawn was about gross consumerism. And Night unknowingly had a commentary about racism and the emergence of change.

Back in the day, when Mr. Romero was making Night, he freely admits that when they cast his black friend to play the lead it was simply cause of the fact that he was the best actor they knew. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was black at the time. The film however had a group of people holed up in a country house, as the world goes to shit and they are fighting attacking zombies and eachother to survive. In this movie you have a black man portraying a character that is taking charge of the situation, and even slaps a hysterical white women in that time when colored folk were only allowed in the back of the bus. This movie came out at roughly the same time that Martin Luther King Jr. was shot.

George was proud of his horror creation, but what made it take off in select circles was the fact that it had a black individual as a strong equal. This made the movie more significant than it was originally intended to be when it was made, not just to audiences but to George. It seems he understood the significance of having a social commentary in films and from that point proceeded to make films that meant more, using zombies as a devices to share a deeper meaning.

Also he made a common theme in his films from that point on. Dawn, Day, Land, each of them have an African American in them that has a greater grasp on the situation of the world going to hell then all else. Avid fans of the Romero films know this, so when people watched Land of the Dead and realized the irony of the black character in that film fitting the role of having a greater understanding of the world of the dead, is the lead zombie. Also George was so impressed with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's participation in Shaun of the Dead got them a role in the film as zombies.

That is my useless fact of the day. Enjoy