Dawn of the Dead analysis (1979)

The ending scene to Dawn of the Dead shows the final characters as Fran and Peter, which challenges the character conventions of horror films. The final girl is stereotypically dark haired, with blondes being the victim early on and they tend to represent taboos, including having sex which Fran does, therefore making it incredibly rare at this time to have a final girl of this nature. It also goes against the Cultural Dominance Ideology as she smokes and drinks alcohol despite she is pregnant. The film depicts Peter as the male hero which is equally seen as an unusual and rare archetype to have in horror films, especially ones in this time period. influenced by George A Romero’s views on race. In the 1970s, audiences of certain people still had strongly racist views regarding people with other ethnic backgrounds, particularly in the south – adding conformity to Dawn of the Dead as it is set in Philadelphia, a city within Pennsylvania situated North-South of America. Only a small minority were coming to accept black people. Furthermore, this subtly hints at a potential interracial relationship between the two characters which was seen as a shocking aspect to introduce in 1970s culture. Although Fran conveys aspects of negativity, she represents a strong character as she has learned to fly a helicopter and fire a gun so she knows how to look after herself. The close up shot of Fran’s face portrays the notion of feeling lost and empty as Stephen has died and she does not know what may come of the future. Peter decided to stay with Fran despite having initial thoughts to commit suicide, perhaps showing his fear of death which is a recurring theme for films of this genre.