World War Z_ An Oral History of the Zombie War ( PDFDrive )

That erased the potential for rapid fire, which was exactly what you needed in swarm attacks. In
fact, both units had a squad of riflemen permanently assigned to them, people protecting a
machine that is designed to protect people.
They were that bad?
Not for their original role. MTHEL kept Israel safe from terrorist bombardment, and Zeus actually
came out of retirement to clear unexploded ordnance during the army’s advance. As purpose-built
weapons, they were outstanding. As zombie killers, they were hopeless duds.
So why did you film them?
Because Americans worship technology. It’s an inherent trait in the national zeitgeist. Whether we
realize it or not, even the most indefatigable Luddite can’t deny our country’s technoprowess. We
split the atom, we reached the moon, we’ve filled every household and business with more gadgets
and gizmos than early sci-fi writers could have ever dreamed of. I don’t know if that’s a good thing,
I’m in no place to judge. But I do know that just like all those ex-atheists in foxholes, most
Americans were still praying for the God of science to save them.
But it didn’t.
But it didn’t matter. The movie was such a hit that I was asked to do a whole series. I called it
“Wonder Weapons,” seven films on our military’s cutting-edge technology, none of which made any
strategic difference, but all of which were psychological war winners.
Isn’t that…
A lie? It’s okay. You can say it. Yes, they were lies and sometimes that’s not a bad thing. Lies are
neither bad nor good. Like a fire they can either keep you warm or burn you to death, depending
on how they’re used. The lies our government told us before the war, the ones that were supposed
to keep us happy and blind, those were the ones that burned, because they prevented us from
doing what had to be done. However, by the time I made Avalon, everyone was already doing
everything they could possibly do to survive. The lies of the past were long gone and now the truth
was everywhere, shambling down their streets, crashing through their doors, clawing at their
throats. The truth was that no matter what we did, chances were most of us, if not all of us, were
never going to see the future. The truth was that we were standing at what might be the twilight of
our species and that truth was freezing a hundred people to death every night. They needed
something to keep them warm. And so I lied, and so did the president, and every doctor and priest,
every platoon leader and every parent. “We’re going to be okay.” That was our message. That was
the message of every other filmmaker during the war. Did you ever hear of The Hero City?
Of course.
Great film, right? Marty made it over the course of the Siege. Just him, shooting on whatever
medium he could get his hands on. What a masterpiece: the courage, the determination, the
strength, dignity, kindness, and honor. It really makes you believe in the human race. It’s better