The Lessons of the ZOMBIES Trilogy

ZOMBIES 3 finally premiered on Disney+ on Friday, June 15th after two years of anticipation building. Or at least, my anticipation was building. I really enjoyed the first two movies in the series. The first film is my favorite Disney Channel Original Movie of all time, mostly thanks to the chemistry between the leads Zed and Addison, played by Milo Manheim and Meg Donnely, and their love song "Someday". Like all DCOMs, the movies are cheesy and cheap, but that's part of the charm.

Of course, the movies aren't perfect. ZOMBIES and ZOMBIES 2 both have lessons muddled by a flawed allegory. The first movie is about accepting diversity and the benefits of an integrated society. That's great and all, except for the fact the oppressed group in this movie are literal zombies with a checkered past, including brain-eating proclivities. The implication is that we should look past the flaws of other people groups, including violent tendencies, to allow them to participate in society. But this doesn't work, because in real life, racial discrimination is totally baseless. Other ethnicities aren't inherently different, it's not like they have biological urges to violence or anything like that, unlike zombies. The allegory breaks down quickly.

ZOMBIES 2 replays the lesson, but with more problems. Instead of zombies, the oppressed group is comprised of werewolves, who are an allegory for native peoples. Their land and their precious moonstone were stolen by human settlers and the focus of the movie is restoring what is theirs. Again, this message is undermined by the fact the werewolves repeatedly threaten the humans with extreme violence, and, unlike the zombies, the werewolves do nothing to fight the allegations of being savages. I think we can all see why this is problematic. On top of this, we have Addison doubling down on her own oppression, refusing to ever "check her privileges". She repeatedly asserts that she can empathize with zombies and werewolves due to her having an odd hair color... Okay? At one point, she tells Zed that she actually has it worse than him because she doesn't have a "zombie crew" or a wolf pack that she's part of. She is candidate for cheer captain and the daughter of the mayor and police chief in town... But because she gets bullied for her white hair she's got it worse than anyone else! She needs a reality check, majorly.

By ZOMBIES 3 it seems she's eased up on her whole "I don't fit in" narrative, but this is only temporary. When she realizes that she is one fourth alien, she clings to this revelation as though her very life depends on it. She so desperately wants to be "special" that she'll ignore the fact that she's 75% human, cheer captain, and beloved by zombies and werewolves alike. When the aliens learn they need her help and request that she join them on their mothership and sail through space together, she doesn't hesitate. She doesn't seem to care at all that she'll have to abandon Zed, the wolf pack, her parents (including her mother who is actually half alien), in favor of joining this group of annoying aliens who she literally just met. She's always felt like an outcast and learning that she is part alien seems to validate that to her, so she grasps that element of her identity as though she's really a part of that culture, going so far as to call the aliens her "people." This is never challenged. No one calls this out, no one reminds her that she has a group, a family, that she's chosen for herself by being compassionate and welcoming. She doesn't need to be "special," because she already is, just by being herself, alien or not. This lesson would be a great reminder that your heritage is important, but not as important as the person you choose to be. But in an age of identity politics, this ending makes sense, even if it is disappointing to watch Addison reject her loved ones for people she doesn't really know.

Addison's journey in ZOMBIES 3 is not really the "lesson" of the story. The lesson we're given at the end of the film is that "utopia" isn't a place where everyone always agrees and no one ever fights or speaks up for what they believe. The lesson is that a diversity of viewpoints is critical for society to change and improve. I think this is an important lesson in this day and age when any disagreement in our culture creates major disunity, but the moral of the story is severely undercut by Addison's problematic behavior.

After reading all this, you might assume I hated ZOMBIES 3, and while it's true I was hoping that Addison would end up just being a normal human in the end, I think they handled her being an alien way better than I was expecting. I didn't hate it, honestly. The songs in this movie were great and Zed's plotline was immaculate. Every scene featuring Zed was a highlight, as a matter of fact. The werewolves were also more likable in this movie than in ZOMBIES 2. I think the first 75% of the movie was totally enjoyable, nearly perfect. The last 25% is where I had issues, and I think if there was more time given to Addison's decisions, it could have been much better. The movie actually would have benefitted from being 10 or 15 minutes longer, which is a rare opinion from me, who usually feels that movies drag. Overall, ZOMBIES 3 was a fitting end to the trilogy and gave a satisfying end to each character's journey.