2nd DOTD (1979) Image Analysis

This scene in Dawn of The Dead (1979) is right at the end of the film when Fran & Peter escape in the helicopter. The picture shows Fran’s face relatively close up and really expresses the emotion in her face. Fran looks shocked that Peter made it out alive but also scared as I don’t think she knows what to expect now they are out of the mall. In the background of this picture we can see Peter sitting in the back of the helicopter looking relieved to still be alive after bravely changing his mind and battling against the zombies to escape the mall so Fran doesn’t have to be alone. This scene connotes feminism as back in 1979 woman were battling for rights to be treated equally with men. This image shows Fran as the more solid unemotional figure whereas Peter looks shaken up in the back of the helicopter with a look of fear in his face. This picture also shows how Peter is a male hero and reflects Romero’s anti-racist ideologies back in 1979 when America was still very racist, the concept of a male, black hero would have been shocking. But because Romero was half-Cuban, he wanted to include strong ethnic minority characters in his films.