I watched Night of the Living Dead (1968) on Halloween and was surprised that the black guy was the only one portrayed as competent. I suppose part of the surprise was due to me assuming the movie was even older than that (1950s) because it wasn’t in color. (Then again, maybe they could do that because it was a horror movie and it just made it extra-scary for racists, LOL)
The “traditional gender roles” trope was definitely fully in play, though: the men fortified the house against the zombies while the women mostly sat around being useless, if not counterproductive.
Horror has always been a genre ripe for pushing social boundaries, and there’s been a lot of critical analysis about Night of the Living Dead as a critique on the Cold War and racism. So you’re not picking up on nothing, that was a purposeful casting and writing decision.
I watched Night of the Living Dead (1968) on Halloween and was surprised that the black guy was the only one portrayed as competent. I suppose part of the surprise was due to me assuming the movie was even older than that (1950s) because it wasn’t in color. (Then again, maybe they could do that because it was a horror movie and it just made it extra-scary for racists, LOL)
The “traditional gender roles” trope was definitely fully in play, though: the men fortified the house against the zombies while the women mostly sat around being useless, if not counterproductive.
Horror has always been a genre ripe for pushing social boundaries, and there’s been a lot of critical analysis about Night of the Living Dead as a critique on the Cold War and racism. So you’re not picking up on nothing, that was a purposeful casting and writing decision.