Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Romero's Dawn Novelization Explains Roger's Mental Break

  1. #1
    Fresh Meat
    Member

    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Posts
    20
    United States

    Romero's Dawn Novelization Explains Roger's Mental Break

    I noticed a good amount of threads over the years questioning Roger's arc in Dawn with some viewing it out of character from his behavior in the movie's first half. While I think the movie sets up his fall during Roger and Peter's first raid into the mall. Yes in this scene Roger dispatches zombies left and right with well placed gunshots but I think his attempt to hang onto his rifle the dead had grabbed through the sliding doors set him up as getting pretty reckless.

    But Romero also provided an in text answer for why Roger lost it. In Dawn's official novel when Roger is introduced he is said to be a combat veteran(presumably Vietnam). He's also said to have multiple medals and accommodations suggesting he saw some serious fighting. One could imagine three weeks of fighting the dead and violent living people in the streets of Philadelphia could trigger his reaction. In the book version Peter makes this direct connection during the trucks sequence as well.

  2. #2
    Webmaster Neil's Avatar
    Administrator

    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    nr London
    Posts
    16,369
    England
    Quote Originally Posted by deadhead412 View Post
    I noticed a good amount of threads over the years questioning Roger's arc in Dawn with some viewing it out of character from his behavior in the movie's first half. While I think the movie sets up his fall during Roger and Peter's first raid into the mall. Yes in this scene Roger dispatches zombies left and right with well placed gunshots but I think his attempt to hang onto his rifle the dead had grabbed through the sliding doors set him up as getting pretty reckless.

    But Romero also provided an in text answer for why Roger lost it. In Dawn's official novel when Roger is introduced he is said to be a combat veteran(presumably Vietnam). He's also said to have multiple medals and accommodations suggesting he saw some serious fighting. One could imagine three weeks of fighting the dead and violent living people in the streets of Philadelphia could trigger his reaction. In the book version Peter makes this direct connection during the trucks sequence as well.
    So he's having a bit of a break down...
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  3. #3
    Fresh Meat
    Member

    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Posts
    20
    United States
    So he's having a bit of a break down...


    I mean he definitely has a breakdown. In the novelization it looks like Romero was trying to set it up as a kind of PTSD episode. Roger's just seen some shit.
    Last edited by deadhead412; 28-Jan-2021 at 09:48 AM. Reason: i forgot to quote text

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •