World War Z Analysis by Emin Galali

Do you believe in symbolism? Over the past few weeks, we have seen almost all conceivable and unthinkable reincarnations of the letter "Z". The attitude towards this is not ambiguous. For opponents of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, who are about 85% of the world's population, it is a symbol of aggression and a kind of talisman of black magic. For the majority of Russian residents who support their leadership and the Russian army, and a few of their supporters around the world, it is a symbol of valour and love for the Motherland.

Remembering the "Z", the people extracted from the depths of the memory everything they could, from the emblems of the military formations of Nazi Germany to the St. George ribbon. Russians display "Z" in flash mobs, even though it is prohibited by law. Someone organizes car rallies using "Z", and someone breaks windows and punctures the tires of cars using this letter. It all depends on where the events are taking place. In most countries, for honouring "Z" you can get a sock in the jaw, not to mention censure, but in Russia, it causes mostly joyful and welcoming emotions. The Russian army, striving for the "denazification and demilitarization" of Ukraine, has de-popularized the sign of Zorro (Z!!!), once beloved by millions of boys and girls and created additional problems for Catherine Zeta-Jones, who in the last version of Zorro played together with Antonio Banderas. The reputation of the once-popular blues-rock band ZZ Top has been ruined. Even the ubiquitous definite article "the", whose pronunciation resembles this letter, is in danger.

Joking apart, but they once again emphasize the depth of polarization. You can endlessly ask how we came to such a life. Why did Russia and almost the rest of the world find themselves in completely different positions, how did the world slide into a crater of confrontation comparable to episodes of the Cold War? Or rather, with its ice ages like the Caribbean crisis.

Some will say that there were no signs of trouble. Some will say that the conflict was inevitable. Institutionalized corruption flourished in Russia from the early days of the post-Soviet period, taking communist bribery to a new level. This was exacerbated by a perverted interpretation of liberal and democratic values, resulting in complete dependence on the West. From "Bush legs" (chicken legs supplied as humanitarian aid under Bush Sr.) to the deification of the IMF, which decided the fate of the next tranches of financial aid. Add here the rampant crime, the unlimited influence of the oligarchs who ruled the country (the infamous "seven bankers"), the drunken president, and the portrait of a tolerant Russia is complete. It was therefore received with enthusiasm when Vladimir Putin began, slowly but surely, to tighten the screws, giving the state back its functions, and restoring dignity to a deeply wounded people. Although corruption was not going anywhere, the West did not mind. Western partners were much more interested in the financial dividends of doing business in Russia. At that time, no one knew that when the new Kremlin masters, aligning the rudder after an unhealthy lurch that threatened the loss of their nationhood, would make such a sharp turn that their ship would head-on collide with the rest of the world. The West (not the "Z" in armoured vehicles, but the collective West) has been very inconsistent. In the beginning, it simply ignored Moscow's rapidly growing appetite (U.S. and European leaders were busy with Afghanistan and Iraq and then other experiments and the excrement that resulted from them) and then tried to combine flirting with pressure and threats. That's like throwing gasoline on a pretentious fire.

While discussing "fantasy about Z," we forgot about a fitting parallel. The movie with Brad Pitt based on the novel by Max Brooks has the scary title "World War Z". Not to be confused with "War of the Worlds" based on H.G. Wells starring Tom Cruise! In this film, events take place immediately after the appearance of an incomprehensible virus that turns people into zombies endowed with inhuman strength, prowling in search of food and at new recruits for their zombie army. The world was divided into two camps - humans and zombies. Doesn't that remind you of anything? There was a virus too, although COVID-19 didn't turn people into zombies. And in Russia, it seems, certain elements of zombification can be traced. There are no halftones there any more, and the "friend-or-foe" recognition system is in full operation, classifying the population of the planet into those who are with them and those who are against them. Oh, I forgot that in the new interpretation, the film is supposed to be called "World Special Operation Z."

The title of the movie and the book in the original is "World War Z." In English, the first and second world wars are World War I and World War II. It is unclear to me, for example, why the Russians decided to use the Latin version of the letters "Z" (and "V" for Vostok) instead of those from the Russian alphabet, while in this case using their own letters would have been more appropriate. But "Z" is the last letter of the English alphabet. In addition to referring to zombies, the title of the book could also allude to the fact that this is the last world war in the history of mankind. Or that the "Z" in this case replaces the number "3". We have not had a world war, and, God willing, we will not have one. But the war of the worlds is well under way. Or rather, the war of the Russian world against the rest.

Fancy a joke? World War Z, which at the time of its release was the most expensive zombie movie in history, was premiered in...Moscow. It was screened at the opening of the 35th Moscow Film Festival.