Melissa Merchant

American Movie Classics’ (AMC) popular television series The Walking Dead (2010–present) transports viewers into an apocalyptic zombie dystopia where the lines between safety and precarity, being governed and governing, or being alive and/or dead slip and change. Utilizing Achille Mbembe’s term “necropolitics”, the article explores The Walking Dead’s representation of governance and power in terms of individual and group security. While the zombie has been understood as the liminal figure par excellence, The Walking Dead’s non-zombie characters illustrate diasporic liminality as refugees, hovering on or near the threshold of death. The scale of suffering or prosperity is determined by who leads or governs. Frequently, those deemed “in charge” exercise power and control to discipline, to punish, and to provide security. The series offers a metaphor for the potential uses of power in biological, environmental, or natural disaster situations where survivors grapple with scarce resources and the constant presence of death.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, theatres around the world closed and performances moved online. Consequently, when the musical Hamilton opened in March 2021 in Australia, it was the only version of the show being performed live on stage anywhere in the world and was marketed as a 'beacon of hope' for the performing arts industry [Crompton, S. 2017, Francis, L., and Ky, J. 2021, Millar, L. 2021]. Hamilton's story is based on White American grand narratives such as the War of Independence, nation building and a 'bootstraps' mentality, which have traditionally excluded persons of colour; however, the musical primarily features Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) performers. After its debut in the US, Hamilton was praised for its diverse storytelling [Clark, J. 2015. Gardner, E. 2015, Quinn, D. 2015.] and this narrative has been repeated for the Australian re-production. Through the lens of racial neoliberal inclusion, this paper explores the COVID-era Australian re-production of Hamilton, interrogating how diversity is performed and the impact the global pandemic has had on these performances. However, while the internal message of the show remains problematic, the depth brought by Indigenous performers in particular, marks a shift in Australian theatre culture.

This chapter draws upon existing approaches to screen violence to explore The Walking Dead’s challenging representations of death including controversial episodes where child characters die from fatal violence. We explore how the show positions viewers to interpret extreme violence, especially how violence is accepted or rejected within the narrative context. At times, the show’s narrative works to justify and/or legitimise an aggressor’s conduct, thereby minimising the likelihood of audience rejection of the narrative and/or backlash against the show. We draw upon key analytical tools from Revilla et al. (Communications 46(1):4–26, 2021) and Riddle and Martins (J Commun 72:33–58, 2021) to explore the context of fatal violence, punishment for violent acts, consequences, seriousness, graphicness and explicitness as well as justification and legitimation, particularly relating to child characters. How audience members are positioned in relation to violence may impact their views or understandings of violence or even how they may model certain behaviours in real life (Revilla et al., Communications 46(1):4–26, 2021; Riddle and Martins, J Commun 72:33–58, 2021). In this chapter we argue that violence leading to the death of child characters on The Walking Dead tends to contain low levels of graphicness and explicitness and is often combined with careful narrative justification or legitimation to explain the reasons for that death.

While there has been a concerted effort from academics and industry to improve the representation of disability in the media and similarly to facilitate access to media for people with disability, the topic of disabled media workers has not gained as much attention. The chapter presents this topic as a vital area of future research. Addressing the topic from a US, UK and Australian perspective the chapter argues that entering the media industry is particularly challenging for this group largely as a result of existing prejudices to disability and the notion that the media sector is particularly fast paced.