Who gets the protection of a wall, who doesn’t, and who gets to decide are questions the show’s characters have had to grapple with long before Season 7’s midseason premiere, “Rock in the Road.” Often, it’s Rick & Co. who find themselves at the mercy of strangers behind walls. Lucky for them, few have ever turned them away. As one leader of a walled-in community says in this episode, The Walking Dead’s heroes are essentially “refugees,” roaming across violence-ravaged southern America in search of a more stable, safer life.
That phrasing might not have been controversial two months ago when The Walking Dead went on winter break. Now, our culture’s so rancorous even cookie-cutter Budweiser commercials spark boycotts for daring to depict an immigrant’s story. Labeling the gun-toting, tribe-oriented, white male-led American heroes of the show “refugees” feels almost bold in Trump’s America. Almost.
It’s certainly a strange time for one of conservative America’s favorite shows.
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