Na, the origin of the virus in TWD hasn't been explained, and nor should it. It would just be the usual virus created in a lab somewhere bullshit. It's far more interesting, and scary, when the origin is mythical as it is in Romero's world. The monologue about "no more room in Hell" from Dawn, and this one from Day:
https://www.youtube.com/v/oFt74mAX4Ig
It all lends to the atmosphere. The accompanying background ambience of the wind howling throwing the cave they are in (which is a old storage mine that's still there called Wampum Underground in Pennsylvania) and the distant moan of a zombie. It's just a creepy scene that oozes atmosphere and a feeling of dread. I think that's the key to any horror. Location and sound. Cinematography too. They had the perfect lighting in that place given everything had to be lit from overhead lamps, which cast off stark contrasting shadows, so it was perfect.
Some of the earliest episodes of TWD touched on some of these elements and got them right, but have since been abandoned in favour of wacky cartoon hijinx and schlock action scenes. So much so, it can no longer be regarded as horror, if it even was to begin with, but it had the promise of it once.
I dunno man, I'll have to give it another go - I would have thought they would have had to by now, but I guess there's kudos to be had for getting the audience pull that they do without resorting to backstory. I quite like the pathogenic background element of zombie films and yes, Romero did this same thing (and even more to a degree) so I can't argue against your valid point... but each to their own and it is down to personal tastes I guess... and I always usually find this element interesting.
But aye, I proper get you like.
It is kinda two-fold, isn't it? It could be said that in the serialisation of a zombie epidemic, tracing the cause would be a bad thing? Without this element, I mean... you could pretty much take the story in any way you want without having to set out any rules or conventions - so it could be bad for the overall production in terms of 'tying the tiger down' (from a studio perspective).
I go back to 28 Days Later for this example - first thing DB was to set-out the rules.
It came from human-simian experiments and this is the argument most lean on when they say it isn't really a zombie film. I get that, and wouldn't argue against it, the beauty of the genre is that you get what you make of it. A member of the clergy could see it as judgement day, a scientist could see it as natural selection (or some twisted form of it), an everyday Joe could see it as a government plot... etc... etc..
But, 28 Days Later set out its rules and one of the reasons I am in the 'it's a z-film' is a simple as this: if it is 'cannibalistic' in nature, if it rots, if it groans, if it can carry and infect, then to me, regardless of the artistry applied, it's a z-film. You know... in my book, there's no such thing as originality, it's just how you cook it and present it (hate using cookery analogies, but they fit so well in films and drama).
So 28 Days Later... it has rules and as a viewer you
know that in the day, the characters are mostly safe. You know that infected folk will turn very quick... you know that it has nothing to do with the supernatural and you also know that the infected will starve and die (albeit, by the end of the film), so there's hope. There's also an element of finding a cure, as mostly anything made my man can be reverse-engineered. So it puts a timer on the clock, and this can have a great effect on the overall themes and character drives. One of the enjoyable aspects of z-films is 'What would I do?', hence the furore over social media when TWD first came out - "What would you do in a zombie apocalypse"... For our imaginations to run wild (ha!), you have to have some rules and that is apparent throughout the creative process I think?
TWD has shit all over many of the much-needed conventions and rules of the genre - it has re-written a few to good measure, but to me, it's a bit of a mess and akin to what GOT has done to Tolkien's lore. There's nothing wrong with that, and I realise that by stating this, I'm in fact going against my own personal and professional rules (that being, wanting to be 'original' should never get in the way of creative/artistic inspiration)... ha! I know, we're contradictory lifeforms and I accept that.
But while it may seem I'm going into one again, I think that this was and is my problem with TWD. I really dislike how some programmes set blurry rules in order to elongate the story/plot... it happened in Lost and countless other programmes. But we (as in British TV) re-wrote the rules on this with one of the most important TV serials of our time 'The Bible to me', in The Prisoner... so I'm not particularly adverse to this practice (to spin one more time).
Some folk will just enjoy TWD for the story of the week and the overriding arcs, but this is kind of what I was saying earlier - I don't
really like that in my z-films and while Romero didn't exclusively outline the origins of how his zombies came to come... I kind of like to think that perhaps,
just perhaps, The Crazies is somehow linked to this world (maybe just in my head, ha!). In my head, at least, the one-eyed scientist in Dawn of the Dead is in The Crazies at the start of the Trixie virus and sort of
set the flame to the Dawn of the Dead outbreak; and whilst I'm sure it's been discussed and disproved and someone could probably find a quote on it, I don't mind ignorantly allowing them to thematically crossover in this instance, because it could fit. But I haven't seen The Crazies for years and can't remember the links I'd made, I am probably wrong on so many levels.
I know that Romero's zombies effectively 'rise from the dead' and that everyone alive is inherently infected - regardless of whether they're bitten or not - but he cleverly re-wrote the rules with each installment and as we see in the timeline of his zombies... They go from marauding puppets of death (in Night), to at least sentient (to a degree in Dawn), able to learn and remember with training (in Day), and later, able to freely assemble and organise themselves (in Land). Less said about the rest of the series, the better I guess.
In addition, I'm not sure if this has been debated, and I'm not even sure of the veracity - but I've always thought that the zombie plague to be caused by a mixture of super-bacteria and a virus (both advertently or inadvertently human-made). I know folk say the lore of zombies come from just... viral outbreaks, and I'm probably just being an ill-informed zealot, but with humans becoming more and more 'used' to antibiotics, these so-called super-bacterias (MRSA and the likes), I think the lore of zombification is prescient. Some certain bacteria (especially 'old world' bacteria, can act 'zombie-like', lay dormant, pretend or seem to die, only to be resurrected; bacteria do not need a living host to survive and unlike a virus, can live a long time in water; again, I don't know if this is true, but I always thought that viruses find it harder to survive in our water (what with water treatment, industrialisation, medication and varying temperatures and environments).
So, in my z-film world (if you like), the actual 'cause' is some kind of bacteria which sets the foundations (re-animation of cells perhaps), mechanizes to break down the immune system and possibly CNS, feeds on brain matter, letting in other such opportunistic infections. Piggybacking on this would be some form of microbe or virus which then starts to eat away at muscles and the flesh (along with the bacteria) in a sort of 'race against time', or a Darwinist competition if you will. Now if that virus had characteristics like Rabies for example, not only would this turn the undead into ravenous psycho's, but along with the bacteria, would incite the infected to attempt to reproduce the dying cells by the simplest and brutal form, vis-a-vis, ingesting flesh and cells of healthy folk (like in mother nature).
So in turn, the bacteria is kind of 'first', the virus attempts or kills you, and then the bacteria re-animates you with the two working in tandem to survive, which would kind of need you to survive, albeit, at your weakest and most primal. (JJ Abrahms logic right there guys)
So in turn, I've always seen zombie's as a Petrie dish of various organisms, all working in combination AND competition to survive - this maybe goes against the lore, I know, but some animals and wildlife exhibit this very behaviour - look at Wales and Sharks - if they didn't have certain lifeforms helping them, they wouldn't survive.
This is the way I always lean on this - it is a mixture of various factors as opposed to one individual virus. Again, this is Hollywood thinking, I know, and I don't even know if viruses and bacteria could live together, but I'm sure there's someone out there who could hypothesise better than I.
But as they say, don't let facts get in the way of a good story and I guess viruses and bacteria could learn to live together in relative harmony - hence creating both infectious and contagious hosts. Which again, could possibly go against the rules set-out by Romero. Vis-a-vis, if one little bastard don't get you, t'other will... which in turn, will help their distant cousins... (I know, I'm in danger confusing myself here, but in my world Virus and Bacteria are cousins)
The reason I mention this is that, in the real world, with Zika (which scares the shit out of me and if you haven't seen the effects of Zika, check it out on Youtube), Dengue (pretty common, but still lethal and on the rise in the US), Marburg (a kind of European Ebola of sorts), super MRSA (as well as the new MRSA) and lastly the most fearsome of all, AIDS... they are all pretty lethal in their own right, and with the Contagion school-of-thought in mind, some of these could piggyback with other infections to create 'new' hybrid infections.
Not original, I know, I think I've watched or read something somewhere that hypothesises that if Marburg and Influenza somehow had a baby, it could be the end of humankind - but don't quote me on that.
So to me, it is scarier when you do apply some twisted Frankenstein-like kind of mindset to z-films and I wouldn't be surprised if TWD did, in fact, go down that route as films like Outbreak and Contagion are
scary as shit. We're more scared of things that we can't see than what we can (although not exclusively) and as evidence by Jaws, yes, the sight and sounds of a zombie would put the shits up me, but at its core, I'd fear being
infected, as that would drive your deepest and primal survival instincts.
Romero's Dawn (and Night to some degree) kind of hooks onto this in the tower block scene (and I think WWZ does too in one scene); a woman sees her husband, his colour is off, she knows something is up, yet she runs into his arms not knowing she could be infected... or even eaten I guess. But if you re-did that scene wherein the rules of infection are set and widely-known, she'd have run out of the window to get away from 'Clarence' (is that is name?).
We're attuned to fear the sick! It is when we learn about modern medicine and compassion, and 'what kind of sickness it actually is' where and when our fears are allayed. It is my understanding that some primates don't care for their communal sick, they just kill them or ostracise them - a section natives and indigenous folk (especially in certain parts of Asia/Oceana) still ostracise the sick with some even reported to burn people who exhibit 'blood signs from the eyes, ears and/or mouth', no questions asked... I don't have specific evidence to support this, but I have read this somewhere at some point in my life.
So while I apologise for the convoluted reply, I disagree... I think that having the rules set-out and showcased, can be scarier. And if, like in Dawn, everyone is inherently infected with the 'bacteria' (that re-animates), and they knew that if they got the 'virus' part of zombification,
or even just died (and possibly infected by being part-eaten in death), then you'd have a more chilling and thrilling experience, as well as horrifying. (that makes sense in my head, but I know I haven't 'fleshed' that out)
And I think that this is why I'm personally perplexed with what I've seen in TWD so far - it is horrifying, you know... some of the brutality and gore... but it does it chill or thrill me? No... it did thrill me at first for a bit, but then there's only so many ways you can kill a zombie or twist a family/friend relationship in this apocalypse.
Does it chill me? again,
not any more... There are only so many ways a zombie(s) can kill and chew on a human. So I wanted another level and I wanted
it fast. I didn't want to be simplistically
horrified, chilled, thrilled and romanticised in cycles, over and over again by the humans v zombie scenarios. I literally wanted to be treated to something a little bit more... and not be drip-fed drama in response to viewership figures, merry-go-round characters, video game tie-ins, spin-offs and public opinion... oh and then there's a social engineering on part of the production companies social media lackeys.
Give me a good fucking rounded story with all elements on all fronts in a 'believable' and adult manner. Kids love TWD and I can't help but feel that the producers are trying to build a dynasty-like world with TWD. The CGI makes it seem cartoon-like at times and me as a viewer was desensitised by the second series and felt like I was watching a 'goop opera' of sorts. Again, I don't have anything to back it up, but if I were George Romero, I'd be well miffed at TWD - he is the godfather of z-films, no bones about it, if you were in his position, you'd be miffed!
Also, before we all die, I guarantee there'll be a mainstream TWD cartoon with cute characters and moralistic tales of the human condition - I'll put my braaaaaaaiiiiinnnnssss on it.
Spoiler
This is on a bit personal level, and I'm it is gonna seem petty, but...
You wouldn't expect anything else from one of the producers in particular (I'm not sure if this producer is still on it or not) - but this producer is a cretinous zombie and a lot of the cut-throat shit that they pulled will come out one day. Literally, put families on the bread-line because of their attitude toward 'the help'. A dinosaur of the industry, I have a personal disdain for this person on the level of Thatcher and Raegen. One day, mark my words, that person's antics in the '80s will come back and bite them on the arse (no pun intended). A demonic viper who infects those around, I shudder when I see this person's name on the screen - a hack! a phoney and a downright lying twat of a human.
Lauded as one of the pioneers of in Hollywood, their antics around the time of Alien Nation (when their phoney-relationship with was laughably breaking down) is the stuff of horror itself. I'm not sure if there's anything on the internet about it, but this person is obsessed with the Gunners, is a massive proponent of Thatcherite-Raegenite policies, and allegedly has dislike of anything Irish. I've only had second-hand information on this, and they may have changed their ways - but this person had an eight-man team of English/Irish folk sacked on the spot because they refused to do a 16 (or 18) hour day on set without seeking union approval. No warnings, no union, no second chances, this person got rid of them like they were zombies or Aliens. The same apparently happened on two other 'shows' (films of here), and I wouldn't be surprised if there were more hatred for this person, than liked.
Maybe this is one of the reasons I do not like the programme, I dunno, but while you can't measure a person today by yesterday's standards (or a programme for that matter), this person is a torrid fake who wields power like a little child. Also, as I've said, a massive armchair fan of soccer since the early '80s, it really wouldn't surprise me if this person is a massive supporter of Trump and Brexit.
I've put this in spoilers because not only do I have anything to back this up, but I wouldn't give it a 'windy turd' on a rainy day... blood runs thick and I can't help but feel that the very projects that this person takes on, reflect this persons view of the world. It disgusts me to even think about it!!!