| I am Legend, Richard Matheson |
| Richard Matheson published “I am Legend” in 1954. Since then it has been republished several times and made into at least two movies, Omega Man (1971) and I am Legend (2007). It was most recently published in a collection of Matheson’s short stories title I am Legend in 1995 and re-released in 2007 to coincide with the movie.
In the book, Robert Neville finds himself the only survivor of a plague that turns people into vampires/zombies. He spends most of the book trying to kill them off, not be killed, and trying not to go insane. Since other characters are few and far between, Matheson writes a number of soliloquies for Neville in which he debates the social norms of society. For a piece written in the early fifties, it reads more like a book from the sixties that challenges societal standards. He questions the differences between good and evil, and who is actually evil. He also questions the morality of society including the increasing prevalence of sex in society. Hum, he would be really shocked by today’s standards.
For the connoisseur of the horror and apocalyptic genres, I am Legend serves as a seminal work. It introduces many characteristics exhibited in movies such as Dawn of the Living Dead, and Resident Evil trilogy. The zombies are difficult to kill, created by a plaque, have an unquenchable desire for human flesh, and avoid the light. If you are an apocalypse junkie, I am Legend is a must read.
I am Legend provides a unique opportunity to see the same story told from different viewpoints over a fifty year period. In the 2007 version of I am Legend, Will Smith plays Neville. Of the three versions, the Will Smith version offers the best action, but it does not address many of the social questions prevalent in the book and Omega Man movie version. The only issue addressed is man’s manipulation of organisms through genetic engineering. In this version a researcher has developed a super virus to fight cancer, but the manipulation has an unintended consequence, it creates zombies. In Omega Man, the disease is started by biological warfare, and in the book Matheson alludes to nuclear testing in the desert causing the disease to mutate. Both of the early versions take shots at the government’s military machine.
Omega Man packs action, but also contains commentary on several social issues included in the book version and then some. Both the book version of I am Legend and Omega Man challenge man’s right to use science to develop weapons that create unintended consequences. Both of these versions also challenge the demise of moral fortitude, and who has the right to determine what is acceptable and what is not.
While some of Matheson’s work does challenge racial tension (“From Shadowed Places”), it is not evident in I am Legend, but Omega Man definitely portrays racial tensions that were prominent in 1971. Charlton Heston, plays Neville, and kisses Rosalind Cash, and the viewer is led to believe that sex has taken place by offering frontal nudity of Rosalind in Heston’s bed. In 1971, sex between a Caucasian male and an African American female on the movie screen definitely challenged social norms of the day. Additionally one of the infected creatures was an African American in his previous life, and has a personal vendetta against Neville. Neville represents the white oppressive government, and Neville must be killed to end that biased power structure. In the Will Smith version of I am Legend, racial tension and sex are removed from the story.
Richard Matheson’s, I am Legend proves an interesting read especially if combined with the two movie versions. It provides lovers of the horror and apocalyptic genres with the beginnings of their favorite books and movies combined with a social punch. The three versions viewed together offer a unique opportunity to compare and contrast changes in social norms over fifty years.
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