Army of the Dead scene that would not have happened because of Social Anxiety Disorder

Army of the Dead

Netflix’s Army of the Dead has a hilarious scene which would never happen if Deiter had Social Anxiety Disorder.

Zombie movies are quite the popular genre. Although they can be tricky to film and requires some really good costume/makeup, they are generally successful films to watch. Army of the Dead is a unique zombie movie because it groups zombies into the regular “bite whatever you see” type, but also the “we have a brain and a tiger zombie and are way more dangerous than you think” type. This made for a really cool storyline and a ton of action and suspense. We actually got to see the city of Las Vegas turned into a “kingdom” with established rule and structure developed by the “smart zombies.” There was a king zombie (probably the original who started everything), a queen zombie, and their followers. Beneath the followers were the regular “dumb” zombies. Batista and his group were in for a rude awakening when entering the zombie kingdom.  

Social Anxiety Disorder

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) could have had a significant impact on one of the scenes for our “Las Vengeance” team in Army of the Dead. Before we get into which scene specifically, click here to learn a quick thing or two about what SAD is and how annoying it can be. 

Exam crunch version… People with SAD are: 

• Scared to be judged negatively by others
• Terrified of being embarrassed or humiliated
• Filled with anxiety over the fear of being judged and embarrassed
• Are shy and do not like speaking in public; they don’t like being in the spotlight
• May have some of the following symptoms:
  • Bright red facial blushing
  • Heavy, profuse sweating
  • Trembling hands
• Zombies don’t have SAD. That’s the one advantage they have over us!

The Social Anxiety scene from Army of the Dead

Movie: Army of the Dead, 2021 

Scene: Batista and his team meet with Mr. Tanaka to review the plan 

Anxiety Provoking Event: Dieter asks obvious/silly questions in front of entire group, including people he wants to make a good impression on and people of authority.  

**If Dieter had Social Anxiety Disorder, this comical scene would not have happened, therefore robbing us from the already little comedy that this movie has. Additionally, the emphasis on killing zombies by head trauma only would not have been revealed. 

Background

Dieter is clueless when it comes to violence. He has never killed a zombie (or anyone for that matter). In fact, he was selected for this mission only because of his abilities to crack open the world’s most sophisticated safe. Otherwise, he would have been useless to Batista and the team. The prequel to this movie, Army of Thieves, has shown us that Dieter is a boring job, stay at home on Friday night, comfortable from the couch, less than exciting type of personality. He gets nervous before missions, he screams like a little girl, and chooses the worst times to tell a woman how he feels. Simply put, Dieter is oblivious to anything that is unrelated to safe cracking. 

The Embarrassing Social Anxiety Provoking Questions  

While standing in a room full of experienced zombie killers and bad-ass assasins, Dieter asks two questions: 

1. How do we kill zombies?
2. Can we smash their heads with a rock?

The response to Dieter’s first question came from Batista, who is the leader of the group. Although it was an obvious question which provoked some laughs and smirks from others, he informed Dieter that the best way to kill a zombie is by shooting them in the head. He made it very clear that a shot to the head will do the trick.

Dieter, being uninformed about all this, follows up Batista’s response by asking the second question; if smashing a rock to the zombie’s head would also kill it. This question also provoked a few smirks and chuckles from his peers as the obvious answer was a resounding “yes.” 

The Presence of others 

Asking “silly” questions is bad enough, but asking in front of others who you want to get along with and earn their respect makes it even worse. As I mentioned above, Dieter was in a room filled with experienced zombie killers, expert marksmen, and tactical masters. Really some of the bravest people he has ever met were in that room with him. One person he thought was really cool was Vanderohe (the guy with the chainsaw). He kept trying to befriend him the whole time they were in Vegas, eventually saving his life at the end (or so he thought). The range of characters associated under Batista’s leadership really seemed to make an impression on Dieter, and surely, he wanted to make a good impression on them. Asking those “silly” questions probably didn’t help very much.  

Additionally, Mr. Tanaka and Batista are both people of authority, which makes it even worse when asking silly questions. People of authority have a way of making SAD sufferers (and everyone really) feel less comfortable, therefore there is a small chance that Dieter would have even asked those questions. 

If Deiter from Army of Thieves had Social Anxiety Disorder… 

If Dieter had Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), he would have been too embarrassed to publicly ask Mr. Tanaka, Batista, and the rest of the team how to kill zombies. Too many eyes would be on him, too many people there would have judged him negatively, and he would have been really embarrassed (especially when he hears people smirking and chuckling at his questions). This embarrassment would lead to the blush face, profuse sweating, and trembling hands.

And since everyone would see his sweaty red face, someone would definitely call attention to it/comment on it, which would make him blush and sweat even more. It is a really uncomfortable situation to be in because so many people would be watching him. For that reason, Dieter would not have asked those silly/obvious questions in public and would have saved it for a private conversation for later. Thus, this funny scene would not have ever happened in Army of the Dead.