Noah's Death Scene in The Walking Dead
Dabian Witherspoon
March 22, 2015 (updated)
The Walking Dead (2010-)
Season 5, Episode 14
Creator: Frank Darabont, Angela Kang
Company Credits: AMC
Genre(s): Drama, Horror, Thriller
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: 44 min
Data Source: IMDb.com
The "Spend" episode of The Walking Dead is deeply troubling, as it reveals the demise of the teen character Noah, portrayed by Tyler James Williams. Noah's death scene is overly graphic and grotesque. This might have resulted from the supposedly harmless insensitivity that comes from white privilege, even though The Walking Dead may be one of the most diverse shows on television. It could have been purely unintentional. Nevertheless, the devaluation of Black lives is so deeply rooted in this nation that we have been conditioned to be all too comfortable with the deaths of Black people, especially Black males; hence, even fictional stories portray this subject matter as normal, not tragic—at least not beyond the superficial. Throughout our nation's history, too many Black people have had their human possibilities physically destroyed. Comparisons to the deaths of teens in horror films and arguments about driving the story forward fall short, especially since Noah is the only child (non-adult) character in the series whose death has been depicted so graphically.
Noah's death scene reminds me too much of real-life lynching photography compiled in Without Sanctuary and fictional "comic violence," as the documentary Ethnic Notions phrases it. In the latter, stories feature the gruesome deaths of Black children, referred to as pickaninnies, who are blown up or eaten by wild animals for the enjoyment of white racists. Now, reflect on Blackface minstrelsy, which ridiculed Blacks. It was this country's first form of widespread popular entertainment. Its popularity among whites during the antebellum period stemmed from hatred and the notion that Blacks could never be equal to whites, no matter how many of us gained our freedom. The same mockery of Black people's humanity and the same violence directed at Blacks, including Black children, continued through the modern civil rights era, and it resurfaces today. Consider recent developments involving the deaths of Black people, including children, at the hands of police officers and racists within the last ten years. Think about the resulting public outcry and the "Black Lives Matter" movement. After viewing the aforementioned resources and reflecting on the current state of affairs in our nation's racial climate, reassess the level of insensitivity involved in Noah's death scene.
Of course, there is the argument that numerous horror movies such as A Nightmare on Elm Street have killed entire groups of teens. However, film is a more temporally limited medium than television, and the audience goes into such a movie experience not only expecting these murders but expecting to see these people dispatched by innovative means never seen before. In numerous cases, the antics of killers such as Freddie Krueger and Jason Voorhees as well as their victims are so absurd that it becomes comical, whether intentional or not. Take for instance the scene in which Jason peeks in on a girl who is lying inside a tent. Instead of trying her best to escape, she zips up the sleeping bag over her head as if that would make him magically disappear. Thus, a counterbalance to the darkness exists. Certainly, this is also the case in zombie movies such as Land of the Dead, and it is not limited to campy titles like Zombie Land. Although unique in its premise as it features a zombie bite survivor as the focal point, the television series Z Nation fits this mold as well.
Granted, the scenario in "Spend" was supposed to push our beloved survivor Glenn to an even more terrible place psychologically. However, the fact that Noah is snatched right out of Glenn's grasp and dies on Glenn's watch should have been enough to establish that. The way the scene plays out borders on contrivance, to begin with, since Noah has not recovered from the leg injury that caused him to limp. Neither he nor anyone else who is unable to run quickly has any business going on a supply run. Moreover, the survival of any child in this apocalyptic world is a symbol of hope, and similar to Tyreese (who died in a recent episode), Noah is unwilling to embrace the "darkness" of his existence the way some of Rick's other group members have. Noah struggles to continue believing he is capable of surviving, and he fights to retain his humanity. None of this is lost on the rest of the group, certainly not Sasha (Tyreese’s sister) and Glenn. The group simply needs to be reminded on occasion. Sadly, characters who serve as the “voices” of reason ultimately do not fare well in this franchise.
If Noah was going to die, he should have been allowed to serve as Glenn's "right hand" for a while longer, but even that would have only made sense after Noah had fully recovered from his leg injury. Ultimately, the careless actions of Nicholas, a minor character, cause Nicholas, Glenn, and Noah to be trapped in two different sections of a revolving door. Then, Nicholas' even more selfish act sentences Noah to death, and Glenn is forced to witness it. Noah's last words are "Don't let go." All of this should have been enough to establish the connection between Noah and Glenn and Glenn’s internal struggle. Yet, the audience watches the walkers pull Noah away from Glenn and attack Noah from behind. As if that was not horrific enough, they press Noah’s body face-first against the glass as they separate his jaws, rip his face apart, and tear his body to shreds. Understandably, Williams stated on Talking Dead that he talked to his family and braced them for his character’s death scene before it aired.
Other than Noah, only two other teens have been eaten by zombies on The Walking Dead television series at this point: Jimmy and Zach, Beth's short-lived boyfriend. First of all, both of them are minor characters with limited dialogue and interaction with the key characters. While Noah is not a central character, he is an important character. He helps reintroduce us to Beth after her long absence, maintains a meaningful presence in the story, and reawakens Glenn’s consciousness.
When a herd of walkers overruns Hershel's property, the group tries to escape. Jimmy gets trapped in Dale's RV, and no one can save him. We only see two things clearly: walkers dragging him down and blood splattering on the window. On a supply run, later in the series, Bob's obsession with alcohol indirectly causes Zach's death. Bob picks up a wine bottle and sets it back on the shelf, causing it to collapse accidentally. Bob is trapped underneath, and Zach is bitten on the leg by a zombie after trying to free Bob. More zombies overtake Zach, and no one can help him because it happens so quickly. In this unstable building, an abandoned helicopter perched on the roof comes crashing down, and everyone except for Zach narrowly escapes. Although the deaths of Jimmy and Zach are terrible, they are nowhere near as graphic as Noah's. Their death scenes are not as long and drawn out as Noah's, either.
In short, the death of a Black child has been the most violent and horrific scene of The Walking Dead series. Yet, we are expected to take it lightly. We even joke about it. I first heard the "Everybody Ate Chris" joke on the subsequent Talking Dead episode before seeing the memes on the internet. I will not argue that children should never die in fictional stories, but the deaths of children should be handled with more sensitivity. For example, even The Walking Dead never shows the death of Morgan's son Duane, another Black child. Morgan tells Rick what happened; the series does not show us. Morgan explains that Duane was killed by Duane’s undead mother because sentimentality caused them to hesitate when she approached. However, deciding not to shoot that scene was more about convenience and brevity than sensitivity. Moreover, we never see Lizzie kill her sister, and later, we learn of Lizzie’s death indirectly. We hear a body collapse to the ground immediately after we hear a gunshot, but we never see Carol blow Lizzie's head off.
Rick shooting Carol’s undead daughter Sophia and Michonne slaying the Governor's zombified daughter do not count, either. Except for zombies, there have been no scenes depicting the deaths of children younger than Noah in detail, and there have been no scenes of walkers devouring them. Nevertheless, teens are children, not adults. The walkers occasionally consuming the living adults is macabre enough to sustain the horror aspect of the show.
The reminiscence of the countless murders of Black children and the vulgar entertainment value associated with it in fiction adds an even more troubling dimension. The argument that it is just entertainment is oversimplified. A perfect world will never exist. However, there can be more balance and equity. Entertainment has the power to influence people. Media has the power to either perpetuate stereotypes and misrepresentations or help us reshape how we view our society and its diverse people.