Barbara's Trauma in NOTLD (1990): More Than Just Shock?

Okay, so I just rewatched the 1990 Night of the Living Dead and, as always, Barbara's performance really got to me. It's easy to write her off as catatonic after Johnny's death, but I think there's something deeper going on. It's not just shell shock; it's like she's chosen to dissociate. Hear me out, cause this might be a bit out there. Think about the scene where she's just staring at the TV while the zombies are literally banging on the windows. Sarah is hurt, Ben is trying to barricade everything, and she's just...gone. I don't think it's simply that she's frozen in fear. I think subconsciously, she's almost accepting it because the world has already broken down for her. Johnny's dead (in a pretty brutal way, might I add), so maybe, on some level, a world overrun by zombies isn't that much worse than the one where her brother is gone. It's a super dark reading, I know! And then you get to the end...I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but it's pretty bleak for Barbara. Does she even want to survive at that point? I think her arc is less about overcoming her fear and more about confronting the grief and trauma she experiences. It shifts from a survival narrative to a commentary on personal loss. The writers made it a bit more proactive for her in contrast to the original. I think its a more nuanced than people give it credit for, and Patricia Tallman absolutely nails it. Thoughts?