Contagion, a 2011 Hollywood film by Steven Soderbergh starring Matt Damon and Kate Winslet to name a few, is premised on a pandemic dystopia where a deadly virus gets transmitted to disparate American states from China and eventually, turns into a worldwide pandemic. The virus gets exposed to the world upon the patient-zero Beth Emhoff’s death after her return from a business trip in Hong Kong.
It is apparently one of the most-watched and recommended movies during the lockdown situation amidst the ongoing Corona outbreak. Thanks to Amazon Prime that Contagion, not an otherwise well-known film, reaches the peak of its popularity during the times of Covid-19. Beyond doubt that people locked inside their respective homes for days may seek for some breather by streaming incessantly on the OTT platforms.
Given the lack of avenues to channelize worrying thoughts and the possibility of the circumstances getting worse during this pandemic, it is extremely important to choose the content wisely. Notwithstanding the cinematic credibility, the following are the pressing three reasons for avoiding the thought-provoking pandemic dystopia.
1. Increases the stress quotient
Needless to say, in these times of social distancing we barely get to meet our friends and acquaintances, and in certain cases even the family members. It amounts to an unexpected level of monotony and solitude paving ways for varying levels of mental stress. It is only human to tend to break off the daily stress cycle and divert minds by taking resort to entertaining visual contents, available on the OTT platforms. But Contagion, rather than providing with an escape route amidst the tension, exposes one to greater levels of stress which can easily be avoided, at least for the time being.
2. Uncanny situational similarities
Not to give away spoilers, there are uncanny similarities between the reel portrayed in the film and the real occurrences of the present times. However, Contagion still should not be equated to the realities on the ground. In fact, despite the similarities in terms of the probable genesis of the virus in China and the portrayal of an overall pandemic situation, the nitty-gritty of handling the situation is more complexed and nuanced in nature and may even be more challenging.
Factually speaking, the dissimilarities between the two scenarios in terms of a relatively lower death rate in the case of Covid-19 and lack of yet available vaccination for it are also striking as much as the similarities. Thus, confusion between the two may generate further misperceptions, caused due to uninformed assumptions based on the portrayal of the film and may induce unnecessary panic situations which are highly redundant at this point in time.
3. Provoking illusive imaginations through an ethnocentric lens
Have you ever wondered why does a Godzilla or King Kong only attack an American city? Or even better, why do only Americans fight the aliens and face the worst of natural calamities? No wonder, the Hollywood production houses find it convenient when the problems are shown and dealt with in some of the biggest American cities. In the same breath, if we talk about a pandemic situation like this, does this seem reasonable to put an American lens to it when we sitting in India are grappling with our unique sets of problems on a daily basis, ranging from stranded migrants to the dearth of health infrastructure in dealing with the situation?
You may disagree with such disclaimers to the film and it is only fair for you to make the choices the way you want. However, unhappy situations call for the greater lookout for authentic information and relieving content than baseless illusive imaginations in an age of fake news, the rapid spread of misinformation, and scary immersive imageries.
Agree to disagree with me? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.