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As coronavirus spreads fear and panic across the world, streaming services have been observing a spike of interest in the 2011 movie Contagion. Starring Matt Demon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Lawrence Fishburne, the movie follows the outbreak of a deadly virus called MEV-1 and its disastrous impacts on society. Needless to say, in today’s context, Contagion is not a comforting watch. In fact, if the whole Coronavirus situation is already making you anxious, you should probably avoid Contagion. Because it will only make things worse.
In fact, the slogan of the movie is “Nothing spreads like fear” – and that is basically the goal of the movie. To scare and to educate. Over eight years ago, I wrote the article “Contagion”: How Disaster Movies “Educate” the Masses where I highlighted the main messages of this movie and the blueprint it lays it out for future epidemics.
Back in 2012, I found it important to analyze this movie because it is not simply a “scary thriller”. In fact, there is nothing entertaining about that movie. It is an educational video. It is an “ultra-realistic” depiction of a massive pandemic outbreak that takes place in real locations and that involves real organizations. Indeed, while the movie was directed by Steven Soderbergh, its narrative was shaped with input from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and various specialists.
To put things in context, the movie came out a couple of years after the H1N1 crisis in 2008. After months of panic and a mass vaccination campaign, some studies showed that the WHO and the CDC grossly overestimated the number of actual H1N1 cases and pushed a vaccine that many deemed unnecessary. A movie like Contagion was a good remedy for this tarnished credibility.
In 2020, the world faces another major epidemic scare and Contagionbecomes relevant again. Not only that, but mass media has also been casting a solid spotlight on it.
So, is Contagion accurate? Yes, more than ever. Let’s look at the main themes of the movie and how they are becoming a reality in 2020.
Contagion
The movie begins by showing the various ways a virus can spread across the world in a matter of days.
A guy who is feeling sick in Tokyo takes public transportation. And he’s touching things. And the population of Tokyo is 36.6 million.
Soon after, the virus reaches the United States and all hell breaks loose.
In Contagion, the public is depicted as rather idiotic and prone to panic.
In 2020, the coronavirus outbreak causing massive lines in stores as people stockpile various items.
In Contagion, as MEV-1 spreads in the United States, the American government flees to an undisclosed location and “looks for a way of working online”. In real life, the coronavirus scare has already reached the White House as several representatives (including Trump) were reportedly in contact with disease carriers. There are also plans for “working online”.
So, in Contagion, the American government basically goes into hiding and specific organizations take over (which happen to be the organizations that helped to create the movie): The CDC (Center for Disease Control), the WHO (the UN’s World Health Organization), FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), the American Red Cross and the U.S. Army.
Soon after, the State of Minnesota is placed in quarantine.
While, in 2011, the concept of putting entire states in quarantine was a fictional (yet plausible) scenario, it became a reality in 2020. As you might know, the entire country of Italy is currently in lockdown.
It is also beginning to happen in the United States as the National Guard was sent to New Rochelle to help contain a cluster of infections.
In Contagion, things go way further than “containment”. The government declares Martial Law and people are directed to FEMA camps.
After months of horror, panic, and death, a solution finally arrives: A vaccine.
In Contagion, the vaccine is not only encouraged – it is mandatory.
People who get vaccinated receive a bracelet with a barcode.
Those who wear the bracelet are allowed to go to public places such as shopping malls. Those who do not get vaccinated cannot go anywhere and they ultimately die.
And some people refuse to get vaccinated.
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