The Flu (2013)
A PSA for coughing into your elbow.
This introvert is currently living her best life right now, tucked away from all the other people and feeling very productive being able to work from home. But watching films like Contagion and The Flu makes me feel worried and paranoid about how bad the Coronavirus epidemic might get. And I imagine many others are experiencing that same worry. On our Contagion episode of The Strategic Whimsy Experiment, Jennifer and I discussed the part that media and film can play on people’s responses to current events.
As more people watch movies about pandemics, I wonder if they will take precautions to make themselves safer or if they will lean into the fear and hysteria that can quickly rise from these stories.
It was very interesting watching The Flu a week after I watched Contagion, a few days after the first reported cases in my area, and a day after President Trump’s national emergency declaration. A week ago, people in my corner of the DFW Metroplex weren’t too worried about Coronavirus reaching them. It was a very “Don’t mess with Texas” type of response that has now faded into fear and panic.
Both The Flu and Contagion were disturbing and fear-inducing in their own ways. The…
