Contagion - Final Upload

The film "Contagion" is about a rapidly spreading virus called MEV-1 that impacts people worldwide. It follows the lives of various characters, including Beth who infects her family after an affair, and Dr. Myers and Dr. Sheever who search for a cure. The film explores sociological issues such as panic, conspiracy theories, political corruption, and the collapse of social order. It raises questions about human behavior under pressure, the existence of societies without morality, and the impact of isolation. The film also touches on themes from Karl Marx and Emily Durkheim. The speaker chose this film because it reminded them of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hi, this introduction is on the drama and suspense film, Contagion. It's a 2011 film about a virus that is airborne and rapidly spreading. It has impacted people around the world. 2.5 million in the United States have died and 26 million worldwide. The virus is identified as MEV-1, and scientists have begun to search for a cure. The search for the origin of the virus was another highlight as Hong Kong was being inspected as the possible host. The film begins in Hong Kong, but the virus has no bounds and has reached many major cities around the world. The main characters are Gwyneth Paltrow, who is Beth Emhoff. She has an affair before coming home from Hong Kong and infects her partner and eventually her son and many others in transit from Hong Kong. Matt Damon, Mitch, husband to Beth. Beth was infected by a Hong Kong chef and eventually dies before a vaccine can be developed. Mitch is trying to process his wife's infidelity, her death, and family needs during this pandemic. Kate Winslet is Dr. Myers. She's searching for the origin of the virus and a cure. Lawrence Fishburne is Dr. Sheever. He's searching for the origin of the virus and a cure. He makes mistakes in judgment when ensuring his fiance has the vaccine, even though her number was not called in the lottery system which dispensed vaccines to identify people. Another character is a blogger who uses his platform to create fear, leading people to buy a product that he gains from. Later, it is clarified that he was out for financial gain and public influence and really did not care about people's lives. Millions followed him and believed him and would not take the vaccine and died. Sociological issues identified in the film, ordinary people lacking a sense of hope, micro decisions are being made that have macro effects on the world, conspiracy theories created by misinformation using multiple modems like blogs, greed, selfishness, which includes bending and breaking norms, political corruption is demonstrated, allowing people seemingly of more importance, giving them better opportunities than others, which is a Karl Marx sense of class systems. Inadequate preparation, which created panic, bullying, looting, violence, and quarantine. The use of lottery systems to determine who gets the vaccine. Concerns related to cities in quarantine and the effects of people alienate themselves. Revolts against those in authority occur when people needing to work together to find solutions isolate. Personal motives versus professional responsibilities and ethics was a concern. Again, not collaborating professionally with other countries. Some countries had bought lots of the vaccine for their country, hindering other countries from having adequate supplies for their cities. Collapse of social order during chaos is a reoccurring social theme. Some of the questions that I had about this film was, what causes people to act in similar and predictable ways under pressure? Without morality, can societies exist? Does isolation from people create destruction even in the mind? Do superstructures like education, family, mass media, politics, and religion understand and evaluate social behaviors from a standpoint of helping people or for selfish gain? Are revolutions often the result of one class dominating another? Are people punished in superstructures when they don't comply to societal norms? Social integration, in a sense. Many people today are working from home following a major pandemic in recent years. What will the impact of alienation create? Do the elite exploit proletariats, you know, called Marxist theme? How are Emily Durkheim's theories of order, social morality, and systems of religion demonstrated in the film? And the reason I chose this film because it had good actors and it reminded me of the U.S. experience with COVID-19 in 2019 all the way to present day. Thank you.