Absurdities of Epidemics in Movies
Epidemics are currently one of the hottest subjects in media. Many movies were made about such occurrences, few of them were good, and almost none were realistic.
Table of Contents
- Absurdities of Epidemics in Movies
- Safety rules? What for?
- Falling ill within 5 seconds
- Hold my needle
- Is this quarantine or is it prison?
Is this quarantine or is it prison?
The Crazies (2010)
What’s it about: a group of survivors seeking refuge in a world where a deadly virus turns people into psychopaths.
Is it worth the watch? Yeah, pretty much. It is not a masterpiece, but it's not a bad screening.
This is one of the more prevalent absurdities in films – depicting quarantine and isolation as some kind of inhuman prison in which the sick are treated worse than the inmates. If the authorities do indeed have the power to impose isolation (for sick people) or quarantine (for people who have come into contact with sick people) in a situation of particular epidemic risk, this procedure is usually done without the involvement of a SWAT team.
And so, breaking down the very first quarantine scene in The Crazies: unless she proved extremely dangerous to her surroundings, the patient suspected of infection would not be forcibly dragged into the facility. Inside, there wouldn't be soldiers armed to the teeth, but rather doctors. The doctors, in turn, wouldn't leave her terrified and in the dark, but would explain to her what was going on and what would happen.
Isolated patients aren't customarily held in prison cells like those depicted in Pandemic (2016).
