Globalization

Contagion (2011)

 

A film that mirrors reality a bit too well following the recent Omicron variant and my own contraction of COVID-19, Contagion follows a fictional respiratory virus modeled after the real-world Nipah virus called MEV-1, as well as the differing reactions to such an outbreak. Whereas First Cow centers on the growth of a business based on dishonest foundations and American Factory focuses on a race to the bottom (where workers and regulations are undercut in the name of generating a better profit), Contagion is a trifle more abstract in its retelling of globalization.

It is no secret that a direct outcome of globalization and the expansion of markets is growth, both physically and metaphorically -- and this former often takes the form of the destruction of the environment for natural resources and land. As a result, humans are brought closer to exotic animals, allowing zoonotic viruses to mutate in order to jump between species. In this way, the very circumstances that lead to the need for a spatial fix are the same ones that have and will continue to lead to pandemics. 

The intermingling of the global and the local -- glocalization -- can also be seen in this film, primarily in its theme of human responses to a pandemic. It is of course an oversimplification to assume that everything local can be extrapolated out to a global scale. But human emotion and irrationality, especially in the face of fear, is a common denominator that seems to extend beyond cultural and regional barriers. The filmmakers seem to understand this exceptionally well, as even the tagline of the movie reads, "Nothing spreads like fear." A fantastic example of this fear is when a conspiracy theorist in the film begins spreading his "story" online of using a homeopathic medicine made of forsythia to cure himself. Though he was lying, people violently overload pharmacies in search of forsythia. Using these ideas, Contagion is both the beginning and end to the themes of globalization found in First Cow and American Factory: it is one of the first direct results of growing economics and the inevitable end result if we cannot curb our consumption. 

Just Stand Over There and Wave (Roger Ebert)

Contagion (Variety)