The film Plague beautifully shows how much evil they can commit to spread nonsense and mistrust of experts. Credit: Warner Bros.
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From the very beginning, the film industry has been spewing out many catastrophic or even apocalyptic films, of various kinds and qualities. We have witnessed Martian attacks, massive volcanic eruptions, meteorite strikes, zombie apocalypse, and, of course, various pandemics.
Now that film reality has materialized right before our eyes, we can assess whether it makes sense to watch such films when a real pandemic occurs, although, at least for now, without voracious zombies and Martian tripods. It’s amazing material for psychologists, and we probably shouldn’t be surprised that they picked up this thrown glove.
Coltan Scrivner. Kredit: coltanscrivner.com
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Experts have previously tried to find out why people like to watch such films, but similar efforts have not led to anything very interesting. Now Coltan Scrivner of the American University of Chicago and his colleagues have started, but they have taken it from a slightly different end. They wondered if watching post-apocalyptic and especially pandemic films could work as a preparation for a real pandemic situation.
When the pandemic asks, what movies have you seen? Credit: Warner Bros. / Wikimedia Commons.
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Scrivner et al. to find out if films such as Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion in 2011 helped people in some way during the pandemic. During the research, they used the online platform Prolific, which virtually connects scientists and volunteers in experiments. They included a total of 126 such paid volunteers in their study, who interviewed their taste in movies, their feelings during the pandemic, and whether they had seen the Plague.
Research by Scrivner’s team has shown that people who have recently seen post-apocalyptic films are more resilient in a pandemic situation. It seems that some scenes of these films psychologically “prepare” their viewers for situations that suddenly occur in real times during the covid-19 pandemic. Horror films had a similar effect, giving people the ability to better manage stress and unusual situations, especially in the early stages of a pandemic.
All indications are that post-apocalyptic and scary films, if they are of any quality and not an unwanted parody, offer viewers the opportunity to “train” to handle bizarre or even extreme situations. It is not very likely that the viewer will ever really apply such skills, but coronaviruses have taught us that it is better to undergo such training anyway. It is quite possible that this, for many, somewhat unexpected contribution of post-apocalyptic and similarly chilling films / books / comics / plays / of all possible is behind the unceasing popularity of these genres.
Video: Contagion (2011) Official Exclusive 1080p HD Trailer
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