Introducing the Outbreak Narrative
Evie Kendal writes that “the […] blockbuster film, Contagion (2011)” is guilty of perpetuating the “common ‘outbreak narrative,’” a term coined by Priscilla Wald, “in which a pathogen is introduced into the developed world via contact with migrants and visitors from low- and middle-income countries,” (Kendal 5) with American citizen, Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow), serving as the index patient whose business trip to Asia features the inciting incident related to the film’s virus.
Certainly, the film follows the trajectory Wald outlines as the audience witnesses the various perspective of the leading characters, all of whom are directly or indirectly impacted by the virus. Epidemiologists rush to identify the source of the pathogen(s) as well as “the means and routes of its transmission; journalists [scramble] to inform the public of the danger; and medical researchers [labor] to find a cure or at least produce a vaccine,” (Wald 1) even illustrating at points—after a vaccine is released—Wald’s claim that when an epidemic/illness proves to be less severe than initially anticipated, the cultural anxieties it evokes only serve to reinforce “the powerful conventions of the story of disease emergence and containment” (Ibid 271n5).
Throughout the film, those who attempt to delineate emergency procedures—such as Kate Winslet’s Dr. Erin Mears—are consistently faced with resistance. As Mears, an epidemiologist, attempts to educate a boardroom full of other scientists and government officials about fomites and the importance of handwashing, the validity of her expertise is immediately questioned and she has to insist further that, yes, “the average person touches their face [2,000] to 3,000 times a day […] three to five times every waking minute,” (Soderberg) an ominous omen as to how quickly her advisements will actually be mandated by skeptical bureaucrats.
Subverting the Trope?
The outbreak narrative is spoofed within the final minutes of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020) when it is revealed that Borat is the biological agent responsible for spreading COVID-19 across the globe.
There are aspects of Sacha Baron Cohen’s tactics that are questionable, perhaps, but the method(s) he utilizes are effective and doubtlessly political. His Twitter account illustrates that the film’s release, just weeks before the American presidential election, is a conscientious choice. Indeed, even the current US President criticizes Baron Cohen, calling him phony; now, I will forgive my 16-year-old self for not understanding the concept of satire, and perhaps I should not be shocked that the incumbent president is unable to conceptualize that “‘phony guy’” and “‘a creep’” (Selleck) are terms he is using to describe a fictional character, whose function is to use overt racism and cultural shock-value to lull interviewees into a state of comfort where they will feel unencumbered with revealing their own prejudices, and deeply uncharacteristic of Baron Cohen.
Baron Cohen fires back on Twitter saying “I appreciate the free publicity for Borat. I admit, I don’t find you funny either. But yet the whole world laughs at you. I’m always looking for people to play racist buffoons and you’ll need a job after [the election],” (@SachaBaronCohen, Twitter, 24 Oct 2020) an offer he later rescinded, days later, based on the president’s “tragic and sad” (@SachaBaronCohen, Twitter, 7 Nov 2020) performance.
My visit to US&A make me realize that greatest threat to Kazakhstan is no longer the Jew. It is, in fact, the Yankee.
borat sagdiyev
Each of his moves is carefully balanced with his Borat persona—as with myriad character personas he so fluidly embodies—so when Borat says, “my visit to US&A make me [sic] realize that greatest threat to Kazakhstan is no longer the Jew [sic]. It is, in fact, the Yankee,” (Woliner) we can read this in direct contrast with Baron Cohen as a celebrity figure and political activist. Baron Cohen is a Jewish, Cambridge-educated scholar who deftly straddles the “elite-masses dichotomy” (Arthurs 92) with his unique, politically motivated, comedic stunts. In a speech given in November 2019 he suggests that “[i]f Facebook was around in the 1930s, it would have allowed Hitler to post 30-second ads on his ‘solution’ to the ‘Jewish problem’” (@CoffeeForever5, Twitter, 26 Oct. 2020). He cites a specific incident to illustrate how anti-Semitism, for example, proliferates on platforms such as Facebook:
Zuckerberg speaks of welcoming ‘a diversity of ideas,’ and last year he gave us an example. He said that he found posts denying the Holocaust ‘deeply offensive,’ but he didn’t think Facebook should take them down ‘because I think there are things that different people get wrong.’ To quote Edward R. Morrow, one ‘cannot accept that there are, on every story, two equal and logical sides to an argument’. We have, unfortunately, millions of pieces of evidence for the Holocaust. It is an historical fact and denying it is not some random opinion. Those who deny the Holocaust aim to encourage another one.
(Sacha Baron Cohen via @CoffeeForever5, Twitter)
Deftly analyzing pre-COVID social media, Baron Cohen states that “conspiracy theories once confined to the fringe are going mainstream. Hate crimes are surging, as are murderous attacks on religious and ethnic minorities. All this hate and violence is being facilitated by a handful of internet companies that amount to the greatest propaganda machine in history” (@CoffeeForever5). Attacks and violence which have only been exacerbated by the pandemic. Indeed, Jennifer Latson suggests that “the Coronavirus pandemic is a particularly fertile breeding ground for” conspiratorial thinking because “[i]t’s terrifying, not well understood, and happening on a massive scale,” leading to, what she calls, “pandemic-level panic” (Latson 37).
Baron Cohen utilizes his celebrity capital to orchestrate elaborate political stunts, such as performing undercover at a right-wing militia event. Part of this performance is featured in the film but reports over the summer showed the full video including some disturbing lyrics (see below). I will examine aspects of the rhetoric of the Wu Han flu in a forthcoming blog post.
Bringing it Back to Wald
The pinnacle moment of the film may just be the final sequence, as the film suggests that privileged Americans are the ultimate threat to their own nation, perhaps even the greatest global threat. The American man is giving the ‘O.K.’ hand-symbol now widely acknowledged as an identifier of the resurgent Nazi movement; the ‘Karen’—wearing an All Lives Matter shirt—who refuses to wear a mask is a direct reference to those who are risking the lives of others in their attempts to make a statement about their own bodily authority.
It is statistically proven that the more vulnerable segments of society are disproportionally impacted by this pandemic. Since “racialized and low-income people are infected at rates widely disproportionate to their populations, not for any epidemiological reason but because of historical and economic disadvantages,” (Groen 35) it would seem as though they have the most to gain from following the safety procedures in place. In fact, dissenters are often those who are in a privileged enough position to be able to afford the luxury of taking an anti-mask stance, for example. It is frequently those aforementioned conspiracy theorists who make up a sizeable portion of the anti-masking community.
This is dangerous since “[b]elievers of the many competing theories about the coronavirus have one thing in common: an unwillingness to follow the guidance of public health officials […] and colleagues. […] People who [buy] into these theories [are] less likely to engage in social distancing or to support public health policies aimed at limiting contagion,” (Latson 40) therefore those with the most at risk are, clearly, not those who are desperate to claim victory in the battle against science.
Therefore, when Wald beckons us to analyze how “the conventions of the outbreak narrative shape attitudes towards disease emergence,” and calls for a “social transformation […] [with] more effective, just, and compassionate responses” (Wald 3) it is scholars and activists who can identify some of these conventions are they are being utilized in this, truly, unprecedented medical age, and perhaps catalyze the transformation.
Works Cited
Arthurs, Jane and Ben Little. Russell Brand: Comedy, Celebrity, and Politics. London, Palgrave, 2016.
Burnett, Steve. “Sacha Baron Cohen trolls redneck rally”. YouTube. 27 June 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb5dQycDnPE&feature=emb_logo
@CoffeeForever5 (Black Lab Coffee). “The shortened version of […].” Twitter. 26 Oct. 2020, 7:55 p.m., https://twitter.com/CoffeeForever5/status/1320876788608692224
Groen, Danielle. “How to Vaccinate 38 Million People: The Logistics of Building the Fastest Inoculation Program in History”. The Walrus. Volume 17, No 8. Jessica Johnson, editor. Glenn Harvey, illustrations. Nov/Dec 2020: 28-35.
Kendal, Evie. “Public Health Crises in Popular Media: How Viral Outbreak Films Affect the Public’s Health Literacy”. Medical Humanities. Nov. 2019: 1-9.
Latson, Jennifer. “The False Believers: Why Are So Many People Drawn to Conspiracy Theories in Times of Crisis?” Psychology Today. Kaja Perina, editor. Edward Levine, illustrations. Nov/Dec 2020: 34-41.
@SachaBaronCohen (Sacha Baron Cohen). “Donald—I appreciate the free […].” Twitter. 24 Oct. 2020, 2:46 p.m., twitter.com/SachaBaronCohen/status/1320074185268469762
— “Donald—you’re out of work […].” Twitter. 7 Nov 2020, 12:28 p.m., twitter.com/SachaBaronCohen/status/1325127878695137281
Selleck, Emily. “Sacha Baron Cohen Claps Back at Donald Trump’s Comments about ‘Borat’: ‘You’re A Racist Buffoon’”. Hollywood Life. 25 Oct. 2020. Updated: 25 Oct. 2020, hollywoodlife.com/2020/10/25/Donald-trump-sacha-baron-cohen-borat-prank/
Wald, Priscilla. Contagious: Cultures, Carriers, and the Outbreak Narrative. Durham, Duke University Press, 2008.
Film
Soderberg, Steven (dir.) Contagion. Warner Bros. Pictures. 3 Sept. 2011.
Woliner, Jason (dir.) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Sacha Baron Cohen (writer, actor). Four by Two Films. 23 Oct. 2020.
Images
@BoratSagdiyev (Borat). Twitter. twitter.com/BoratSagdiyev/header_photo
Gentinetta, Claudius (header image). Hysteria [1968]. Edition Moderne, Zürich, 2000.
Ghosh, Antara (cover art). Pandemic! COVID-19 Shakes the World. Slavoj Žižek, author. New York, Polity, 2020.
@inihelene (ines helene). “now what the fuck is this […].” Twitter, 14 July 2020, 12:24 p.m., twitter.com/inihelene/status/1283074886613835777
defective princess 