In the spring of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic effectively brought the world to a screeching halt. For the most part, we learned how to put down the to-do list and fill the days instead with leisure or reconnecting with long-abandoned hobbies and passion projects. There was no better time than 2020 to simply enjoy film and television without feeling guilty about neglecting productivity. In many ways, the adjustment to life without the burdens of participating in a highly commercialized society became a very comfortable prospect for people who redesigned their lives to honor community and personal contentment over external measures of success. That’s a whole other can of worms, and one which we could collectively explore through introspective and thought-provoking media such as film— should the film industry choose to explore the radically liberated philosophy of a generation of workers that came of age in the Covid era.
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So far, most movies and TV shows that have acknowledged Covid in their storylines have done so through characters having to wear masks, such as in Glass Onion, or directly referencing the lockdown and subsequent vaccination efforts, such as in You. Other projects have made Covid-19 the focal point of main storylines, with these often exploring the plight of overworked healthcare professionals or using the isolation of lockdown as an element of a greater MacGuffin device in its storytelling. Do audiences really care to see Covid depicted in the fictional media they consume? The exploration of this global pandemic could be a greatly cathartic experience for some viewers, but it is also possible that people just want to forget about this global disaster and enjoy the escapism that television and film offers.
The Effects of Covid in Hollywood and Beyond
Netflix
The term “unprecedented times” was thoroughly exhausted in the verbiage of corporate and academic emails and newsletters. Toilet paper was flying off the shelves for no good reason, and the background music of our lives was the endless loop of trending TikTok sounds. The lockdown was a strange time for the world, and one would not be likely to forget the shock and confusion in hearing the news of countries and institutions shutting down one by one. What do you mean Italy is closed? It was a wildly uncomfortable experiment in having our lives completely upended in ways we had no control over in our fight against a microscopic enemy. It brought us together as the concept of community had to take on new meanings, and tore us apart as vocal groups debated the legitimacy of epidemiology and science. As our personal lives were transformed, so too were entire industries.
When offices and non-essential businesses had to close their doors, Hollywood was no exception. Projects had to be put on pause or were entirely derailed, and the creative machine of Hollywood was forced into stagnation. The decision to do so was not a common consensus. While many celebrities called for unity in the lockdown, sometimes through corny renditions of John Lennon’s “Imagine”, others were called out for shirking Covid restrictions in pursuit of secret parties and social functions. Nonetheless, personal takes on the matter did not change the fact that Tinsel Town was closed for business.
When Covid restrictions began to ease up in light of breakthroughs with vaccines, creatives wasted no time in getting back to work, though film sets looked drastically different from before. Many production companies chose to enforce vaccination for all employees, including cast members. Covid diagnoses among cast and crew repeatedly halted projects and created logistical issues with filming. Though nearly three years have elapsed since the onset of the pandemic, the industry continues to work around the disruptive virus. James Cameron missed the Hollywood premiere of his long-awaited Avatar sequel, and Jenna Ortega recently drew backlash by revealing that she was positive for Covid while filming one of Wednesday’s most beloved scenes. With sets enforcing strict new rules to prevent the spread of coronavirus, some projects incorporated this reality into the art itself.
Movies and TV That Have Incorporated Covid Into Plots/Scenes
ABC
An early adaptation of Covid on screen was in the wildly successful Netflix series You, in which Covid is outright mentioned but also alluded to in a different storyline involving vaccinations. The episode drew some criticism from anti-vax activists who felt that the show was attempting to shame them for their beliefs, while the majority of viewers just took it as a realistic detail in the story’s timeline. Other productions began to do the same, with some making the pandemic a greater focal point. The freshly released Peacock movie Sick does not shy away from addressing Covid, with the slasher making the pandemic a central figure that directly affects all aspects of the story. It’s one of the most realistic portrayals of life in the spring of 2020 in the context of a film that isn’t necessarily about Covid.
Other releases have opted to make Covid an entire storyline of its own. Grey’s Anatomy made its entire 17th season entirely Covid-themed. Was this approach maybe a bit much? The stories of healthcare workers on the front lines of the worst pandemic in several generations undoubtedly deserve to be told; but would this be better explored through concise documentaries rather than a combined 11.6 hours of reliving an extremely difficult time in recent history for entertainment? In fact, is it all just too soon?
Acknowledging the Masked Elephant in the Room: Pros and Cons
Peacock
Some audiences may well feel that it is too soon to use the pandemic as a dramatic device. Say one has just experienced the loss of a loved one as the result of Covid-19. In the moments of leisure in which most of us enjoy movies and tv, do we care to be reminded of the ongoing disaster that has brought tragedy into our personal lives? Maybe the acknowledgment of Covid makes fictional media feel more real, but by the same token, maybe some audiences don’t want to face reality at this current juncture. The effects of Covid-19 are already all around us, so perhaps the silver screen and the home screen should be sacred moments of escapism.
Then again, a lot of these same movies and shows are not truly escapism. Many tackle a great range of real-world issues. One could hardly call You, a show about a sick creep that kills all his girlfriends, escapism. It draws our attention to the real life violent misogyny that women and femmes often don’t survive, as well as the general psychopathy that can exist in our own communities. If we can explore such dark topics as murder, sexism, etc., why not talk about a global pandemic? Some audiences may find the acknowledgment of Covid a therapeutic exercise in adjusting to a changed world. All in all, this discourse is the reason why it is important for these projects to exist in the first place. Watching a drama with masked characters may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but artists must always be free to explore what they please.
