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  • Bodies piling up so quickly it takes dump trucks to haul

    By ANDREW BRIDGES, Associated Press Writer Fri Apr 28, 4:45 PM ET


    WASHINGTON - Bodies piling up so quickly it takes dump trucks to haul them away. Barbed wire to keep whole neighborhoods quarantined. It's Hollywood's version of bird flu, a blur of fact and fiction that some scientists say could confuse the public.
    "Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America," an ABC made-for-television movie, airs May 9, just as scientists are to begin testing of wild birds in Alaska that could herald the arrival of bird flu in North America. Scientists fear the bird flu virus could evolve so it could be passed from human to human, sparking a global pandemic.
    The two-hour movie plays up that notion to the fullest, with a running ticker that tallies tens of millions of victims worldwide. In one scene, the bodies are thrown on a pyre, like the carcasses of cows torched in the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Great Britain. The producers of the movie, from the writer of 2002's "Atomic Twister," bill their work as a "thinking man's disaster film."
    "We call this a plausible, worst-case scenario. This could actually happen. It may not be this bad but it could be this bad. The reason to portray it this way is to kind of give a wake-up call to everyone and this is something we shouldn't ignore and we should be as prepared as we should be," said Diana Kerew, one of the movie's executive producers.
    Bird flu expert Michael Osterholm said the movie realistically portrays the shortages of goods and services, and some of the ensuing panic, that could occur in a pandemic. But Osterholm frets the blurring of information and entertainment could do the public a disservice and hopes to arrange a conference call with television critics before the movie airs to set the record straight. He singled out for criticism how the movie shows Virginia officials using barbed wire to fence off and quarantine entire neighborhoods.
    "This is too far important an issue to create further confusion in the public's mind," said Osterholm, who directs the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
    For the record, a spokesman for Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said the commonwealth has no plans to roll out cyclone fences and barbed wire. "We haven't done that since, oh, the '50s," joked Kevin Hall.
    "Fatal Contact" begins in China, where — in the movie — the bird flu virus has mutated to the point where it's being passed human to human. It's only when an American businessman — "patient zero" — prepares to catch a flight out of Hong Kong, after crossing paths with an infected factory worker, that the global pandemic really gets started. Playing supporting roles are a wadded-up cocktail napkin, stuffed olive and an apparently less-than-sterile martini.
    The movie suggests the Richmond, Va., businessman infects several dozen airline passengers, who scatter around the globe. Viewers may never accept a hot towel from a flight attendant again.
    Health officials catch on quickly, but apparently are slow to tell the rest of us. At least two weeks pass before the president bothers to let on that it's the 1918 flu pandemic all over again.
    That apparently didn't faze the dozen or so
    Department of Health and Human Services officials who screened the film at the request of The Associated Press.
    Dr. Bruce Gellin, director of the National Vaccine Program office, praised the movie's timeliness in raising public awareness of bird flu, as well as its portrayal of "a number of potentially realistic scenarios." Those include the limited availability of antiviral medicines in a pandemic, the months it could take to develop an effective vaccine and in turn how the United States could be dependent on other countries — yes, that means France — to provide vaccine. The movie's stressing of the importance of planning also won kudos from the department.
    ABC will broadcast the movie during sweeps, when networks often trot out scare fare to boost the ratings that help determine local advertising rates. The network isn't pushing "Fatal Contact" hard but has played up the bona fides of the movie, which it claims was "meticulously researched."
    "There's a lot of science in the movie about why this would be scary if this were to arrive. Unfortunately, in our scenario, it is too late to stop the spread and that is what is being predicted by scientists if this were to occur," said Judith Verno, who co-produced the movie with Kerew for Sony Pictures Television.
    The filmmakers even brought in historian John Barry, author of the best-selling book "The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History," to review the script and make suggestions. Barry, in a telephone interview, said his involvement was much more limited than ABC has suggested. He did, however, dissuade them from showing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as having its own fleet of jets.
    "I have some problems with it," Barry said. "It's certainly not a documentary."
    Last edited by Walter; April 29, 2006, 04:48 PM.

  • #2
    Re: Bodies piling up so quickly it takes dump trucks to haul

    There's a silver lining in this exploitative act by ABC TV. The images will be indelible. They won't go away. The viewers will have flashbacks, especially when they brush up to against fear in their daily lives.

    My impression is that this is a standard story plot. Something big and frightening is happening to poor little, defenseless me. "Me" being the viewer audience. When watching, we transfer the experience and internalize it, assigning to ourselves one of the perspectives to be used as a filter of the information. Consequentially, the viewers will think they are included in the prospective victims category and emote appropriately to that category. It's all a big "inside" joke.

    For those who understand the logic, and you now do, it's fascinating to see how the producers get there: music, closeups, jerky camera movements, anticipated yet dreaded events occurring. The cleverest concepts are: music..type and volume, and scene framing...the more restricted the viewer's ability to see, the more anxious the viewer feels. It's just mental savagery and the viewers sign up to be the next victims.

    Bottomline: The movie will heighten anxiety towards bird flu.

    Observation: That's what Sandman wants to see happen, what Osterholm wants to see happen, what the WHO, DHHS, CDC and DHS want to see happen. So, they're gonna get their wish. Greater anxiety coming up.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Bodies piling up so quickly it takes dump trucks to haul

      Greater anxiety yes GR, but if this anxiety does not canalised into actions, like getting informed or getting preppings done than the end results will be a weaker immune system, a more intolerant society, individuals with less patience, and all the social pinacles once you have a rise of anxiety among a society.

      I am sure that other ways should have been taken to wake up awareness.

      Like a Special Bulletin well orchestred by the admin or something like that.

      But if that's what it take's then, let's get ready to manage this hype of anxiety. But if there is no hope shown and maintain all along this film, I think many will become FTW.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Bodies piling up so quickly it takes dump trucks to haul

        Great assessment of audience reaction to this type of movie, Gaudia! I was impressed with how you articulated it.

        Let's hope one of the messages that the film portrays and the viewing audience internalizes is the need for preparation. If they come away with the subconscious beleif that theres nothing that can be done- then IMO it wont be at all what Osterholm, Sandman et al (including us!) are looking for.

        If they get the message that theres things they can do, preps they can make to protect themselves and deal with the secondary social effects then I'll be nominating the producers for medals, not just media awards!
        Upon this gifted age, in its dark hour,
        Rains from the sky a meteoric shower
        Of facts....They lie unquestioned, uncombined.
        Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill
        Is daily spun, but there exists no loom
        To weave it into fabric..
        Edna St. Vincent Millay "Huntsman, What Quarry"
        All my posts to this forum are for fair use and educational purposes only.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Bodies piling up so quickly it takes dump trucks to haul

          Originally posted by LMonty
          Great assessment of audience reaction to this type of movie, Gaudia! I was impressed with how you articulated it.

          Let's hope one of the messages that the film portrays and the viewing audience internalizes is the need for preparation. If they come away with the subconscious beleif that theres nothing that can be done- then IMO it wont be at all what Osterholm, Sandman et al (including us!) are looking for.

          If they get the message that theres things they can do, preps they can make to protect themselves and deal with the secondary social effects then I'll be nominating the producers for medals, not just media awards!
          I don't expect any but a small few to panic into prep. But I do expect the great unconsciousness of all who will have watched that show to be then awakened. These experiences, visual and auditory, cause junior versions of post traumatic stress syndrome. They can't escape from the PTSS/PTSD. Once they've seen it, they're impacted.

          They will attempt to conclude that it can't happen here; it's all just a movie. But reality does not confirm that and they'll know it. They won't do much with this info, but when called out again, they'll be irritated and will act on more than the then current stimulus. IMO, of course.

          Comment

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