Contagion

Planes are great places to see movies that you might not otherwise give a chance. On my flight to Victoria I chose Contagion becauseI had already viewed the best options amongst the others available. I was surprised to see that it stars Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law. Yet I hadn't heard anything about it. And there are lots of strong reviews.

This may astonish you, but Contagion is about a contagious disease which sweeps around the world killing millions. It begins with a bat in China, which infects a pig, which is chosen by a chef in a restaurant in Hong Kong, who shakes hands with an American woman there on business, who brings the virus back to Minneapolis, and... This is how it unfolds and it is rather scary, especially when you are watching the film while in a sealed tube hurtling through the air, with the guy in the seat across the aisle blowing his brains out in the throes of a cold.

Of course mayhem ensues in some places as desparation grows, and it is entirely believable. There is no real strategy for this level of contagion. Governments aren't equipped for mass hysteria and our assumptions about civility are naive. Except for one brief scene in which a nun is providing support in a makeshift hospital there is no suggestion that religious folk might be active in addressing an epidemic. In other times and places they have been caregivers based on a sense of a higher calling to compassion. I have to wonder whether that would be the case today. Would I chose to help the helpless or turn my home into a bunker?

What do you think? Would you be selfish or selfless in the midst of an epidemic or natural disaster? Do we have a higher calling as Christ's people or is it every person for him or her self when push comes to shove?