From the Editors September 19, 2011 Issue

Breaking the pull of contagion

The Editors

Imagine this. A lethal virus breaks out and sweeps around the globe at almost lightening speed. A worldwide team of experts swings into action to chase it down, find a cure, or at least slow the spread of the disease. Panic explodes across the scene and spreads even faster than the epidemic. All the while, regular folks struggle to get by while the world around them crumbles and collapses before their eyes.

Does this onslaught of one harrowing chapter after another almost sound more like Hollywood than like real life? No surprise there. That’s what it is. The action thriller movie Contagion, recently released in the United States, tells the story.

Along the way, it may unintentionally raise a few questions for the thoughtful observer. An A-list movie star, especially one in peril on the big screen, has a pull, sometimes almost hypnotic, on fans. Pictures of contagion often have a similar pull. Ditto for pictures of panic on the rise. So, in real life, is it contagion that triggers the fear? Or is it the other way around? Is it the fear that triggers the contagion? And does breaking the hypnotic star-power pull of one—either one—help to break the grip of the other?

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