What does it take to convince me that this is real? What does it take to convince you?
It has been maybe a month since many of us in the US have been sheltered at home, quarantined away from our daily lives, in an effort to flatten the curve, as they say. For some, this was an obvious decision to make—it seemed to be the fastest and most effective way to reduce the load on the hospitals. For others, it seems like a waste of time, shutting down business and hurting people through economic loss and the other side effects of that—depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, physical abuse, etc.
So what convinces us that this is real?
What convinced me was two-fold: 1) my mom started chemo at about the same time as this was unfolding in Michigan and 2) the NBA and other sports leagues shut down quickly. The former showed me that someone I see every day and for whom I care may be very vulnerable to this. The latter showed me that some people much closer to this and who I think are much smarter than me deemed this to be an important issue.
But is that enough?
It remained real for me because in the first week or two, I already knew at least 3 people who lost close ones to the virus; one of whom was a very close friend to an ex-girlfriend of mine.
But is THAT enough?
While watching the news tonight, I saw a video of a man who was on the frontlines in the hospitals of New York talk about how much death he is seeing on a daily basis and it got me wondering: why aren’t we, the viewers of media, seeing more of the death? Not hearing the numbers about the death, but actually seeing the horror that this virus is causing to people?
I understand the family’s desire to keep a death private. I understand the hospital’s worry over lawsuits and such. I understand the fear of the news station to show such horror on TV. And yet. And yet I wish they would take us through the emotional experience. It may traumatize us, but sometimes that pain serves the purpose of showing us the emotional toll is taking. When I read the numbers, I don’t feel the pain. If I feel the pain, perhaps I will feel the urgency.
I asked my parents about this and they mentioned that back in Vietnam they used to show dead bodies on the news. I wonder what emotional impact that had on viewers. Whether it added more pain, which stayed unresolved. Whether it contributed to the anti-war protests, as viewers saw bloodied heads and missing limbs of people who could be their neighbors. Whether it had any effect at all.
I ask these questions because it seems as if for some of us, this situation is very real, for others it’s kinda real, and for some it’s not real at all. I wonder if there’s anything we can do to show the severity of the challenge we’re facing.
