This week felt surreal. On March 11, the World Health Organization officially announced COVID-19 as a pandemic, and then a ripple effect of reactions followed. Concerts and festivals cancelled. NBA suspended. NHL suspended. Travel bans. School closures.
Oddly enough, for some it was the moment when Tom Hanks announced that he and wife Rita Wilson had it that it actually became “real” — not our beloved and untouchable Tom Hanks.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau has also tested positive since then. It’s been overwhelming and anxiety-inducing for even the calmest of us. On Friday I drove past a ghost-like GO station parking lot, usually without a spare spot for the taking, and then on to the grocery store, where the lineup to the parking lot spiralled down the street. I couldn’t help but think, “I feel like I’m in a movie.”
Few things in my life rival this event. It’s going to leave a deep impression on a plethora of people, especially our kids. But, however we may panic or stress, we have to acknowledge something quite remarkable — we are part of a history-making moment.
The impacts on our culture are already happening, from the postponed film premieres, cancelled concerts and suspended sports. But this is just the beginning. This is too big an event not to fire the imagination or creativity of the human mind.
Like other historic events, there will be a “before” and “after” COVID-19. It’s hard to take it all in stride, but we should pay close attention to the “during” because we’re living in this moment — the big and the small arches of it.
The cultural closures and new moments created out of this pandemic may one day be housed in museums for our future generations to reflect on.
The Museum of History and Industry in Seattle held events on the Spanish flu pandemic. The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia has an exhibit about that 1918-19 outbreak. (Ironically, both museums are closed to the public right now.)
The way in which we engage in the arts will have an “after” as well. As we are forced into social distancing for safety measures, we may see more virtual networking technology emerge, not just for business purposes but also from an arts lens. If “the show must go on,” maybe now we’ll see more innovative virtual opportunities to engage with the arts.
For me, the arts have always been a great comfort. There is not a Beatles song out there that doesn’t take me back to a moment in my childhood. Those were the songs my family loved to play and were the soundtrack of my youth. I am eager to see what songs are inspired from this and will one day bring us back to this moment in time.
Singapore artist Josef Lee has always used art to inspire, but since the spread of this virus, he has decided to use his art to create inspiring and uplifting illustrations to encourage love and unity between people during this time.
There’s a reason Contagion is trending on Amazon Prime Video and has jumped from spot 227 in December to No. 2 in Warner Bros. catalogue titles.
Even Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins put down $12.99 to watch Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 film on demand.
“I was really curious to see how well it would line up to what is happening right now,” he said. “It was shocking. It felt like I was watching a documentary that has all these movie stars playing real people.”
This global event may inspire future Contagion-like end-of-days films as well as those hidden gems about human connections, love and loss.
For me, March 11 is one of the dates in this that will hold significance. Because that particular day, so much happened in such little time.
In the midst of it all, I had a coffee date with a friend. Despite, or inspired by, the anxiety of the circumstances, a creative idea was sparked. We went from the seeds of germination to developing fleshed-out plans we expect to come to fruition within the next few months. We were somehow propelled with an urgency to move in fast-forward.
That same night, I attended one of my closest friends’ 50th birthday parties. I saw many friends near and dear: many people I very likely won’t see for some time now due to social distancing until the “after.” I became noticeably more anxious that evening, and many of the songs that played that night kept me grounded in the moment — and I’ll remember those songs that played in the “during.”
So stay focused on what is actually happening. Pay attention because we’re all living in this moment. Be in the moment. We’ll be telling our kids and grandkids about this — and when we do, maybe it’ll be because they’ll be asking us, “Was it just like it was in that movie? Or in that book? Or in that song?”
We’ll know because we were there.
Meera Estrada is a cultural commentator and co-host of kultur’D! on Global News Radio 640 Toronto.
Comments