Quarantine and Societal Fears - Essay Example

25th November Quarantine and Societal Fears Background Quarantine is an American horror film first releasedin 2008. The plot of the film centres around a news anchor and her cameraman, who are shadowing two firemen for their night piece. The team get called out to an apartment building because the apartment manager reported hearing screams from the building. From here, it is evident that many of the residents of the building have rabies-like symptoms such as ‘fever’ and a change in the eyes, as evidenced by the question ‘What happened to her eyes?’ (Quarantine, 2009). The overall argument of the film is that an outbreak of a deadly disease is always a possibility within society. There are many different contexts in which the film Quarantine can be placed which help to explain why Quarantine is placed in the horror genre. Biological warfare is an imminent threat and perhaps one of the most terrifying of all weapons. One of the main reasons biological warfare haunts the minds of many is that it may lead to a slow and painful death, and that if the condition it causes is incurable, the outbreak may be impossible to stop and lead to the annihilation of the human race. Infectious disease is no longer the biggest killer in the Western world, and this perhaps is what makes it so terrifying. Humanity is used to being able to control these outbreaks, and the threat of one that is uncontrollable is an uncomfortable thought. Finally, a disease that changes the way people act and think, giving them ‘paralysis and delirium’ (Quarantine, 2009), is terrifying because it leaves the victim out of control, another big fear for many. The film also plays on many other common types of fear, such as being isolated from society (or put into quarantine), old or ‘spooky’ buildings, the dark and having a lack of information. The purpose of this film is essentially to play upon all these different types of fear that are found in the general population (like any good horror film). These fears are very real and are based firmly in a social and cultural context, and perhaps even play on the paranoia of certain groups. Additionally, the film has a sense of urgency and panic. The symptoms used are of a disease known to many (rabies), but the vet announces that ‘rabies never acts this fast’ (Quarantine, 2009) suggesting that the outbreak may be uncontrollable. This adds another dimension to the terrifying thought of death provided by this disease. The purpose of this paper is to use this evidence from the film to complete a stasis analysis to see how the film illustrates a wider societal fear such as those mentioned above. Stasis Analysis The first element of a stasis argument is to evaluate the facts. In the film Quarantine, a firefighting team are called to a building to investigate what turns out to be an investigation of a rapidly-progressive deadly disease. In one scene, the audience is confronted with a young girl, Briana, who is obviously suffering from some flu-like symptoms and sad about the illness of her dog. Briana suddenly becomes violent and out of control, something that is characteristic of the mysterious Rabies-like illness (Quarantine, 2009). It is evident from this moment that something is very wrong with some of the residents of the apartment block, and the fear sets in as others quickly succumb to the illness. Other fears are utilized in the film, one being a fear of abandonment and being isolated. This is used mostly in the final section of the film, where the two main protagonists are the only surviving members of the team dealing with the outbreak. They are alone and surrounded by mysterious noises, trying to make sense of the confusion and chaos. The final scenes involve the pair being sequentially eaten by a man who is probably suffering from the same mysterious disease, portrayed as an emaciated figure. The audience is left unsure as to whether this man is where the Rabies-like disease originated (Quarantine, 2009). The facts of the situation are, then, that there is a mysterious infectious illness on the loose that acts quickly and can be transmitted in a number of ways; ‘passed through anything wet’ (Quarantine, 2009). This has led to a group of people becoming isolated in an apartment block, all of whom eventually die. It is then necessary to enter into an argument of definition. It is difficult to define the fear found in the film Quarantine. This is because, despite its similarities with Rabies, the mysterious illness is never named or quantified aside from a few symptoms that are familiar to any audience. It is hard to define beyond the term ‘Rabies-like infectious illness’, which is the main part of the fear in the film. The film also uses two fears which seem separate but are also intricately linked; the fear of isolation and death. The fear of death is partly a fear of isolation. This can be linked back to the initial fear of being victim of a mysterious illness and having to be put in quarantine and eventually dying. It would seem that the most appropriate definition for the theme of the film is, therefore, isolation. It is then necessary to move onto arguments of cause. There is no given cause for the outbreak of the infectious illness and the ensuing isolation, although Briana’s dog, Max, was the first animal to catch the disease (Quarantine, 2009). Additionally, the parting shots of the emaciated figure eating the lead protagonists also suggests he is a possible cause, perhaps being a metaphor for an agent with some investment in biological warfare. The cause of the isolation is, of course, the infectious disease and the need of the prevention agencies to protect the area from a further spread of the outbreak. Isolation is also caused by the death of each of the characters, leaving each and every character more alone until Angela is witness to Scott’s death (Quarantine, 2009). It could also be argued that the cause of the isolation comes from being powerless against the spread of the disease, and feeling isolated from the knowledge that could stop the spread. The quality of the thing is very important. The infectious disease seems to be of high quality, especially seeing the speed at which it acts and its high virulence factor. It is very serious and important because it is deadly and causes death and feelings of isolation, as well as a need for members of society affected by the illness to be put in quarantine. It is a very negative disease with a huge impact factor, although it appears to be confined to this one apartment building so its negativity factor is limited to a small group of people. It could be argued that after the climax of the film, the infectious disease is essentially eradicated and there need be no fear of isolation or death from this disease, although there does appear to be one infected individual left. This leads to queries about the level of negativity associated with the disease and questions about how bad the impact of it could be on society. The final section of the stasis argument is known as the proposal argument. This includes looking at what actions should be taken regarding the thing in question. In this case, it is necessary to form an argument about the different steps that could be taken by the protagonists in the film Quarantine to best change the situation. The most obvious thing to the audience would be that it would be sensible to hide from the infected so as to avoid contamination by ‘blood, saliva, any mucous membrane’ (Quarantine, 2009). This would be the most desirable situation as the characters could avoid isolation by eventually being reunited with the real world after an all-clear, and also by avoiding death and isolation from their living friends and families. This action is, as evidenced by the film, not possible and therefore is not an ideal solution. Another solution would be perhaps for the vet to have identified the disease and found some way of curing it before all the characters were killed. This is slightly less desirable as it is inevitable that some characters would die during the research process. It is again, not feasible because the main characteristic of the disease is that it progresses fast and uncontrollably (Quarantine, 2009). This inability to find a cure relates to the wider societal fear of biological weapons or an outbreak of an unknown disease, which is that there is no cure and this leads to a feeling of helplessness. Not being able to stop the spread of the disease due to its virulence is used well as a technique to increase the feelings of horror found throughout the film. Societal Fears From the above stasis argument, it can be concluded that the one societal fear that the film addresses on many levels is isolation. This isolation comes from the threat of death through the disease, either leaving loved ones behind or the loss of loved ones to the disease. Another form of isolation comes from the act of being quarantined itself, being separated from the outside world with no contact to it. The film uses several techniques to illuminate this fear, one of which is the technique of addressing it on so many levels and showing the many different ways in which isolation is possible. The threat of biological warfare or directed disease outbreak is a very real one in society, and the last ghostly figure in the film could be a metaphor for an evil government or organization with plans to use it. This aspect of the film plays on the larger societal fear of isolation and adds to the threat by highlighting all the different ways in which this terror could instigate feelings of isolation and aloneness in those affected. In this way, the film is very effective in its way of addressing isolation focussing on the fear of being alone and powerless rather than the more emotional aspects of isolation. Conclusion The film Quarantine is about many different fears that are rife within our society, most of which can be linked back to the central fear of isolation or aloneness. The stasis argument shows that Quarantine addresses isolation and aloneness by linking them with other more physical fears (such as that of death or illness). The stasis argument also shows that there is little that can be done to avoid this isolation; there are no solutions to the problem. This further compounds the fear from the thought of being alone. The broader implications of the film suggest that actually the horror aspect of the film is playing on some deeper emotional fear of the audience which can be traced back to this central element. Despite the use of traditional horror techniques, such as dark lighting and scary buildings, Quarantine seems to be centered around this one, very real, fear that affects us all at one point in our lifetimes. Works Cited Quarantine. Dir. John Erick Dowdle. Perf. Jennifer Carpenter, Steve Harris. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2009. DVD Read More