COVID in Pop Culture - British Edition

 Locate and present two examples of how pop culture has found Covid-19 and become part of the pandemic. Give the folks of the future something that conveys what our internet culture is like, as it is playing a large role in not only how we perceive the pandemic but also how we are managing to find humor and pathos in it.

As I mentioned in the last entry, pop culture has managed to shape around COVID 19. In England, Coronavirus memes have been taking over social media since the start of what they call "lockdown" and my british friend Will has done nothing but send me memes posted by british magazines/meme accounts. This has been my favorite:

This meme, was posted by @cosmopolitanuk, and even though it represents British pop culture, I think everyone around the world can relate to the fact that this has been the longest yet shortest year ever. It shows that no matter where people are, we are all experiencing lockdown in a somewhat similar way, where days are longer but months seem to go by in the blink of an eye. 

COVID in Pop Culture - American Edition

I'd like to say the COVID pandemic has been extremely different regarding social interactions (even if they are virtual) to any other the world has seen, why? Well, during other pandemics such as The Black Death (1346-1353) or the Spanish Flu (1918-1920) people were probably confined at home and scared, just like we are, but how did they spend their time? Well, Isaac Newton sat under a tree and discovered gravity during the Great Plague of London, which says a lot. Contrary to this, people in 2020 are not discovering physics laws, they're on their phones, on their laptops, watching Netflix, Youtube and Tiktok. 

I dare to say there has been a huge social media "boom" and pop culture influence during this pandemic; since everyone is one screen away, knowing how others are living through this is very easy and being connected to the rest of the world has become normal to many of us, which is what makes the COVID pandemic so special. Nobody during the 1918s would've known how people in the other side of the world were experiencing confinement during, but now we do. This has also caused pop culture and entertainment industries to shift their usual content to COVID content. 

One example of this in the United States is how Grey's Anatomy, the worldwide recognized medical show, that has been on the screens for more than 15 years is dedicating it's 17th season entirely to tackling COVID 19. Seeing how huge shows are being shaped around the sanitary emergency is very interesting, and we can witness how COVID has managed to affect every single human being and industry in the planet, and how pop culture has adopted it as a way to grow and come up with new content ideas. 

Grey's Anatomy actors Kim Raver (Teddy Altman) and Kevin McKidd (Owen Hunt) during their first days back on set shooting season 17 during the COVID 19 pandemic. 

Politicizing a Pandemic?

Instead of sticking together during times of crisis, people have decided to politice a pandemic. We all have witnessed how people have linked politics and a public health issue, but how? Well, according to the article by One Young World called Stop Politicizing COVID 19. Brace for Existential Risks Instead, the ideological spectrum has taken ownership of the COVID 19 pandemic, and people from the left have been able to link the pandemic to an "opportunity to advance" in healthcare, non-capitalist economic models and an immense opportunity to mitigate climate change. In contrast, on the right, the pandemic is being used to combat immigration, democracy, and the idea of each individual fending for themselves has emerged. 

I think we all have witnessed some of that, plus an issue I mentioned in a past entry, of how people (mostly from the extreme conservative side) refuse to wear masks because it goes against their "rights". The real question here is why us as humans would rather polarize ourselves into two very different views of the pandemic instead of sticking together while battling one of the worst crisis our world has ever seen? The answer is simple; politics are everywhere and people cannot help their urge to make assumptions -just like assuming the pandemic is meant to help combat immigration-

The Danger of Fake News During a Pandemic

Fake news have been circulating through social media since it was created, people have always tried to spread fear or damage someone's reputation, but during times of crisis, fake news are everywhere. In the beginning, everything was very confusing. Since nobody knew anything about the virus, here in Colombia even the news channels became questionable. 

As time went by, news channels seemed to have more accurate information and "trolls" really enjoyed misinterpreting truthful information and causing panic, in many occasions text messages went viral in my city, saying there was going to be a curfew, obligatory testing for everyone, celebrities being ill or dying and even a vaccine. Sadly, in this country many people lack proper education in order to easily differentiate between fake news and legitimate ones. 

This is mainly why the government decided to create a website (www.coronaviruscolombia.gov.co) in order to create consciousness and battle fake news. I have learned to only trust big news channels, their instagram accounts, and the government's website, everything else is prone to being fake. 

As the idea of a vaccine became more and more approachable, even news channels have posted fake information, even unintentionally. Countless headers along the lines of "A COVID 19 Vaccine was developed by ___" have been posted and countless apologies for posting fake news have followed them. Misinformation in times of coronavirus is more common than it should be, and it should be taken as a serious problem. 

This is one of the absurd text messages that went viral, it said there was a mandatory curfew and demanded everyone to stay inside closing all doors and windows because after 11:00pm Air Force helicopters were going to spray disinfectant all over the city. It sounds and is completely absurd, but it caused a lot of panic. 

There's Always that One Person...

There will always be people that do not agree with anything, whether it's an idea or a safety measure, like masks, for instance. Even though I'm not on campus, I have been able to somehow witness some of my close friends ignoring the mask policy and partying, walking around or even hanging out with other people without using one. 

But why? As a foreigner, I can tell that the whole world has been wondering why some americans refuse to wear a mask to the point they're willing to protest over it. I was able to find a very interesting video (the one at the beginning of this entry) that attempts to explain why people refuse to wear a mask and how it has sparked a huge debate and multiple incidents. In Colombia people have been doing a great job with wearing a mask while being outside their homes, but, we also have "those people". I live in a apartment complex, we have a big park that can be seen from my window. Thanks to this, I have been able to witness how some of my neighbors -at the beginning of the pandemic- refused to wear a mask, because technically they weren't going "outside" since the apartment complex's park counts as private property. However, one day there was a group of adults (around their 50s) reunited at the park without their masks, and I decided to approach them and ask them why was I, an 18 year old, who would probably not be affected very bad by the virus, wearing a mask and they weren't? I asked them, have you thought about the risk you are in if you get infected? Well, from that day on, they haven't stopped reuniting at the park, but they have definitely started wearing their masks. 

Believe it or not, masks are fully necessary if we want to mitigate the virus, I am worried people refusing to wear a mask on campus will escalate and spike the number of cases. Hopefully, students and staff will be more aware of the benefits and not ignore this safety measure. 

The University of Kentucky and COVID

Since I was a kid, my dream had always been to study abroad. For some reason, I never felt comfortable enough in my city and my house to stay after high school. I have always envisioned myself living somewhere else, expanding my horizons, meeting new people, exploring new places and cultures. On December 2019 this dream started to become a reality, after receiving my acceptance letter to the University of Kentucky I thought everything was set, I just had to take a flight with no return ticket and begin the rest of my life. Simple, right? But then COVID came around. 

When they first canceled international flights due to the pandemic I was devastated. The promise of reactivating them before August kept a little sparkle of faith in me, faith in making it to my long-desired dream. But that promise was not fulfilled. Five weeks before my scheduled flight, the airport was shut down and international flights were banned.  I don't think I can type out the deep sadness I felt; I felt impotent, powerless. Angry, FURIOUS with the president for how he managed the situation since the beginning. After lots of nights of crying myself to sleep, I finally came to terms with it and finally was able to tell my UK friends. 

Friends? How? You live in another country. Yes, friends. From thousands of miles away I was able to meet some of the most amazing people I have ever met, people I was very excited to meet in person, but I didn't. The same people who had my back and cried with me on FaceTime after the news. 

But these friends have been my way to experience UK through their eyes. Even if I can't be there, they are making everything they can to share their experiences with me and make me feel less alienated. From my (their) perspective, the university has done an amazing job at trying to control the uncontrollable, making sure their students are safe and can remain on campus for what's left of the semester. I have been able to see a tremendous compromise from everyone, and I do believe that if people on campus keep up the good work they will be able to stay there until late November, and even better, allow the campus to reopen in January so I can be there myself. 

This is my window. I drew this the day flights were canceled while sobbing, it has stayed intact ever since. Every day I feel one step closer to seeing "y'all". 

Fear is our Worst Enemy

 When humans are obligated to stay in a 170 square ft apartment, many things start crossing their minds, personally I started reevaluating everything I had done, wondering if I had taken advantage of my last days outside, because I knew this was not going to be over any time soon. I also started thinking about my relationship with my family, the people whom I was stuck inside with from now on. The last day of my senior year was nothing like what I had imagined for the last 14 years, one of my biggest longings was walking down the aisle, shaking hands and receiving that long desired diploma.

August 13, 2020. What seemed like a normal day of school, turned out to be the last day I would see many of my friends, teachers, and special people that worked at my school.

11:15am - all seniors were called to an emergency assembly.

1:00pm - our last school lunch.

1:05pm -  saying goodbye to my friends for the last time in what we all thought was gonna be only a period of 15 days.

1:30pm - everyone on their buses, ready to go home.

 

At the beginning there was panic, lots of panic. Fortunately, our president made very clear that we were indeed allowed to go grocery shopping, or else people would've gone crazy stocking up for months, like it happened in other countries. But panic persisted, maybe not in the streets but definitely inside our 170 sq ft apartment, where someone with OCD, a depressed high school senior and two frustrated musicians where trapped for the next six months.

 

What makes my experience with COVID unique is the fact that I have lived through the longest quarantine in the world. 170 days governed by fear. Why? Because both of my parents classify as vulnerable population to COVID, the fear of them dying in front of our eyes flooded our home since day one. 

One thing I learned from this experience is that fear can lead people to do the unthinkable to survive.

This is my mother, one of the people I have shared this 170 sq ft with. She won the spotlight on the fear entry because when I asked her what feeling described her experience during the pandemic, she said fear. Fear of her kids getting sick, fear of losing her parents to coronavirus, fear of dying herself.