Virus by Thought

There's a movie out there called Pontypool. Have you seen it? It's a sleeper. Never really got any play in the theaters. I've watched it a couple of times now. It's a bit scary to be honest. Not because the movie is actually scary but the concept is scary.

I don't think this movie was ever meant to be taken straight up. It's a metaphor.

The plot of the story is based around a virus that is spread through speech. The whole movie occurs inside a radio station. Talk about a low budget. There may have been two or three camera positions used throughout the entire film. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration. Still there's little need for effects in the movie. It's entirely story based. CONCEPT!

At any rate the virus spreads quickly through words. Specifically the English language. The virus causes people to become unduly violent. Soon mobs are roaming the streets infecting everyone. Now maybe the idea that a virus could be contained within speech is a bit far fetched but I don't think that's what the writer was getting at.

The analogy is plain enough. Ideas spread like a virus. The right words, spoken in the right manner to the right people can spread and cause people to do things they would otherwise never do. A more direct "translation" of the Zombie movie.

Zombie movies in themselves were a metaphor. Zombie movies became very popular during the late 60s. The Vietnam war. The Assassination of JFK. The explosion of mind altering drugs. People were learning to challenge the authorities. Some people were beginning to realize that not everything we are told is true. The people can be made to work toward a unified goal that is not necessarily in our better interest.

"it is when we understand the word that the virus takes hold. And, once it takes hold it copies itself.".

Do zombies exist? Maybe. I know that there are places in the world where peaceful people are being persecuted because their beliefs are not contemporary. It happens more often than you think.

There is nothing wrong with asking questions. Ask questions about the questions.

Is there truth? As sure as you will fall off the roof if you jump, there is truth. Finding it is another thing altogether.

Pontypool