The Conspiracy Theorist
If specific groups and organisations are identified by the movie as “compe-tent” and “trustworthy,” other groups get a very different treatment, namely alternative media. Personified by a blog-ger named Alan Krumwiede (played by Jude Law), alternative media are pre-sented as unreliable sources bent on sen-sationalism and profit. In other words, the movie implies that information that does not come from “official” sources is invalid and potentially dangerous. Not exactly a pro-free-speech message.
“Truth Serum,” a blog run by Alan Krumwiede, resembles the many “alter-native news” website around the web. This type of information, which does not come from mass media or governmental sources, is definitely not portrayed in a positive light.Right from the start, Alan Krumwiede is portrayed as a somewhat dodgy blogger with a questionable work ethic and who does not get much respect from the journalistic nor the scientific community. When he tries to get one of his stories published in a newspaper called ‘The Chronicle’, he gets rejected due to lack of evidence behind his story. When he contacts a scientist regarding the virus, the scientist replies: “Blogging is not writing, it’s graffiti with punctuation.”
Despite this lack of respect from “competent” bodies, Alan Krumwiede has a wide audience and proudly boasts “millions of unique visitors per day” on his website. On it, he claims that a cure for the MEV-1 virus exists named For-sythia, but it is repressed by the powers that be to sell vaccines. He also urges his readers not to take the vaccine that is given out by authorities.
The government apparently does not tolerate this kind of dissent. Krum-wiede is set up by an undercover agent to get him arrested. When he discovers the ploy against him the agent tells Krumwiede: “Alan, I didn’t have a choice, they’ve seen your blog.” Government agents then appear out of nowhere and arrest Krumwiede for “security fraud, conspiracy and most likely manslaugh-ter.”
Krumwiede is arrested due to the contents of his blog. Contagion sends out a powerful message against “alterna-tive” information sources: Diverging from “official sources” is dangerous and against the law.
It is later learned that Forsythia was a lie and that Krumwiede made 4.5 million dollars by promoting it to his readers. The chief of Homeland Security wants to put him in jail for a “long, long time.” However, due to his popularity, Krumwiede makes bail because, as the chief of Homeland Security states: “Evidently, there are 12 million people as crazy as you are.”
The character of Alan Krumwiede and the way he is portrayed is interesting for several reasons. First, he reflects the growing influence of blogs and alternative websites on public opinion – a recent phenomena that does not sit well with the elite that seeks to have the monopoly of informa-tion. By depicting this character as dishonest, corrupt and even dangerous to the public, the movie justifies the shun-ning of such writers and even their arrest. Nobody in the movie seems to mind that all of this is in direct violation of the First Amendment.
Second, when the H1N1 vaccine was released in 2009 and mass vaccination campaigns were organised, many citizens and authoritative figures including public health of-ficials, doctors and specialists spoke against it. They claimed that the vaccine was unnecessary, insufficiently tested and
that it had negative side-effects. By associating the corrupt figure of Alan Krumwiede with the “anti-vaccine move-ment,” the movie discredits all of those who question the necessity of mass vaccination campaigns. If another virus should strike, viewers of Contagion might be more prone to ignore these movements. In other words, the movie says: “Conspiracy theorists are corrupt liars that are dangerous to public safety and they should be arrested. Do not listen to them. They make money off phony cures. HOWEVER, those who make even more money off phony vaccines are good. Listen to authorities and get the vaccine… or you’ll die.”
“Truth Serum,” a blog run by Alan Krumwiede, resembles the many “alter-native news” website around the web. This type of information, which does not come from mass media or governmental sources, is definitely not portrayed in a positive light.Right from the start, Alan Krumwiede is portrayed as a somewhat dodgy blogger with a questionable work ethic and who does not get much respect from the journalistic nor the scientific community. When he tries to get one of his stories published in a newspaper called ‘The Chronicle’, he gets rejected due to lack of evidence behind his story. When he contacts a scientist regarding the virus, the scientist replies: “Blogging is not writing, it’s graffiti with punctuation.”
Despite this lack of respect from “competent” bodies, Alan Krumwiede has a wide audience and proudly boasts “millions of unique visitors per day” on his website. On it, he claims that a cure for the MEV-1 virus exists named For-sythia, but it is repressed by the powers that be to sell vaccines. He also urges his readers not to take the vaccine that is given out by authorities.
The government apparently does not tolerate this kind of dissent. Krum-wiede is set up by an undercover agent to get him arrested. When he discovers the ploy against him the agent tells Krumwiede: “Alan, I didn’t have a choice, they’ve seen your blog.” Government agents then appear out of nowhere and arrest Krumwiede for “security fraud, conspiracy and most likely manslaugh-ter.”
Krumwiede is arrested due to the contents of his blog. Contagion sends out a powerful message against “alterna-tive” information sources: Diverging from “official sources” is dangerous and against the law.
It is later learned that Forsythia was a lie and that Krumwiede made 4.5 million dollars by promoting it to his readers. The chief of Homeland Security wants to put him in jail for a “long, long time.” However, due to his popularity, Krumwiede makes bail because, as the chief of Homeland Security states: “Evidently, there are 12 million people as crazy as you are.”
The character of Alan Krumwiede and the way he is portrayed is interesting for several reasons. First, he reflects the growing influence of blogs and alternative websites on public opinion – a recent phenomena that does not sit well with the elite that seeks to have the monopoly of informa-tion. By depicting this character as dishonest, corrupt and even dangerous to the public, the movie justifies the shun-ning of such writers and even their arrest. Nobody in the movie seems to mind that all of this is in direct violation of the First Amendment.
Second, when the H1N1 vaccine was released in 2009 and mass vaccination campaigns were organised, many citizens and authoritative figures including public health of-ficials, doctors and specialists spoke against it. They claimed that the vaccine was unnecessary, insufficiently tested and
that it had negative side-effects. By associating the corrupt figure of Alan Krumwiede with the “anti-vaccine move-ment,” the movie discredits all of those who question the necessity of mass vaccination campaigns. If another virus should strike, viewers of Contagion might be more prone to ignore these movements. In other words, the movie says: “Conspiracy theorists are corrupt liars that are dangerous to public safety and they should be arrested. Do not listen to them. They make money off phony cures. HOWEVER, those who make even more money off phony vaccines are good. Listen to authorities and get the vaccine… or you’ll die.”
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