Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Staying at home isn’t so bad
YOU’RE alone, cut off from friends and family and, quite possibly, scared out of your wits. You’re also, for the most part, in your home, surrounded by modern conveniences and stacks upon stacks of toilet paper.
You can do this. Asking people to isolate themselves as much as possible isn’t a conspiracy. It isn’t politically motivated. It isn’t a matter of red states vs. blue states. It’s about saving lives.
You can do this. COVID-19 can’t legitimately be compared to the flu or car crashes or any other nonsense you may have heard. Staying away from each other is the best, fastest way to keep this pandemic from lingering, so all of us can get back to our lives. You can do this. As countless people have pointed out all over social media, previous generations have been called to war, and you’re being asked to stay on your couch.
If you need further proof that your self-quarantine could be so very much
worse, check out some of these movies that show what real isolation is like:
‘Cast Away’ (2000)
Long before Tom Hanks was isolated with his wife, Rita Wilson, after both tested positive for the new coronavirus, he was isolated on an island following a plane crash, with only a volleyball he named Wilson to keep him company.
‘Swiss Army Man’ (2016)
A similar scenario, with Paul Dano as the guy marooned on an island, but with Wilson replaced by Daniel Radcliffe as a flatulent corpse.
‘The Shining’ (1980)
There are worse things than being locked up alone. Being locked up in a creepy hotel for the winter with a writer (Jack Nicholson) who’s slowly going insane, for example.
‘Life of Pi’ (2012)
What’s worse than being lost at sea in a small lifeboat? Being lost at sea in a small lifeboat with a tiger in it.
‘Bubble Boy’ (2001)
Jimmy Livingston (Jake Gyllenhaal), born with a severely compromised immune system, spent his life indoors. Then the girl he loves announced she’s getting married. So he hits the road to stop the wedding while wearing a plastic bubble that keeps him from making direct contact with anyone or anything and … actually, that sounds pretty handy right about now. Moving on.
‘The Martian’ (2015)
When a storm hits during its exploration of Mars, the crew of the Ares III evacuates the planet and returns to Earth, leaving behind its presumed-dead colleague
(Matt Damon). To be fair, though, at least he has the entirety of Mars at his disposal.
‘Apollo 13’ (1995)
Before they can land on the moon, astronauts Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) and Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) become trapped in their crippled spacecraft with no obvious way home.
To be fair, though, at least they have some of the best technology and scientific minds of the time at their disposal.
‘Gravity’ (2013)
While repairing the Hubble Space Telescope during her first space walk, Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) becomes detached and is sent spiraling into deep space, alone. To be fair, though — actually, no, this is pretty much a worst-case scenario.
‘The Shallows’ (2016)
Being stranded with a bikini-clad Blake Lively doesn’t sound so bad. Being stranded a bikini-clad Blake Lively, though, on a small rock in the ocean while being menaced by a shark is an entirely different story.
‘All Is Lost’ (2013)
An unnamed man (Robert Redford) sailing the Indian Ocean awakens to find his yacht has been struck by a shipping container and is rapidly filling with water. To add to the sense of isolation, there’s virtually no dialogue, and Redford is the sole member of the cast.
‘127 Hours’ (2011)
If you think the scenes of real-life outdoorsman Aron Ralston (James Franco) spending parts of six days trapped in a Utah slot canyon after a boulder crushes and pins his right hand are difficult to watch, just wait till he pulls out that dull multi-tool.