Best Prepper Movies: Lessons Learned from Contagion

One of my favorite prepper movies is Contagion. It tells the story of a pandemic that spreads rapidly, causing death and destruction in its wake. What I like about it is that it isn’t your typical prepper movie, in that it isn’t an action-packed shoot your way out of the apocalypse kind of affair. Contagion is more psychological in nature, showing the human impact that a pandemic would have on individuals and society as a whole. If you watch the movie closely, there are a lot of real lessons that preppers could learn from Contagion.

The reason for this is that, unlike many disaster movies, it was made to be as realistic as possible. That being said, it is still a Hollywood movie, so there is some creative license. However, for the most part, Contagion does a good job dramatizing how a major global pandemic would play out in a modern world.

If you haven’t seen Contagion, you can find it by clicking here.

Lesson One: The Government Response to a Pandemic Won’t Be Immediate

One of the lessons that a prepper can learn from Contagion is that it will take world governments time before they figure out what was going on. At the beginning of the outbreak, doctors thought that some sort of bacterial infection killed the first victim. It wasn’t until an autopsy was completed that the government was informed of the situation.

From there, government scientists had to figure out what exactly they were dealing with. They had to determine what the virus was, how it spread, and where it started. During this time, they avoided sharing too many details with the public in an attempt to avoid panic.

Unfortunately, while they were trying to figure out what was going on, the virus was spreading. During a pandemic, the disease will always have a head start while we try to play catch up. Unfortunately, that is just the nature of the beast.

Lesson Two: Bureaucratic Red Tape Will Get in the Way of Progress

Another lesson that preppers can learn from the movie Contagion is that efforts to stop a pandemic will be hampered by bureaucratic red tape. Power struggles and concerns over money always prove to be obstacles when trying to coordinate multiple agencies. This is true when coordinating agencies within the same country and gets even more complicated when coordinating efforts across national boundaries.

One example of this was when a high-ranking official at the CDC ordered an independent lab to destroy their samples of the virus. The official’s concern was that the virus could fall into the wrong hands. The scientist from the other lab didn’t comply but instead continued his work. If he had complied, efforts to stop the virus could have been delayed by weeks.

When the CDC official found out about the progress that had been made at the independent lab, he wasn’t happy at the breakthrough. Instead, he was irritated that the other lab had not complied with his orders.

Another example of bureaucracy getting in the way was when a city government was more concerned with their budget than with stopping the virus. When a CDC scientist was trying to secure facilities to treat the ill, local officials were more concerned about where the money was coming from than working as a team to help people.

Lesson Three: Decisions Will Be Made Behind the Scenes

The government’s primary goal during any emergency, including a pandemic, will be to preserve order. One of the main ways that it will do this is by downplaying fear and giving the general public as little information as possible. This will allow the government to handle the situation in the way that they feel is best with as little pushback as possible. The logic behind this was captured perfectly in the movie Men in Black when Agent K said, “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it”.

Governments will likely isolate affected areas to avoid the spread of the disease. In the movie Contagion, this included state lines and even specific cities. If a decision such as this were made in real life, its effectiveness would rely on secrecy. Otherwise, mass panic would result as people tried to leave the area before roadblocks were activated.

This situation would result in a virus spreading even quicker than it would before as people scatter into the wind. It would be similar to how people rush to buy guns and ammo every time a politician says anything about gun control. 

Lesson Four: High-Level Corruption will Exist

Another thing that preppers can learn from Contagion is that government officials will likely serve themselves and their families before the needs of the general public. In the movie, a CDC official warned their girlfriend that she needed to leave town before a quarantine zone was set up. It is likely that those in power would do the same in real life, even if there would be consequences. The official’s actions were brought to life, and he was investigated.

Lesson Five: Global Transit Will Accelerate the Next Pandemic

We are able to travel to different parts of the globe faster than any generation before us. With the swipe of a credit card, we can obtain a boarding pass to take us almost anywhere on the planet. This global transit has allowed the world economy to explode and become more interconnected than we could have ever dreamed, even 100 years ago.

Although our ability to travel quickly across the planet makes our lives easier, it will also allow the next pandemic to spread faster than any other in history. In Contagion, the first victim contracted the virus in China. She boarded a plane and was back in the United States in a day or two. During this time, she infected people in China and the U.S. Some of those people went back to their home country and took the virus with them.

Situations like this have occurred even within the past few years. During the Ebola outbreak, someone traveled from the affected area in Africa and ended up in Dallas, Texas. They were checked into a hospital where a special quarantine zone was set up to prevent the virus from spreading. Fortunately, as terrible as Ebola is, it can only be spread through contact with infected bodily fluids. Had the illness been like the flu, which can be spread through the air, many more people could have been infected, resulting in a hot zone thousands of miles from the virus’s origin.

Lesson Six: Curing a Pandemic Will Take Time

Another thing that a prepper can learn from Contagion is that a cure will take a while to produce. In the movie, scientists were able to develop a vaccine for the virus within a few months. However, this is one detail that the movie, despite its realism, got wrong.

If a new virus, such as the one from the movie were to surface, it would take much longer than a few months to develop a cure. Even after a cure is discovered, it will need to be tested and mass-produced. All of this will take time, during which the illness will continue to spread.

Lesson Seven: Stock Up on Food, Water, and Medicine

During a pandemic, food, water, and medicine will be precious commodities. Many disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and blizzards may only require someone to have a few weeks of food set aside. However, a pandemic will likely require people to have several months worth of food, water, and medicine set aside.

If a pandemic were to affect a large portion of the population, it would have a huge impact on our “just in time” food delivery system. Every component of the system, from farmers to grocery store shelf stockers, will be affected. This reduction in the labor force will result in shortages of basic necessities, including food. It will be made even worse when people stay home to prevent getting sick at work.

A smaller labor force will also make water shortages more likely. Just like any other system, municipal water utilities rely on people to make them work. A pandemic would likely affect treatment plant workers as well as those who maintain and repair damaged pipes and other equipment.

Having stocks of food, water, and medicine will reduce your dependence on government-run food lines. Lines such as these will have limited supplies that may run out. Such areas would also be potential conflict zones as people try to get supplies to feed themselves and their families.

You can learn how to store food by clicking here.

Another good reason to have medicine stored is to avoid pharmacies and hospitals. Places such as these will be magnets for the ill and prime areas for a virus to spread. Stock as much as you can ahead of time, and if a pandemic does occur, try to set up your prescriptions and other medications to come by mail. Of course, this assumes that such services will still be functioning.

Lesson Eight: Crime Will Rise

Another lesson that a prepper can learn from Contagion is that crime will rise during a pandemic. There will be several reasons for this, including hunger, fear, and a vacuum of power.

Looting will be a major concern, especially for food and medicine. The movie had multiple scenes where chaos broke out when people were trying to get supplies. In one scene, a group of people even attacked a truck that was delivering goods to a store.

During times such as these, even good people may resort to looting. The main character broke into his neighbor’s house after witnessing a home invasion across the street. While in his neighbor’s home, he stole a shotgun. I assume that he did this because he knew his neighbor had a gun and wanted to be able to protect himself and his daughter.

Absenteeism among law enforcement will also result in more crime during a pandemic. Members of law enforcement will be just as susceptible to the illness as anyone else. As such, many will become sick and some will die. Others will quit their jobs to avoid having to be in contact with sick people and to be able to take care of their own families.

You can learn ways to make your home more secure during an emergency by clicking here.

Lesson Nine: Greedy People Will Try to Profit

One of the most disturbing parts of Contagion was how a news blogger used his platform to sell a fake cure for his own financial benefit. The cure that he was promoting wasn’t scientifically proven, and he even faked being sick and filmed himself taking the “cure”. This resulted in many deaths.

Unfortunately, if a deadly pandemic were to strike, something similar to this would probably happen. Greed will cause people to capitalize on the situation. While doing this, they may even make the situation worse. 

Conclusion

If you are a prepper looking for a good movie to watch, Contagion should be at the top of your list. It is more realistic than a lot of movies that involve pandemics, which gives it value from a preparedness standpoint. Contagion has solid entertainment value and features good acting and directing as well.