COVID-19 has caused me to reflect on America’s current health crisis. One of my comfort activities has been watching older movies. If I am serious about my feelings during this time, they have become more non-trusting as more and more Americans have died due to the disease. Three particular movies can explain how I feel America is handling this pandemic: “Big,” starring Tom Hanks, “The Finest Hours,” starring Chris Pine, and “The Perfect Storm,” starring George Clooney.
The movie, “Big,” represents the naivete of the American people. We were birthed as a “child nation” in 1776 and have worked through many issues to become a nation that can stand on its own feet. In the movie, a special ticket from a game called Zoltar grants a 13-year old boy his wish to be older in many aspects of his life. He works as an adult computer specialist for a toy store, falls in love with one of his bosses, and realizes that he only wants to be a teenager again.
For the most part, Americans have come to see themselves as the “big dog” in a small pond, greater than any other country in the world. Somehow, it seems with everything we have built and or discovered, we are as childish as any other country. We think of ourselves as powerful, and yet, a tiny bug we cannot see has brought us to our knees, causing us to want to run back to our parent country, Great Britain.
This pandemic has made us realize we need to have family, friends, and neighbors in our lives to be able to overcome this monstrous disease, not officials who continually confuse and mislead us. When will Americans say to the government, “Help us save as many people as possible. Our economy was strong before this crisis, and it will be again. Give our medical personnel what they need to flatten the curve of this deadly onslaught?” When you become an adult, you should be able to handle most things. If you fail, where will you go if everyone in your family is gone?
The character played by Tom Hanks returned home to parents who welcomed him with open arms. Our homes will be different, America, and our parents, our government officials, should realize that we, the American public, have grown up. You can no longer tell us what we can and cannot do like little children. We deserve the best health care in the world; if you do not put our health first from now on, we will vote you out of office. At least, that’s what I hope will happen.
The movie, “The Finest Hours,” showed what a young, courageous Coast Guard sailor could do when he was challenged to save 32 sailors from a sinking T-2 tanker off the Cape Cod coastline. He was timid in his personal life with a girl he wanted to marry, but the courageous skill he showed under duress exemplified what individuals can do when asked to go above and beyond human capabilities and leadership.
Without regard for his men’s safety, the sailor’s captain ordered him to pick a crew and go out in a tiny, 12-person boat to rescue whomever he could from the tanker. There was a striking resemblance between the captain and our president. The president seems to love grand-standing for the television but doesn’t listen to his own medical advisors. In the end of the movie, the captain takes credit for his underling’s courage and leadership, all the while knowing that he, himself, doesn’t have the same leadership skills. Throughout this crisis, the president’s behavior on behalf of the American public has been very egocentric, obnoxious, uncaring, and very non-presidential.
The real leader in this crisis has been New York’s governor, Governor Cuomo. He has worked tirelessly and courageously to help New York combat COVID-19. He has stood up to the president and demanded the medical equipment needed in New York City. He has maneuvered the city through massive ocean swells of sick patients and multitudes of overwhelmed hospitals and medical personnel. He deserves our gratitude for his unrelenting service and for caring more about New Yorkers than himself. He is not after public acclaim, just as the sailor had only one desire to save as many sailors as he could, regardless of his own safety. Seeing defeat in his crew’s eyes, he said, “We live or we die. I want to live!” He never gave up; he persevered, despite the worst of odds that any of them would survive. Governor Cuomo, you are presidential! Thank you!
In the third movie, “The Perfect Storm,” the captain of a fishing boat wants one thing: bring in the largest catch of fish his town has ever seen, regardless of the safety of his men. When his crew became depressed about not finding enough fish, he pushes the limits of the crew and pushes into the Flemish Cap. All kinds of problems begin happening, but the captain pushes his men to the breaking point, a point that caused their deaths in the convergence of three storms over the Atlantic Ocean. The challenges of going through the outer layers of this kind of storm and reaching the eye of the storm were too much for the boat. No matter what happens, the captain of a boat should put the lives of his men first, not catching the largest amount of fish. All souls went to the bottom of the ocean, with their wives and friends realizing, “no ship, no men.”
I have chosen not to write about my feelings concerning the president until this pandemic. All through his presidency, I have hoped I would see a “real leader” evolve, but I now know this president has one thing in his mind: “bring in the largest catch of fish America has ever seen.” As the captain of our ship, the only thing that matters to him is the economy, not the lives of Americans, their families, children, and our health. If you haven’t seen what he is really like, he’s not a member of our family, not a friend or neighbor, not a caring president. He is the personification of the captain in the movie, “The Perfect Storm,” and our “perfect storm” is COVID-19.
As I have watched this crisis unfold, my faith in Washington officials has declined. My faith in our medical personnel and how they have courageously worked to save people and lovingly helped patients die with compassion has brought tears to my heart. Any pictures of a positive nature concerning a man who shouldn’t be president have now been placed on the funeral pyre of countless Americans, who thought their government would do as much as possible to protect them from a horrendous death.
What has carried me through this entire crisis is my faith in God. He, alone, will walk with us through the greatest disaster the world has ever witnessed. Two Bible verses have calmed my soul: “Be still and know that I am” (Psalm 46:10) and “Be not afraid, for I am with you.” (Isaiah 41:10) He is with us, America, not just as Americans, but as His children. If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, He will carry you, and you will only see one set of footprints in the sand behind you. He is the captain of our ship; He is our past, our present, and our future.
As another tomorrow of “stay at home” approaches and my spirit moves in and out like the gravitational pull of the ocean’s waves, I am sure of three things: God’s unconditional love, the light from His lighthouse at the top of the mountain called life, and my eternal home. The only comfort I need in this crisis is Christ leading me home.
Anna Hartt
