Germs Post-COVID: How Do We Move Forward?
We set the scene in a simpler time: December 2012. The world hadn’t ended like the movie did, meme culture was in full swing, Obama was reelected, and a little movie called Django Unchained hit theaters on Christmas. Like many others who watched the Tarantino film, I remember the headlines in the weeks that followed: that blood in the big dining room scene was real! Leonardo DiCaprio actually cut his hand on broken glass!
At the time, I shared the sentiment of many others, praising DiCaprio for staying in character and finishing the scene despite dripping blood and later requiring stitches. Who says acting isn’t real work, right? This will surely be the role that gets this man an Oscar (it didn’t)! This performance is the height of dedication to the art and made for an incredible take.
But now, as I sit here 9 years later in the deadliest days of the COVID pandemic and imagining the days when live performance returns and the movie industry gets back into full swing, I’m forced to reconsider how we will move forward in a world where we all take health and the spread of communicable diseases much more seriously, and I’m left with only one thought regarding that scene: what the f#%$@$#&*$!?!
In the scene, after DiCaprio cuts his hand, he goes over to Kerry Washington’s character and wipes blood on her face. Now, the internet forums go back and forth over whether or not that was real blood on her face. Some claim that that is a separate take filmed afterward with fake blood to enhance the real bloody take and the SAG/AFTRA would have stepped in had it been real.
All that we know for certain is that, for every other shot we see, the blood streaming down his hand and the glass he picks out of the wound is 100% real, as numerous interviews have confirmed.
Personally, I would imagine that had the conversation been centered on Washington’s safety and had the blood on her face been fake it would have been noted in one of the many conversations regarding the real blood, but none of the interviews that I have found with Kerry Washington herself address the incident specifically. The conversation always seems to be centered around DiCaprio and what he chose to do.
But let’s put that debate aside for a moment. The fact of the matter is that DiCaprio did injure his hand and was allowed to continue the scene, which was then used in the final cut of the movie. My question is, why was he allowed to do that? Why is it an actor’s choice to continue working in a situation where they are not only injured but potentially put their fellow actors at risk? It would be unacceptable to allow an injured person to pose a biohazard risk to their coworkers in any other profession, so why do we treat the arts differently?
The discussion around health and germs in the arts industry has long been complicated. On one hand, we are required to be in close proximity and often physical contact with each other, sharing air, spit, mucus, you name it, every vehicle the human body has to share germs is in play.
There is a certain understanding and agreement that has long been assumed, that if you choose to go into the arts and specifically acting that you have basically waived all personal choice in the matter and accept the associated risks and responsibilities without the right to complaint or concern.
On the other hand, it is expected that you keep your instrument, a.k.a. your physical form, in peak condition in order to perform. Let’s be honest though, how many times in a production or on set does a cold or a stomach flu tear through the cast in record time, brought in by that one person who really should have stayed home but wasn’t “that sick” and was expected to show up?
Personal health is often sacrificed in favor of scheduling, money, and convenience. When we show young artists like me at the time these headlines and these situations, like “How Panic Attacks and DiCaprio’s Real Blood Made a Slavery Epic Better” (wow Hollywood Reporter, wow.), we are continuing to teach the narrative that personal safety is unimportant and ignoring our personal needs and the needs of those we work and create with are expected and necessary to create good work, thus perpetuating the cycle.
DiCaprio has worked in Hollywood for longer than I’ve been alive, it’s no wonder he thought his behavior was acceptable. He was rewarded by having the take used in the film.
The arts and theatre community has always had great pride in being just that: a community. The COVID pandemic has asked us all to consider our responsibilities to each other as a community. How do we reconcile our responsibilities to keep each other safe and healthy with a culture that praises actions like Leonardo DiCaprio’s as the epitome of “craft”?
How do we reconvene after this prolonged hiatus in a way that continues to keep safety and love at the forefront of our practices, without sacrificing the quality of our storytelling or censoring compelling narratives? How many artists with illness, disability, and compromised immune systems have we been excluding all of this time because of our unsafe practices?
As vaccines begin to be distributed and we imagine a future with collaboration again, we have an opportunity to reconvene better than we were before. The pandemic has given our society as a whole a pause to reflect and consider how we can better work together, care for each other, and build a brighter tomorrow.
If the arts community is truly the reflection of the society we claim to be, the hope and image of that brighter tomorrow, we have a responsibility to enact that same level of care within our own spaces. How can we encourage our audiences to care for their fellow human if we aren’t caring for each other?
I have posed many questions here, and I admit that I don’t have the answers to all of them. It will take all of us having our own conversations and looking within our own hearts to find a solution that works for everyone, and I’m just one person in fuzzy socks. But what I do know is this: we should not be asking any artist, any person, regardless of preexisting conditions or assumed health, to be endangering their lives, period.
We are a community, and part of being a community is caring for one another. The best solutions will come from a place of compassion and kindness, and I encourage you all to start your own discussions from there.