Editorial: Keeping Calm with Coronavirus

Hello, fellow Renegades!  There have been endless drafts that I had tried to create when it comes to this article, but a wise person once said to just speak from the heart when it comes to extreme affairs.  So… here goes.

Let’s talk about the biological elephant in the room: COVID-19.  Otherwise known as the Coronavirus.

If you watch the news or get your slice of current affairs by watching the twitterverse, you might have heard about the devastating effects that the viral infection has caused all over the world.  In Italy, the entire country is under emergency quarantine due to the high number of cases.  In China, the entire country has been the ground zero for the first cases of the deadly virus.  In Britain, schools are forced to stay open as the rising number of cases continue to escalate more and more.  And in the United States of America, it is slowly creeping up as schools are on lock, further increasing Spring Break for students.  Hell, in my hometown of El Paso, Texas, we just reached three confirmed cases in three days.

More and more, this is looking like a day in the life.

Daily life has started to get more worrisome and complicated.  Interacting with people outside has been hard, and if you work in customer service, it’s like playing a game of Russian roulette.  Restaurants and bars are starting to close, as are movie theaters and sport venues.  And when you go to a supermarket like Walmart or Trader Joes, it is like watching the first 10 minutes of an apocalypse movie with toilet paper aisles, lunch meat aisles, and baby aisles being wiped completely out… and yet the alcohol and birth-control sections are still stocked up (though with the bars closing down, expect that to be next).

Hell – even just trying to escape is insane, with everything you hear on the news, it feels like even escapism is beyond our reach.  Movie and television productions are shutting down due to either a star or a crew member testing positive for COVID-19.  Even celebrities like Tom Hanks, Olga Kurylenko, and Idris Elba are positive with it!

This all seems… horrible.  And I’m not gonna lie, it is.  It is going to be really hard for most people – especially those that need to work in order to make rent, and those that need the escape of a daily routine in order to work through any mental or emotional problems that they have. Things like art and entertainment seem… possibly childish in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t it?  With bigger issues going on, why should we watch movies or draw or write?

Well… I want you Renegades to dispense all of that negativity right now.

In these times of hardship, it is more imperative than ever that we find these escapes.  Art usually thrives during these harrowing situations.  Frida Kahlo explored her pain through her recovery period after a bus accident through art, and according to her, it gave her a desire “to begin again, painting things just as I saw them with my own eyes and nothing more."

Frida Kahlo painted during her long recovery period since her fatal bus accident in 1925. Since then, she used her art as an escape, an outlet for her pent-up frustrations and passions.

If you aren’t a creative, don’t let that get you down and don’t let the current events of the world keep you from watching what you want to watch, or even having a good time!  With days like these, it is more important than ever to watch something that makes you laugh, watch something that makes you cry, watch something that makes you smile… watch something that makes you feel SOMETHING.  Art is a beautiful release, and whether you want to watch something like Shaun of the Dead or even Schindler’s List, the ability to empathize through moving pictures is something we take for granted.

Shaun knows how bad it can get. He’s WORKED RETAIL!

And guess what?  This isn’t even just counting movies!  If there’s a TV show that you haven’t watched yet but have been waiting for the right time?  This is it!  If there’s a video game you haven’t played yet – or one that you haven’t finished yet because you fell out of it – and life got in the way?  Beat it!  If there’s comics or books that have been recommended to you, but you lack the patience to sit down and read it because you’re constantly on the move?  You can rest now!  And if you have children or parents with you, even better!  Introduce them to new works of art, show them things they wouldn’t normally have taken in (within reason, of course… you’re not about to show a 7 year old Sin City).

Finally, this goes out to the artists and creatives out there: if you are an illustrator, or a writer, or a podcaster, or even a YouTuber?  You have the biggest responsibility of all.  You have the responsibility to entertain people.  It might not seem like much, but it means a world to people.  Star Wars gave people an escape during the incredibly cynical 70’s with the wake of the Vietnam War and Watergate.  You might not make the next Star Wars, but if there is a chance that you can make someone smile or feel today?  As one artist to another, you have to take that chance.  We must heed the words that one fearless leader said to us, “Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.” 

One quote I always come back to is from the man himself, Stan Lee.  At one point in his illustrious life, he said, “I used to be embarrassed because I was just a comic book writer while other people were building bridges or going on to medical careers. And then I began to realize: Entertainment is one of the most important things in people's lives. Without it, they might go off the deep end.” 

The man lived his life for entertaining others. From the days of WWII, to his final days.

People need entertainment.  They need art.  And people need it now more than ever.

If you have that book or short story or screenplay that you’ve been holding off on finishing?  Now is the time.  If you have a painting that you’ve had in your head for years but could never put it onto a canvas or paper?  Now is the time.  If there’s a comic you wanted to create but it seemed pretty time consuming compared to your daily life?  Now is the time.  If there’s that instrument you’ve got sitting in the closet gathering dust that you haven’t been able to learn, or a song that you’ve got in your head that you weren’t able to get out there? Now is the time. If you’ve got a video you thought was funny but never had the time to do it?  Now is the time.

And we should share entertainment too.  If you’ve got friends or family, recommend them things to watch, read, and play!  And if you’ve got work you’re proud of, join our Facebook page and follow us on all social media: we’d be happy to see and share it with the rest of the world.

It might not be much, but it’s what we can do. Because if we can’t protect the earth, you can be damn sure we’ll entertain it.

Until next time, I remain…

Check out our Linktree for more ways to subscribe to our show!