Introduction
The YouTube channel Flash Point History works to provide a look into the past of humanity. Its creators assert that the growth and development of civilization is important to study, including the greatest and the worst events of history. Bringing light to both well-known and lesser events, this channel seeks to create a complete overview of each subject. For the purposes of this analysis, a look at their documentary about the Black Death will be attempted. The piece centers on the emergence and widespread decimation caused by the plague of the 14th century.
Starting with its initial emergence in the remote corners of the world, the audience witnesses how the black death envelops Europe and claims millions of lives. The pre-requisites, causes and exacerbating factors of the event are considered, providing a better understanding of why the disease spread as well as it did. In order to critique this documentary, a deeper look at its portrayal of the plague and its management will be attempted. In the main portion of this paper, the framing of the plague itself as a character of the documentary will be presented, along with its apparent characterization.
Form and Content
The visual presentation of the piece works well for the purposes of creating a narrative, visually informing the viewer and establishing a specific tone. IN order to document the spread of the plague, a number of different maps and graphs are used, allowing the creators to showcase the spread of the plague throughout Europe. Using arrows, icons of major cities, ships, and other types of indicators, the movement of the disease, as well as its consequences, are made clear. This creative decision can be considered necessary, as understanding the overwhelming amount of statistical information otherwise would be impossible. In addition, the inclusion of death statistics and visual effects that demonstrate deaths caused by the plague work to reinforce the sense of overwhelming destruction it caused.
In terms of storytelling, the viewers are presented with a detached recollection of events. For the majority of the documentary, the narrator presents past events without emotional attachment, focusing on providing historical accuracy. In addition, the documentary splices in bits and pieces of contemporary accounts of poets, writers and other people who could write. The structure of the film follows a typical documentary format and generally works well to present the subject of the Black Death with the seriousness it deserves.
Characters of the Film
Owing to the historical documentary format of the piece, there are no main characters that can be discerned. The central focus of the narrative is the disease itself, and the plague can be regarded as the closest approximation of a usual protagonist. The audience learns about its history, its “journey”, its interaction with people and its influences on the world. As a result of its vile and quick-spreading nature, the plague presents itself almost as an organism in and of itself, hungry for the pain and suffering of the passes. The inability of the people of the 14th century to understand the plague further empowers it, allows it to run virtually unopposed throughout the continent (Flash Point History). This presentation of the plague as a character with active influence on its surroundings complements the central theme of the documentary – understanding of the plague as an unprecedented catastrophe that almost led to the fall of human society.
Major Issues Discussed
The first issue that the movie concerns itself with is the effect of the plague on people and society. Introduced as the central concern of the entire documentary, the audience spends the majority of their time in the process of learning about the effect the plague had on various nations, countries, and cities. The variety of influences presented by the Black Death were further developed along with the narrative, evolving from simple loss of life to economic decimation, loss of morale, breakdown of infrastructure and the emergence of new social movements. In addition, the latter part of the documentary also works to present the consequences of the plague as beneficial to the later development of society.
In particular, the human fight for survival in these years has contributed significantly to the development of medicine, city infrastructure, and even the development of social order as a whole. By the end of the documentary, humanity’s ability to live through the plague is presented as an ultimate moment of triumph, one that brings much-needed changes.
Another important theme of the piece is the influence of complacency, ignorance and willful inaction on society’s capacity to endure strain. From the moment the plague entered any major city, the lack of proper safety measures, combined with an absence of uniform response, gave the disease an ideal chance to set root. Watching the documentary, many major cities were unable to deal with the influx of dead bodies or enforce proper measures of quarantine. In addition, common treatment measures and the belief in the divine nature of the disease only contributed to its spread without adequately solving the issue. In this vein, the lack of awareness or understanding on the part of people is highlighted by the creators of the film, and brought to its culmination with the introduction of religious heretics that practiced self-mutilation as an answer to the plague.
Life/World Vision
One vision that can be connected with the messaging of the film is the importance of research and quick response to situations of mass disease spread. The recent pandemic has reminded the world how truly devastating a disease running unchecked can be, providing ample ground for attempting plague retrospectives. The main concept of the film is simply informing people about past events, but its creation in 2020, as well as the subject, could be taken to draw parallels with the real world. The grim narrative of the plague shows an importance of following measures like quarantine, and the potential consequence of not giving more consideration to disease mass response.
Conclusion
In summary, it can be said that this film exists as a relatively concise and easy-to-follow summation of the Black Death. It is informative, well structured, and thoughtful. I have enjoyed watching this film, although its depictions of events and numerous contemporary illustrations have made me experience light nausea. I think that the presentation of the plague as scary, repulsive and somewhat impressive in its effectiveness was intentional, serving as a way to reinforce the danger of the disease. Discussing films like this one is conductive to seeing disease-related issues of today in a broader context, and learning to consider the implications of public health promotion.
Works Cited
Flash Point History. “History of the Black Death – Full Documentary.” YouTube, 2020. Web.