I recently watched an old movie: Speed, which was produced in 1994. The movie, starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, was one of the most popular action movies of the time. Keanu Reeves played the role of Jack Traven, a police officer who had to face consecutive bombing cases; while Sandra Bullock played the role of Annie, an university student who was involved with him because the bus she was riding had been installed with bomb.
This movie deserves to be famous because from the beginning to the end, there is no boring moment. The audience was shown tension moment to tension moment without stopping. Jack Traven performed his duties very well as a young policeman who was tough and willing to risk his life for the others. While Annie was a very brave girl, she took control of the bus until all passengers made it out, while she came out last, even though her life is at stake because the bus will explode soon.
Their characters were inversely proportional to the villain in this movie. Howard Payne was a former police officer who served as a bomb squad. He felt unappreciated because he was retired after he lost his thumb in a bomb explosion while on duty. He felt the pension provided to him was too small, while the watch bonus given to him was only a cheap watch. Interestingly, the problem of small pension and cheap watch was made a joke by Jack's friend at the beginning of the movie, even so, he still carried out his duty to save citizens in earnest.
We see something very contrasting here, between a person who worked with devotion and someone who worked by only hoping for rewards and demanding recognition. Which type of person are we? Everyone when asked, naturally wants to be like the main character and does not want to be a villain character in the movie, but not everyone really applies it in their lives.
Usually human nature will come out when facing difficulties. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we can finally see many of these characteristics. I was very sad when I read about a train conductor in England who died after someone who contracted Covid-19 deliberately spat on him and his partner to infect them. That person was very evil and ‘didn't want to die alone’.
On the other hand, I also read news about a teacher in the countryside who was willing to walk far to the homes of his students to teach them one by one personally. There are also doctors who faithfully carried out their duties even though they were infected and eventually died. There is also a doctor who immediately returned to duty after he recovered from Covid-19.
Unfortunately, there were people who expel medical personnel from boarding or flats because they thought they carried the Covid-19 virus. Even though viruses cannot penetrate walls, can they? There are also those who refused funerals in their area. Can viruses creep out of the ground?
Maybe we cannot be heroes but let us not be villains. Let us give our highest appreciations to the medical personnel, support their work, not make it difficult for them. For those of us who are still working, let us also work earnestly. We can pass through this pandemic together by supporting each other. Yes. We can!