A very English quarantine

I flew to Manchester, England at the beginning of March. Any real Covid-19 scare had yet to reach the States, and like other recent pandemics, we’ve been seemingly invincible in comparison to the rest of the world, so I assumed this would blow over accordingly. I touched down and immediately began my Ph.D. studies and found myself acting on a film set.

After one day of shooting, we were shut down, marking the beginning of how real this pandemic was for me and how close I was in proximity to it. As I rode the train from London back home, my anxiety began to increase. It was less the fear of actually catching the virus, but more of the fact that all of the things I do through my work as a filmmaker, to the basketball club I just joined, upcoming film festivals, to the plane tickets purchased for the wedding I’m due to attend –  all of these things are now canceled.
At the beginning of the pandemic, my attire when stepping outside my flat was apocalyptic more than anything. Mask, shades, hood, long black jacket and kitchen gloves. Think Batman with bright yellow mitts. It was a bit over-the-top, as are most reactions when responding to unknown things; hence the ‘toilet paper crisis.

As I compared my situation with that of those back in the States, I recognized I was fortunate, because there seemed to be calmness amongst the community I was surrounded by, which eased my own anxiety. I was so proud to let people know when they asked me how things were in America to claim that New Mexico is handling the pandemic better than the majority of the country. New Mexico was handling it better than the majority of Britain as well. If I walked outside today, you would think the pandemic was over.
I broke my social distancing streak in May by attending a Black Lives Matter protest that was happening five minutes from my flat. It has been a mentally exhausting period, still processing from constant injustices and murders facing the black community.

Being in the midst of a moment where over 1,000 people marched through the streets of Manchester chanting George Floyd’s and Breonna Taylor’s names was something special. Just as they began protesting after we protested in America, we began tearing down statues after they tore down a statue of theirs in Bristol.
I believe what this pandemic has allowed us to do is think and consider our priorities without being distracted by the daily grind. When we were forced to stay at home, we discovered what really matters to us.

The whole world is going to be a new place once we accept whatever “normal” becomes. The pandemic being our cocoon, we can choose the person on the other side of this metamorphosis.
I fly back to the States in a couple of weeks, and I’m not sure what to expect. I’ve been fairly cooped up in my flat for the last five months and have adapted to the British Covid-19 regulations, but what is it really like in America right now? Talk about a Social Distance Culture Shock!

Julian Alexander has a bachelor’s degree in digital filmmaking from the New Mexico State University Creative Media Institute and an MFA from Leeds Beckett University. He is pursuing a Ph.D. with the official title of “The Cinematic Hip-Hop Narrative: Using Rap As The Main Narrative Tool On Screen” at the University of East London. Visit www.julianmakesfilms.com/.