Still, though, the I Am Legend theory regained momentum this week when the New York Times ran a story about anti-vaxxers, claiming that an employee at an eyewear store had refused the vaccine because she thought a vaccine had caused the characters in the film I Am Legend to turn into zombies. The disease was initially hyped as a cure for cancer (by Emma Thompson in an unbilled cameo) but it mutated and became a killer. Teen TikToker Says Fart Led To Uterus Coming Out Her Vagina, Your Doctor Consulting ChatGPT Isnt An Intelligent Choice (Yet): Study, diarrhea that you suffered from pounding raw cake batter, A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. A rumor widely circulated on social media claimed that the storyline of the Will Smith movie "I Am Legend" took place in the year 2021, and was centered on a zombie outbreak that was caused by a vaccine: It's difficult to find a claim with as many factual errors as this one. End of twitter post 2 by Vera Bergengruen, both misrepresenting the plot and the fictional nature of the film, despite the fact the plot was actually set in 2012, The ballroom scene changes as the AIDS epidemic continues to rage. Interestingly, Darkseekers terrifying features are rooted in basic biology. The 2007 movie I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, was a fictional movie. Im sure well find out over the next few months, whether we like it or not. Dr Robert Neville (Smith) spends his days exploring the ruins of New York City with his dog while trying to develop a cure for the disease. Unfortunately, they then start to experience rabies-like symptoms, going berserk and biting anyone within reach, spreading the virus through blood-saliva contact. Not. So was Jaws, with Amity Islands safety-denying mayor, Larry Vaughn, serving as an analogue for any authority figure who was skeptical about the concept of lockdown. 2023 Cable News Network. 6,240, This story has been shared 5,266 times. In 2009 Dr Alice Krippin, a British scientist played by Emma Thompson, genetically re-engineers the measles virus to cure cancer. God. A new analysis of data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that more than 99.99% of fully vaccinated people have not had a breakthrough case of Covid-19 that resulted in hospitalization or death. Instead, the experiment goes horribly wrong and large swaths of the Earths population are turned into sunlight-allergic mutant cannibals who almost wipe out all of humanity until Neville successfully finds a cure in the films climactic ending. I made that up. Not one of them has turned into a mutant zombie thats allergic to the sun or tried to eat Will Smith. Read about our approach to external linking. The 2007 film, starring Will Smith, is. Still, though, the I Am Legend theory regained momentum this week when the New York Times ran a story about anti-vaxxers, claiming that an employee at an eyewear store had refused the vaccine. Did 'The Mandalorian' Really Drop an F-Bomb? But conspiracy theorists have co-opted the film and wrongly asserted that the plot was based on people becoming vampires after receiving a vaccine. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. As Fentanyl Deaths In Youth Rise, Will Digital Health Solutions Find Quicker Adaptation? The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) where it was published on March 21, 2021, with the caption "ENJOY YALL DAY." The text pasted onto the photo opened: JUST WANTED TO REMIND YOU ALL THAT IN THE MOVIE I AM LEGEND 'THE YEAR WAS 2021, AND PEOPLE TURNED INTO ZOMBIES BECAUSE OF THE WRONG VACCINES. 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Season 5: How Many Episodes In The Farewell Season? The zombie apocalypse that the movie I am Legend portrayed didnt really happen in 2012. Oh. Warner Brothers. And although the film is a work of fiction, enough people have shared the nonsensical theories for the films co-writer, Akiva Goldsman, to tweet in response. WHEN WILL THESE LIARS PAY ? And second, you will remember that X-Men: The Last Stand climaxed with an out of control unvaccinated mutant threatening to tear apart the entire fabric of the universe as we know it, so maybe the idea of a vaccination isnt that silly after all. Using I Am Legend to guide your health-related decision making would be like combing the Pacific Ocean searching for Gilligan and Mary Ann or trying to get sucked into a video game so that you can meet Ruby Roundhouse from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Real.. God. Its a movie. Not. It's a movie. God. : At The Dolby' On LouisCK.com, Where The Comedian Continues To Beat Around The Offensive Bush, 'SNL' Recap: Ana de Armas, Karol G Not To Blame For As As Episode, Nicolas Cage Regrets Eating a Cockroach for 'Vampire's Kiss': "I'll Never Do That Again", Stream It Or Skip It: 'Queens on the Run' on Netflix, a Wheezy Road-Trip Comedy From Mexico. Published Copyright 2023 The New Daily. Working to find a cure may keep Neville busy enough to remain sane in his post-apocalyptic world. Whether you are reading the book or watching the movie, "I Am Legend" does not take place in 2021, and the vampires (not zombies) were not created by a vaccine. What do I Am Legend, JFKs nephew and pretending to be vegan have in common? Neville talks to mannequins on the regular. Kennedy Jr, a lawyer and environmentalist, regularly posts on social media about the vaccine and has linked COVID-19 jabs to 5G phone technology and untimely deaths, including baseball legend Hank Aaron. A vaccine works by using a weakened or inactive form of a virus/bacterium to trigger an immune response by the host. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. And thats essentially what weve done.. But the Internet is a hell of a drug. After all, who would want to become a flesh-eating zombie? A vaccine also did not cause the outbreak in the film. Thats not how vaccine development works and, as a virologist, Neville should know this. But the plague that turned people into zombies in the movie was caused by a genetically reprogrammed virus, not by a vaccine. hen it comes to the pandemic, plenty of films have had their turn in the spotlight. As Health Plans Address Social Determinants, UnitedHealth Group To Make 2.5 Million Home Visits This Year, Englands Nurses To Strike Again After Rejecting Pay Deal. In a New York Times report on an optical business thats struggling to encourage its employees to get vaccinated, one of the workers reportedly cited a social media post on the vaccine in I Am Legend as a reason to abstain from the shot: One employee said she was concerned because she thought a vaccine had caused the characters in the film I Am Legend to turn into zombies. The storyline of "I Am Legend" takes place in 2021 and centers on a zombie outbreak that was caused by a vaccine. 938, This story has been shared 741 times. Krippin states that 10,009 clinical trials were completed and all of the participants were successfully cured. This, in turn, caused the films co-writer Akiva Goldsman to tweet: Oh. Imagine the damage that car could cause. I am a writer, journalist, professor, systems modeler, computational and digital health expert, avocado-eater, and entrepreneur, not always in that order. (Photo by Claire Greenway/Getty Images). But the point that remains undisputed is, as one tweet says, "The outbreak in I Am Legend began in 2009 due to a mutation of a cure for Cancer that resulted in the Krippin Virus. Because sometimes what they reach for is the Will Smith movie I Am Legend. Health care workers assist a patient in the ICU inside Little Company of Mary Medical Center Friday, July 30, 2021 in Torrance, CA. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. Have something to tell us about this article? It was not a documentary. So, if the events of I Am Legend had really happened, you might have missed the zombie apocalypse. Then if you replace that man with a cop, that picture changes. 2. Arguably the only mainstream movie to ever depict vaccinations as a force for evil, in fact, is 2006s X-Men: The Last Stand, in which a wealthy industrialist discovers an inoculation that targets the gene that gives mutants their abilities. If you are using such a movie for medical advice, legend may not be the right next word for you when you begin with the words I am. Maybe, I am should be followed by going to get help now: While it is, in general, a good idea to understand other peoples perspectives, some have pointed out that there are limits: Not exactly American exponentialism at work. The idea that I Am Legend kicked off with a vaccine turning people into zombieswhen it was actually the measles virus reengineered in an attempt to cure cancerwas prevalent enough last year . Indeed, vaccine skeptics have given the movie a second life as "evidence" of the danger of vaccines, which in I Am Legend wipe out 99% of the world's population and turn almost everyone else into . "Mad Max" actually takes place sometime in the mid-1980s. But since he desperately searches for a cure when he isnt being a little crazy, even Neville would think it was insane for somebody to offer his predicament as proof that getting vaccinated out here in the real world is a bad idea. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. Their arguments are unforgivable for any number of reasons, not least that it sort of makes me want to watch I Am Legend again. The movie may have not had a disclaimer at the beginning of it, just like the movie Shrek didnt warn people that Shrek was not real. Full coverage and live updates on the Coronavirus, This is a BETA experience. Discovery Company. I made that up. Exposure therapy: why we're obsessed with watching virus movies, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Will Smith in I Am Legend. God. This article was amended on 12 August 2021. Did 'Succession' Just Confirm Shiv is Pregnant? 'I Am Legend' vaccine guidance is just the beginning of bad fictional advice! Initially it seems that the virus is a success, with more than 10,000 cancer patients cured. Boom! As a result, anti-vaxxers are stating on social media that they are vegan to avoid vaccination should certain workplaces make them compulsory. The World vs. Boris Becker' on Apple TV+, A Documentary About The One-Time Wimbledon Wunderkind, 11 Best New Shows on Netflix: April 2023's Top Upcoming Series to Watch, 11 Best New Movies on Netflix: April 2023's Freshest Films to Watch, 11 Best New Shows on Netflix: March 2023's Top Upcoming Series to Watch, 11 Best New Movies on Netflix: March 2023's Freshest Films to Watch, 11 Best New Shows on Netflix: February 2023's Top Upcoming Series to Watch, How to Watch All Of The Pokmon Movies and TV Episodes, 18 Best Books To Read That Are Becoming TV Shows Or Movies, Shop Funko Pops for 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. Animals that can regenerate just like The Doctor! Some are claiming that in the 2007 movie "I Am Legend," vaccines led to a zombie apocalypse, so you [+] should beware of the Covid-19 vaccine. You cant develop a cure using the blood of someone whos naturally immune to that disease because of a genetic mutation. Donate State Editions California Florida Illinois Iowa If anti-vaxxers can convince themselves that some half-remembered Will Smith film from 2007 can act as a watertight scientific explanation for not wanting to get jabbed, then they can basically use that rationale on any film. The body reacts as if this was a real infection, producing antibodies to fight. This is where the problem lies. 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Its. 1,274, This story has been shared 1,072 times. I made that up. More importantly, at absolutely no point in I Am Legend is a vaccine the cause of the zombie apocalypse, and yet, that is one of the reasons why people on social media are advising others against getting the COVID shot. Oh. Get the jab. Fact check: a vaccine did not turn characters in the movie I Am Legend into zombies, went the Reuters headline in December 2020, proving that this hokum has been popping off in certain corners of social media for quite awhile now, and further suggesting that some folks are far more interested in concocting convenient alternative facts from utterly fictional content than they are in helping to ensure the health and safety of their families, friends, and communities. The movie is about vampires not zombies and the outbreak was not caused by a vaccine. Not caused by a vaccine mutant zombie thats allergic to the sun or tried to eat Will,... 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