The Slasher Called 2020

The scariest scenes don’t exist on a movie screen. There is no masked man, or doll, or homicidal maniac with a chainsaw, butcher knife, axe, or bladed glove. These pictures come from reality. Namely, from the year 2020. If ever there were a time to fear something, it would be now, but such fear can be fought.

A global pandemic, uprisings around the world, wildfires, and celebrity deaths, have made this year a blight on the consciousness. Instead of just one masked murderer to contend with, (most of) the world has masked themselves to defend against the scourge of COVID-19. The leader of the semi-free world has contracted the disease, and seems unable to realize it’s a serious condition that has killed over two hundred thousand Americans, and a million people worldwide (as of this writing).

The resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is immoral, unprincipled, empty and anti-American, and is still a lead in this picture. His political opponent shares these same traits. The horrific plans from both sides of the political divide are worse than any creep in the movies about to slash open the neck of an unsuspecting babysitter. The terror behind these two is like viewing a killer slowly eliminate horny twenty-somethings at a campsite.

Both of them represent the worst in America. They say “buy American,” which is akin to letting an ax-murderer know your location in a direct-to-video feature. Americans ought to buy the best product, for the cheapest price, no matter where it originated. The only result that either of these two knuckleheads can produce is bloodshed. And if not, the victims (Americans) will suffer the pain of fewer individual rights and civil liberties.

Imagine the picture of a president and former vice-president gridlocked in a grisly show of each other’s weaknesses. The President of the United States can’t keep from interrupting, with his empty, ugly rhetoric. On the other hand, when the camera zooms in to see the once second man in charge, he demonstrates his own milquetoast, ugly plan for the country. Could bats fly out of a darkened house? Could a knife-wielding foe cross the screen? That would be more comforting.

COVID-19 has either touched someone, or someone knows someone affected by the sickness. It is a chilling thought to consider that people who don't take it seriously should reorganize their lives. They should remind themselves that this disease can not only dominate their lives, but end their lives.

Even a killer who can kill you in your dreams is no match for a real life killer. With the central planner in chief now continuing to downplay the coronavirus, some people believe he is right. This is like the people in slasher flicks who fall into traps made by the mad man who just wants to see blood.

The uprisings, and calls for law and order, are justified. Like mobs of zombies roaming through cities, people feel it is proper to disrupt traffic, destroy property, or call for dissolution of police departments. The litany of names of people silenced by the hands of police, calls for the stoppage of criminal organizations, and the reform of police codes like “no-knock” warrants.

The horrors in the streets rival the screen. All of those people stomping for “justice” really would just want to see more gore run in the gutters of America, and across the globe. Fear finds its way into the minds of men when the thought of focusing on bringing rationality into the picture. It’s like the slasher who finally traps his victim and does his worst against him or her.

This movie doesn’t have to continue into 2021. There may still be Asian murder hornets, but there are myriad ways to combat the spread. COVID-19 just may be halted with a vaccine or other medical treatment. While it still may be too early to see if 2020 will improve, and be somewhat recoverable, it is important to remember that if that message “we’re all in this together” means anything, it is that every individual has a chance to improve their own lives, and by extension, aid someone else. Let’s just hope there’s no sequel to the horror film known as 2020.