'Totally Under Control' Review: Spoiler... It’s Still Not Under Control
Even if you don’t have COVID-19, President Trump’s response to the pandemic is enough to make anyone sick. The new documentary, ‘Totally Under Control,’ demonstrates the recent lack of an efficient and cohesive plan of action to stop the spread of Coronavirus from the current President of the United States and his administration thereby costing over 200,000 American’s lives and counting. Directors Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger interviewed several professionals from both the governmental and scientific fields for their expertise on the handling of this disease. The consensus was that not only did Trump spread misinformation on the severity of the outbreak but also knew about its potential impact long before he admitted. If you’re watching the documentary however, chances are you already felt this way.
The documentary clocks in at 2 hours and 3 minutes long which is a hefty runtime for something that ultimately, is possibly redundant or preaching to the choir. With the election less than a month away, it seems like this is perfect timing to help sway undecided voters against Trump but as the doc itself shows, there are two camps of people and the politics have only muddied the treacherous waters. The Republican party, led by President Trump’s constant dismissal of scientific data and expert recommendations, has turned many of his supporters into illogical zealots uncompromising in the face of facts and while the documentary doesn’t dive into much of the Democrat’s proposals, it’s clear that this administrations complacency and bureaucratic prioritization of finances sent our economy spiralling and Covid-19 cases skyrocketing.
Tracking the timeline of the first case in Seattle, Washington in early January through to the day Trump contracted the disease nine months later on October 3rd, it is a thoroughly frustrating look at The United States’ course of action, especially in those earlier months. I wouldn’t dare try to sum up the labyrinthian weaving of government officials, doctors and public healthcare experts that had some role in warning the leaders about the dangers to come but needless to say, male hubris continues to plague this planet. From the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar being too afraid to tell Trump how bad the virus could get by softening his briefing with a reassuring, “we got this,” to Trump himself flat out lying and creating the title of this film by telling a reporter everything is “totally under control,” the fragile ego and fear of losing a job corrupted these men into peddling lies to the American public. It wasn’t until Dr. Nancy Messonier, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a tele-briefing described the intense precautions that needed to be taken to slow a nationwide pandemic. Then, the nature of the situation beyond far beyond the general population’s preconceived notions, was taken seriously. Messonier was removed from the team a short while later.
In more depressing revelations, one of America’s only mask manufacturers was denied assistance to expand production and create over 7 million masks a month at a fraction of the cost of the route the government ended up taking: importing masks from China we just sold to them in February. This combined with semi-faulty tests that shipped from the CDC with two out of three working components, plus the refusal of reliable WHO tests were just kindling to the wildfire that would spread across the nation. It’s hard to think of the last 8 months with such sterility but we’ve gone from lack of preparation, to lack of masks, to lack of ventilators all because a President who would prefer to spend his weekends golfing or firing dissenters rather than be held accountable for losing hundreds of thousands of American lives downplayed a known, fatal pathogen.
The documentary only spends a brief few minutes on the way the virus have affected POC and lower income families at a greater percentage but as Dr. Taison Bell states, “my grandmother used to say, ‘When the country gets the flu, black people get pneumonia.’” People that can’t afford health insurance or can only afford the bare minimum are obviously more susceptible to illness than say, a rich and powerful person like the President who gets the best doctors and medicine out there. These are systems that were put in place to oppress and marginalize specific groups of people and it’s time for a change. As Kathleen Sebelius, former Secretary of Health says, “every President should learn from what has happened before,” and instead of improving upon Obama’s administration, Trump has undoubtedly tanked the economy, haphazardly handled healthcare and radicalized nationalists in the process.
It’s October 13, ‘Totally Under Control’ is officially available on streaming platforms and you can judge for yourself on the efficacy of the piece but even if it doesn’t change minds on the absurdity of certain actions and beliefs, this at the very least a good representation of people that haven’t been indoctrinated into the cult of Trump. The documentary is well shot despite social distancing limitations if only a little too long for a world still currently without a vaccine; our collective wounds are still fresh. This might be too soon for some and for others it might be too little too late.
Grade: [B-]
Check out the trailer below: