Someone out there is going to use their time in coronavirus lockdown to create the next generation-defining masterpiece. I just know it.
We only have to look back at history to see what quarantine can do for one’s productivity.
Self-isolating from the Bubonic plague in the summer of 1606, William Shakespeare supposedly penned King Lear. Funny what axing the commute can do, isn’t it?
In fact, many scholars also believe that less time spent on the tube helped the great playwright come up with the plots for Macbeth and Anthony and Cleopatra. Meanwhile, Sir Isaac Newton reportedly discovered gravity at home when the Great Plague of London triggered a lockdown.
That’s all well and good, I hear you say, but how does time in the house actually boost one’s productivity? In today’s day and age, there’s still plenty of distractions at home.
Well, maybe Shakespeare and Newton took one look at Mrs Brown’s Boys stealing of Match of the Day’s Saturday night slot and decided to apply themselves somewhere away from the television? I’m sure we’ll never know. But these achievements show that when we put our everyday lives on hold, time to ourselves can lead to inspiration.
But what about me?
That may not apply to everyone, of course. I’m sure many of us will use this unprecedented period to master keepy-uppies with toilet roll, collect all the Pokemon on the Nintendo DS again, re-watch every episode of the Simpsons or spend 25 virtual years inside another Football Manager save.
Or maybe you’re like me and my wife. We look at our friends’ lists of lockdown novels and quarantine Netflix schedule with bitter jealousy as we balance working from home with our… delightful children. Believe me, the idea of using Disney+ to watch the Mandalorian instead of Frozen seems as fantastical as the Star Wars universe itself. Instead, while Newton used his time in self-isolation to discover gravity, all we’ve discovered is the boiling point of a three-year-old girl when her younger sister has stolen a hairclip.
Seismic events influence culture
However, I am sure that somewhere out there, a very talented (and very childless) person has shirked the temptation to be like everyone else and is applying themselves to something really awesome right now.
I truly am excited to see what the entertainment industry will produce off the back of this generation-defining event. That’s not to trivialise this challenging period in our lives. Just as World War Two shaped the content of the fifties and sixties, so too will a world that fought and (hopefully defeated) COVID-19 inspire what we consume over the next two decades.
The best books, television shows and movies are ones that ask the best questions. What would *you* do if you were faced with the same problem as the main protagonist(s). Well, right now, we’re all being asked the same question. Coronavirus cares not for your bank balance, social background, political views or place of work, which is, of course, why we have, quite rightly, all been asked to stay in our homes to stop the spread. But it means, probably for the first time in decades, the rich and poor alike are experiencing the same cultural shift all at the same time. Their responses and level of comfort will be different, but there will still be plenty of similarities.
These common experiences mean many stories inspired by this period will be relatable to the entire United Kingdom. After all, shared experiences were what made World War Two films so popular for so long. They captured a world the audience had lived through, conveyed the range of emotions they felt during the period and fed it back to them. That’s the formula to any successful story, whether it’s via a book, the small or silver screen.
The New World
That’s how I know a Netflix sitcom entitled ‘Self-isolating with my mother-in-law’ is just around the corner. There will be a gritty BAFTA-winning BBC drama on the front-lines of the coronavirus war before HBO’s effort tops it. We’ll have blockbuster movies glorifying the brave NHS workers in our hospitals. And then the Avengers will be replaced by doctors and nurses as the next generation’s heroes. Anticipating all of this groundbreaking content is something that helps me see the light at the end of the tunnel.
So to those creative minds whose juices have been flowing during the fight against coronavirus, I say this. I cannot wait to see what you come up with. All I know is, because of two little people, that person will not be me and it won’t be my wife either, bless her.
P.S. Thankfully, I’ve still managed to keep up with my own writing. That said, allocating ‘quarantine time’ on top of the usual hours I spend on it has been rather difficult. I could cook up Britain’s next hit sitcom, but finishing other projects on my plate is a higher priority!
Loving reading these. Keep them coming xx Sending love to you all
Thanks Jackie! Glad you enjoyed the articles!
Hi David – thanks for this – really enjoyed reading it. Are you a fan of Cal Newport? I’ve found his books Deep Work and Digital Minimalism really helpful. But I’m with you on the kids…you seriously have to lower your expectations on what you can get done! Or maybe our kids are actually the ‘masterpiece’ that we’re called to invest our time in right now (I say that having just got unnecessarily frustrated at my daughter’s inability to grasp how a basic number line works!). Hope you guys are surviving. Joe
Hi Joe – sorry only just seen your comment! I’ve not read Cal Newport’s books before but I will certainly check those two out. They sound as if they would be very useful at a time like this. Absolutely, lowering expectations has been the way forward. Thankfully, there is less work for me to do than usual so we have managed to adapt to some extent. As you say, the children could prove to be the achievement of our time in lockdown. That’s a very nice way of looking at it which I hadn’t thought of before! Hope you guys are getting on okay as well!