Stop with the Vaccine Photoshoots.
It’s not really any surprise that theatre people love seeing themselves on camera. And there are many situations in which I would say it is entirely appropriate-more than appropriate, in fact- to host a photoshoot of yourself. Your college graduation. At your Opening Night. On the day of your release from prison. But when I think about times when you should not be wearing makeup and surrounded by lighting equipment, there is one place that immediately jumps to the front of my mind. And that is at your Covid vaccination. And if you think that I’m making it up that people are doing this, then wash a Xanax down with a White Claw and open your Instagram.
I should preface this by saying I’m not sure why we have adopted this fashionable trend of sharing staged photos of your inoculation and publicly documenting them like it’s your Bat Mitzvah, but my social media is currently flooded with perfectly lit, cropped, and edited photos of people in the vaccination chair proudly holding (boasting?) their vaccine card like they’ve just received the Congressional Medal of Freedom. Now before anyone cancels me, I’m in favor of the vaccine. In fact, I’m as excited to get it as I am for the next season of Ozark (Wendy is just out of control, you guys). And I actually think sharing the information that you’ve received the vaccine is profoundly important to its dissemination. We want to further the scientifically correct narrative the vaccine is our way out of this mess. I’m just not a fan of vaccine photo shoots. How did we get so broken as a society that this looks like a good idea?
One particularly egregious post I saw contained a strapping, young actor whose name has been removed but I will call Tucker. Tucker was holding his vaccine card and wrote a caption that read: “I did it for my family. I did it for my friends. I did it for the gays. #BidenHarris.” Wait…you did it for the gays?? Congratulations on the vaccine, Tucker, we can now socialize with you. Not that anyone would want to after this post. Tucker is acting as though he deserves the accolades of having served in Afghanistan. Here’s another one from a young artist named “Denise”. She posted this caption with a photo of herself in full hair and makeup getting injected.
“I never thought this day would come. Today I take one step forward for science.
(a long poem with no author listed)
Stop. Killing. Trans. Women*”
*a hand clapping emoji followed every one of these words
Now first of all, I must say I agree with Denise. We need to stop killing trans women. If you’re reading this, and you are someone who kills trans women…STOP. I’m serious. But this raises more pressing questions: are there people on Denise’s newsfeed that are regularly killing trans women? Because if there are…unfriend them, Denise. And call the police. I don’t want anyone on my newsfeed that has killed a trans woman. Or that has killed anyone for that matter. I’m not a psychopath. Every cloud has a silver lining and this one is that thanks to Denise’s vaccine parade, we can now all finally deduce that it’s not ok to kill.
Another good one from someone named “Crystal”.
Today I got the first dose of the Moderna vaccine. Let’s do this. #Broadway #YourVoteBringsTheLightsBackOn #FinallyOutofQuarantine
This brings me to a truly urgent call to action; a real emergency. If anyone is reading this and knows Crystal, can you please let her know that it’s ok to leave your house? I’m really, really worried about her because from the sound of her Instagram post she has been locked in apartment since March 2020. This would also explain the current mental state that led her to photographing her Covid vaccine.
Social media is a drug, and we are using it like heroin or cocaine. It’s an escape from reality, a way to mask our problems, a simplification of something complicated and, more than anything, it’s really addictive. We are feeling a societal pressure to document every moment of our lives by creating an alternate universe where things are what we want. What does this have to do with getting a vaccine? I have no idea. But STOP. KILLING. TRANS. WOMEN. – NP
