MovieChat Forums > Contagion (2011) Discussion > The End Scene

The End Scene

posted 11 years ago by grahamchris
71 replies | jump to latest

I thought the end Montage scene was excellent. The bulldozer knocks down the tree, disturbing the bats' habitat. The bat flies off, takes fruit from a banana plant. Makes a new roost above a pig farm, drops a piece of contaminated fruit that the pig eats. The pig is bought for a restaurant. The chef starts to prepare the pig when he is informed the customer (Beth Emhoff) wants a photo with him. Hand contact is made and the inter-title comes up Day 1. So who is to blame? Mankind's greed for destroying the tree?

[–] headrush67 11 years ago

No one is to blame .... 'Somewhere in the world the wrong bat met up with the wrong pig.'

lol

*tigers love pepper, they hate cinnamon*

[–] theCurlyone 11 years ago

OOOOHHHHH. I've just finished watching the movie.
I thought the quote was "Somewhere in the world the wrong BAD met up with the wrong BIG"
Big Bad.
Well, you live and learn.

I think it's a joke

[–] alkmenesankles 11 years ago

Too much Buffy? ;)

I'm writing all this down in my memoirs so if I grow up twisted & warped, the world will know why.

[–] garrettok13 10 years ago

Any amount of Joss Whedon is TOO much. LOL ;)

[–] gpxdlr 8 years ago

This quote was narrated in the special features section of the DVD.

[–] mrsvistacapri 11 years ago

I agree about the montage ending too. All I kept thinking was "Contagion," and how one word made all the sense to prepare and prevent. I loved the movie and I am happy I now own it.

[–] betenoire-1 11 years ago

I agree with the poster who said no one is to blame. And I did not see the movie blaming anyone for the contagion. It does show how such an outbreak could possibly spread. Life is funny that way, we can't control all the factors.

The people felling the tree are not to blame, how are they supposed to know what happens next? The bat and the pigs are not to blame, they are just animals and don't have a concept of viruses. The cook is not to blame, who expects a simple cook to wash up before shaking hands with a customer as thoroughly as a surgeon does before an operation? Said customer is not to blame, she hasn't got a clue either. People who touch surfaces and then their faces are not to blame, they aren't even aware that they do it as often. Meanwhile the virus just replicates, because that is what viruses do.

[–] StrykerWifey172 11 years ago

BS!

"Who expects a simple cook to wash their hands before meeting a customer"

WOW!!! It is proper/simple hygiene skills! It's BASIC practice to ALWAYS wash your hands after handling meat, even if your still cooking! Would you throw raw pork chops on your stove top and immediately stick your fingers in your mouth to chew your nails or something? If so, I'm certainly glad I have never been invited to dinner at your home.

Pigs are disgusting creatures to begin with, and have the highest rate of meat contamination, it is foolish for anyone (especially a chef) to not practice proper hygene, and food safety when handling any raw foods, especially meat, and ESPECIALLY pork.

The cook washing his hands would have made a world of difference. The cooking process would have killed the bacteria that lead to the disease, if done properly. Kitchen hygene exists for a reason, health inspectors exist for a reason, and had a health inspector witnessed what that chef did, that place would have been shut down immediately.

[–] deesirius 11 years ago

^^^ Completely agree.

Someone was to blame and its definitely the cook....he literally just wiped his bloody wet hands on his apron after molesting the crap outta that pig. Wouldnt and shouldnt it be an automatic reflex to wash your hands after touching a dead animal???

"CHANDLER WATCHES SHARK PORN!!!"- Monica Geller

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] betenoire-1 11 years ago

StrykerWifey172, you are misquoting me. I wrote:

"who expects a simple cook to wash up before shaking hands with a customer as thoroughly as a surgeon does before an operation?"

There is a difference of meaning.

Of course cooks should wash their hands (and unfortunately it does get forgotten). But a complete and thorough disinfection each time one's work is interrupted might just be too much to ask. I do not expect every cook in the world to be perfectly aware of every kind of microbial hazard. It's a lack of education, mainly.

Your invective against pigs as "disgusting creatures" betrays a bit of your own prejudice. Pigs are not disgusting, but sometimes the conditions in which they are kept are.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] justinmacri2032 11 years ago

you are so wrong you want to blame a 40-45 year old woman for this whole mess please re watch it again. In the middle of the film we see they found out it came from a bat and before the bat was the bulldozer so no one knew what was going to happen it just happened out of doing a job forgetting and accident. Like lets put "Full House" in an example you really want blame Danny's wife she went out get ice-cream get killed. No it was all a accident no one to blame Pam Tanner she was going to be killed by a drink driver. It was all a accident same with these people no one is to blame the chef or the bat so how can you explain that?

Bond James Bond

[–] davie4u 11 years ago

Trolling for dollars?

[–] smcbee27 11 years ago

A simple cook?!? It wasn't a road side dinner. It was a high end casino and restaurant. Do you ever ask to greet the chef at McDonalds or Olive Garden? No. He was a highly regarded chef who would've had the education to "wash up" before causing cross contamination. It would take him 90. seconds of soap and water to have prevented the spread of the virus with this particular incident. Plus his apron should've been changed more often. Chef's do not come out for compliments in nasty aprons.

[–] weepingwillow314 10 years ago

I wonder if the writers meant to indicate the chef having to stop cooking to shake hands with an American tourist for a photo was something he may have resented? sort of a "ah geez another interruption, silly tourist, shake hands and smile, okay I gotta get back to cooking now" kind of thing. making his carelessness understandable. not right, but understandable.

_________
don't blink

[–] lucianolvr 10 years ago

I totally agree with the opinion that the cook caused this whole mess. Anyone with any knowledge at all of germs would know to wash their hands with soap and water after handling raw meat. Duh!!

He didn't, he shoot her hand, boom, half the world dead.

Had he just washed his hands and the surface of the cutting board properly, none of this would have ever happened. For all we know some monster virus has already been created (by bats, pigs, birds, whatever) and some little unknown hero cook did the right thing and no one got sick. Cooking the meat would kill the virus.

Love me some Waltons

[–] bozo_500 (12302) 4 years ago

For all we know some monster virus has already been created (by bats, pigs, birds, whatever) and some little unknown hero cook did the right thing and no one got sick.

not this time

[–] terryperring104 11 years ago

Thanks for writing all that, you saved me a job. What an idiot that poster is and yes, I certainly wouldnt eat at his house!

[–] ThePropeller 11 years ago

What is a still? As you wrote, "your 'still' cooking?"

[–] StrykerWifey172 11 years ago

I meant that washing your hands is basic kitchen practice even if you are still in the process of cooking.

Like if you use a rub for your pork chops, you wash your hands, put them in the pan and wash your hands, chop up broccoli and wash your hands.

I wash my hands 5-10 times while I'm cooking, but I am also extremely cautious when cooking, I am no chef by all means, but I am not going to risk the safety/health of my family just because I didn't wash my hands.

[–] paulokox 11 years ago

it was not a bacteria! it was a virous!

[–] emul0c 11 years ago

Completely agree to the first part of your post, and if the cook had washed his hands he might not have infected Beth - but washing his hands my not have prevented the outbreak anyway. He might have been infected himself for touching this pig. The story might have turned out a different way - but if he was infected, he would undoubtly pass the disease along to maybe a waiter or family or some other people, and everyone would be in the same situation as before - except that Beth would not have been the first one to get infected and carried the disease to the U.S.
Same story, different characters.

But we can all agree that the chef should have washed his hands, as it MIGHT have prevented the outbreak, if he he hadn't caught the disease himself.

//Steffen.

[–] mswoc 11 years ago

the chef transferred the bat-pig virus to Beth, and she became the incubator for it to morph into a human virus and jump from the animal to human population.

the Chef didn't get the human virus because it didn't exist until it set up shop in Beth's body and ultimately became capable of infecting humans. the first deaths -- super model and waiter -- were in contact with Beth at least a day after her photo op with the chef

I would imagine that chef likely acted fairly routinely, because sloppy food handling doesn't usually lead to new highly contagious potentially fatal human viruses. even though bad practices violate sanitation code, such habits tend to stick when the potential for undesirable consequence is low

Most people in the US, for example, will just shrug off a mild case of food poisoning as "touch of the flu" or "something I ate" and never report it, only the serious severe cases end up under investigation.

[–] eschelar 10 years ago

Sorry about necro-posting this, but you did understand that she was at a Casino in Macau right? And you did see that she met the chef for some unexplained reason (possibly she is a bigwig connected to some corporation that has affiliation with the casino?). While there, she almost forgets her cell phone at the bar while getting the drinks (infecting the Ukranian model), has drinks cocktails of some sort with another businessman (possibly related to why she was considered worthy of meeting the chef?) and passes the infection to the busboy, plays some kind of game with the Japanese businessman (infecting him). Those people were all infected - except possibly the cook, who, aside from being called out to meet with this bigwig, probably would have returned to the pig, prepared it, cooked it properly, and washed his hands etc. I didn't notice if he had died or not, but it's possible he didn't.

All of that happened within a few hours, NOT a few days. That was all in the same evening.

As to sanitation, it is approached MUCH differently here in Asia. It is *NOT* uncommon to see deeply questionable practices with Asian chefs even in high end kitchens. I've been working here in Asia for a little over a decade and I've seen plenty of nice restaurants and hotels. They simply don't have an analog here for "Foodsafe" or similar standards. I've seen plenty of morning market butchers operate all morning without a single wash of the hands, wearing a leather apron that probably never gets more than a quick hosedown. And I know for a fact that nice restaurants sometimes do get their meat from places like that.

Sanitation code is entirely a North American/Western concept. In Asia, you just get guys who have been cooking for a long time. Some are trained overseas, but plenty are just cooks.

To be honest, many upper end restaurants actually do have foreigners running their restaurant as head chef for this very restaurant. But plenty don't.

[–] ArthurDental 10 years ago

Pigs actually like to keep themselves clean. They're also very intelligent animals.

People like to keep them in dirty sties.

[–] BunnyCake 10 years ago

Pigs actually like to keep themselves clean. They're also very intelligent animals.

People like to keep them in dirty sties.

Exactly. They're also very communal and social animals. It's why I don't eat them, the poor things.

These kids today, with their hula hoops and fax machines.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] fillshertease 10 years ago

Pigs are NOT disgusting creatures. They are amongst the cleanest of ALL animals. They maintain separate sleeping, eating and defecating areas when given the chance. They are very clean and tidy.

Pork does NOT have the highest rate of meat contamination. In fact it's not second, third or even fourth! Eggs are the most contaminated meat. However if you don't consider eggs to be meat then beef, chicken and seafood all have higher rates of contamination than pork.

We're from the planet Duplon. We are here to destroy you.

[–] atik10 9 years ago

Pigs are actually smarter than dogs. The fact that human beings tend to keep them in deplorable conditions does not make them obnoxious, rather it says something about us as a specie.

[–] gpxdlr 8 years ago

Uh, excuse me but you do know what country the chef is in. CHINA! Do not expect sanitary and/or healthy food handling practice there. You visit some of these Asian countries, you health is depending on a ROLL OF THE DICE.

[–] JohnnyDoe (1728) 4 years ago

Central planners?

[–] ellennyc-1 11 years ago

I must have missed something because I still don't get where the virus started. From the bat? How did the bat get infected? Or was it the piece of banana(? was it a banana?) that the bat ate? How did that get infected?

[–] betenoire-1 11 years ago

ellennyc-1, I believe the film does not exactly answer this, it leaves the question open. It is not altogether relevant where or how exactly the virus started. The point is that an unforeseeable string of coincidences, everyday human failures and simple bad luck could get the contagion rolling.

But yes, as shown the bat carried a bit of banana and dropped it on the floor with the pigs. Whether the virus was in the banana itself or in the bat's saliva is not important.

[–] mr-murph 11 years ago

This is what is called a "zoonotic infection." An animal carries a virus which doesn't make it sick, but the virus causes severe disease in people. The bat carried the virus, but was not itself sick. It transmitted the virus to the pig when it dropped the banana, which was then picked up by the chef, who transmitted it on.

[–] chrishuber 11 years ago

Did anyone one big coincidence: the bulldozer that knocked down the tree in the first place? The logo on the door showed it was the same company that Beth worked for.

Chris in Chicago

[–] beer_and_veg 10 years ago

yes, spotted that. Nice touch.
We could just as easily say it was Beth's company that killed her and started the whole thing.
I think that is the point. We could make very good arguments for any of these players, but in the end it doesn't matter, we still end up in the same mess.

[–] paulokox 11 years ago

It was a virus from the bat (that probably did not infect humans, only bat), and that virus mixed with other virus from the pig (same here), originated a new strain that infected humans!

[–] mswoc 11 years ago

the way I understand it, we are all exposed to and might carry or transfer all kinds of stuff, it's the circumstances, conditions, combinations that can make a difference about what becomes a serious problem. Beth was likely a touch immuno-compromised at the time, making her a susceptible host for an opportunistic infection.

the point of the movie, that by encroaching on wildlife land we force ourselves and other species to live closer together, have more chances for physical interaction increases the chances of viruses jumping from one population to another because they are constantly trying

"The team behind the film used several expert consultants and went to other lengths to get scientific details correct. It's modeled on the Nipah virus – a dangerous bug first seen in Malaysia a dozen years ago that spread from pigs to farmers"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/15/contagion-is-real_n_963898.ht ml

"the outbreak depicted in the film is loosely based upon the 1998-1999 emergence of Nipah virus in Malaysia, the same virus that introduced itself to the world by erupting into a massive outbreak among pig farmers and abattoir workers in Malaysia. As in Contagion, there, too, was a tipping point, a series of spillover events closely tied to human manipulation of the environment"
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/bodyhorrors/2013/04/30/climatic-ori- nipah-virus/#.UjANn8asiM5

"The plot of Contagion is based on the real-life story of Nipah, a virus that swept through pig farms in Malaysia 12 years ago. Bats who harbored the virus found themselves displaced by new pig farms, and began to infect the pigs with a virus that the pigs, in turn, passed on to the farmers. And while the Nipah virus appeared harmless to bats, it was 70 percent lethal to humans"
http://www.zoenature.org/2011/10/the-real-contagion/

"Pigs and bats are both real life culprits in Nipah outbreaks. The disease passed to humans through contact with infected pigs in Malaysia and Singapore, and through consuming fruit that was contaminated with urine or saliva from infected bats in Bangladesh and India. Bats in particular make great reservoir hosts for disease, meaning they can harbor the pathogen indefinitely with no ill effects."
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/09/cdc-experts-examine-the-sc ience-of-hollywoods-contagion.html

[–] EveryDayFriend 10 years ago

BAT SALIVA! Thanks for setting me straight. So...bat spit on a chunk of banana. I totally missed this. I coulda swore it was bat droppings the piglet ate, since pigs eat anything. Thanks!

[–] BigMac25 11 years ago

I took it to be a big statement on people & companies profiting on the backs of others.

(Spoilers)

The last scene shows that it was Gwyneth's company knocking down the trees for the new factory that caused "the wrong bat" to come into contact with "the wrong pig." It all started because of that.

It also went into the blogger profiting on the result of people's fears.

The CDC doc was going to be punished for "profiting" by getting his wife(?) out of Chicago before it all came tumbling down

Wasn't there something about the nurses on strike that allowed the disease to spread faster? They were on strike and trying to profit from others.

Then there was the bitchy woman who was concerned about who was paying for the gym Kate Winslet was trying to set up.

But it all comes back to Gwyneth's company.

Just my thoughts...

Sleep peaceably at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on your behalf.

[–] Ithilfaen 8 years ago

Wasn't there something about the nurses on strike that allowed the disease to spread faster? They were on strike and trying to profit from others.

[lauh] they were on strike because nurses always get pushed to the front lines of these epidemics and they can't do *beep* but get infected anyway.

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

[–] JohnnyDoe (1728) 4 years ago

Who enables Gwyneth's company?

[–] molarmaven59 11 years ago

Dear grahamchris:

Day 1 -----------> True.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] bluemagicmist 11 years ago

I agree, the ending was well done, i liked how it ends with Day 1 when it had begun with Day 2.

[–] koffeenkreame41-1 11 years ago

I loved the ending montage as well, something a bit eerie about seeing how it started.

"I am the ultimate badass, you do not wanna `*beep*` wit me!"- Hudson in Aliens.

[–] camel-wides 11 years ago

i think the point was that no one was really to blame... maybe the company that she worked for, who felled the treas, and then served contaminated meat were to blame for being greedy, and encroaching on nature...

i think the main point there was to show that no, it happened naturally, to allay the statements early in the movie where the discussed the possibility of it having been synthed as a weapon by a terrorist group, or a foreign military.

[–] JohnnyDoe (1728) 4 years ago

Central planners?