Hold Up, What Is Chernobyl?
To answer this in a politically correct manner, Chernobyl was a nuclear reactor in Soviet Ukraine that exploded – threatening the lives of people all around the world. The HBO portrayal is a beautiful depiction of the lives of the people mentioned above in a concise 5-episode series. With stunning visuals, and a beautiful script – Chernobyl deals with the bureaucratic, political and individual perspectives surrounding the experience, including the events that lead to it.
Currently poised for winning a limited series Emmy – if you have 330 minutes to spare, you’ve got to watch this!
How’d People React?
To put this in the simplest way possible, people went CRAZY.
With the highest ranked fan reviews this year, (and quite possibly in all of HBO history) – it would be a very unpopular opinion to say that you didn’t like Chernobyl.
Chernobyl was important, it showed us how mainstream media can give birth to an industry. Within a few days of the release, Chernobyl became one of the hottest tourist spots in the world. Local tour operators of Chernobyl have been overwhelmed by the response, with more agencies offering tours to the three-decade old disaster site. CNN reports a 33% increase in the area surrounding the nuclear reactor.
Victor Korol, director of SoloEast, an agency that has been offering trips to the location for two decades said “We have seen a 35% rise in bookings,” – It’s almost as if people ran to the airport, got on a plane and came to the site right after they saw the show.
That’s Nice, Right?
It was. Till it went too far.
Social Media Influencers took over the scene. One wore a G-string and a hazmat suit in a nuclear control room, another influencer donned a helmet and a white coat – as if it was a cosplay competition. Chernobyl went from a three-decade old nuclear disaster spot to a background for lewd Instagram posts, to which – Craig Mazin tweeted, ‘If you visit, please remember that a terrible tragedy occurred here.’
On the other hand, this has led to a plethora of posts condemning these insensitive photos, labeling them as torments to the history of suffering people had to endure.
The Takeaway:
They’re not wrong, Chernobyl radiated 400 times the radiation of the Hiroshima Nuclear Massacre. It left 100,000 people displaced, 400 dead and had effects that stretched that could be felt all the way in Norway.
In the spirit of Chernobyl, it’s important to remind ourselves that our fascination should not be disrespectful, and our tourism shouldn’t be dark.
