Contagion

Over at Slate, Patrick Goldstein and James Rainey present an interesting analysis of the current paranoia-thriller "Contagion", comparing it to the 1950 film, "Panic in the Streets" directed by Elia Kazan. The authors connect the themes in both to current issues of paranoia and fear. Although I haven't seen "Contagion" yet, I intend to soon. The essay is worth a look. The conclusion:

Six decades later, “Panic in the Streets” remains just as engaging as “Contagion,” in part because it was intended as suspenseful entertainment, not message-oriented drama. The movies that linger the longest in our imagination are the ones in which the messages are buried beneath the surface. We are afraid, very afraid today — of losing our jobs, of living in a country caught in a downward spiral. When we see movies like “Contagion” or “Panic in the Streets,” where people work together to defeat an insidious virus, it gives us a dose of optimism about fending off all the other insidious forces at work in our lives. At the movies, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.