User:LaMillionaire/Responsibility

Responsibility is an American psychological drama film, written and directed by Edgar Ivanov.

The film tells of Dr. Ralph Chee, a chief of medicine of Navajo descent in his hometown's clinic, who has to deal with an epidemic of a novel disease, as well as the social stigma, when the disease gets proclaimed the "Navajo flu".

Plot
In the fictional town of Castillo, Utah, seven people are hospitalized with the symptoms of a hemorrhagic fever - all of them also reported flu-like symptoms, as well as a severe shortness of breath.

The chief of medicine in the town's clinic, Dr. Ralph Chee, sees the deaths of multiple patients, but neither him, nor the medical examiner can determine the cause of death. Chee reports this to the Utah Department of Health.

More and more cases appear, and when a couple of dozen of people in Castillo are sick with what seems to be the same disease, the CDC finally sends their specialists, Dr. Christopher Wells and Dr. Chelsea Martinez. They send samples to the centers' headquarters, while also tracking down contacts with assistance from the state police.

However, the outbreak turns out to be of a larger scale - medical centers in Arizona report an influx of patients with the same disease, and when multiple Native Americans are hospitalized in Farmington, New Mexico, media picks the story up. Upon having found the cause of the disease - a novel hantavirus, which was theorized as the cause by Chee - CDC officially uses the name "novel hantavirus", however, the media starts using the terms "Navajo flu" and "Navajo disease", prompting social stigma to start.

A task force is formed in Phoenix, Arizona, and Ralph, as a part of the investigation team, has to attend it. He faces multiple instances of xenophobia while in the city, his personal belongings getting thrown away, him hearing threats. A death of a Native American man in New Mexico prompts the city police to start protecting the Native American health officials. And when a doctor gets quarantined due to exhibiting symptoms, civil unrest starts in the city, forcing Ralph to relocate.

His wife, Ana, although not leaving Castillo, reported that her sister, Clara, had similar problems in Oklahoma. Ralph's son, Michael, who is a student in a university on the East Coast, reported quite a bit of bullying too.

The disease is later fought off, but Ralph still experiences xenophobia to some extent, although comes to terms with that.

Cast and characters

 * as Dr. Ralph Chee
 * as Ana Chee
 * as Michael Chee
 * TBA as Dr. Christopher Wells
 * TBA as Dr. Chelsea Martinez

Concept and writing
Edgar Ivanov recited that the discrimination against the Chinese people during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as against Latin Americans during the 2009 flu pandemic were some of the inspirations for the film, forming the portrayal of social stigma directed against a certain people.

The outbreak itself was inspired by a similar 1993 hantavirus outbreak, which happened in the same region and was also called the "Navajo flu" in the media.