Despite their proven safety and effectiveness at protecting people from the virus that's killed over 600 thousand Americans, the United States is wrangling with countless conspiracy theories regarding the vaccines.
Since these vaccines began distribution, largely right-wing conspiracy theorists have said they make people magnetic, that they contain microchips to track Americans' locations, and even that they're the "mark of the beast."
One especially absurd delusion regarding the vaccines takes its cue from the 2007 post-apocalyptic film I Am Legend, in which the world is overrun with zombies who fell victim to a deadly genetically engineered virus originally designed to cure cancer.
Of course, I Am Legend is 100 percent fiction, but that hasn't stopped anti-vaxxers from citing it as a reason not to take the vaccine.
The delusion went viral after being mentioned in a New York Times story about vaccine hesitancy earlier this month, which read:
"One employee said she was concerned because she thought a vaccine had caused the characters in the film 'I Am Legend' to turn into zombies. People opposed to vaccines have circulated that claim about the movie's plot widely on social media. But the plague that turned people into zombies in the movie was caused by a genetically reprogrammed virus, not by a vaccine."
People were stunned that there were Americans who actually believed this.
I Am Legend's co-screenwriter Akiva Goldsman was bewildered, and tweeted to assure that the movie was, in fact, fiction.
Oh. My. God. It\u2019s a movie. I made that up. It\u2019s. Not. Real.— Akiva Goldsman (@Akiva Goldsman) 1628538814
Not only are the delusions about vaccines wrong, but so is the evaluation of I Am Legend and its supposed parallels with vaccines. The creation of the vaccines did not involve genetic modification, and the plague in I Am Legend wasn't distributed through a vaccine.
Goldsman's response set social media on fire.
Wait, I am Legend was NOT a documentary???https://twitter.com/AkivaGoldsman/status/1424821175125872647\u00a0\u2026— Rich Evans (@Rich Evans) 1628670382
Not the antivaxxers dragging the screenwriter of I Am Legend into their mess!!!https://twitter.com/AkivaGoldsman/status/1424821175125872647\u00a0\u2026— @PiaGlenn (@@PiaGlenn) 1628554644
Roughhhhhhhhhttps://twitter.com/AkivaGoldsman/status/1424821175125872647\u00a0\u2026— Medusa (@Medusa) 1628613017
Didn\u2019t think to have this in my 2021 bingo card\u2026.https://twitter.com/AkivaGoldsman/status/1424821175125872647\u00a0\u2026— Dr. Saskia Popescu (@Dr. Saskia Popescu) 1628631772
Aliens watching this season of Earth: https://twitter.com/akivagoldsman/status/1424821175125872647\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/Tj5Eyoc0m6— \ud83c\udfb6Cocaine & Chicken with ya frens\ud83c\udfb5 (@\ud83c\udfb6Cocaine & Chicken with ya frens\ud83c\udfb5) 1628552382
We are doomedhttps://twitter.com/akivagoldsman/status/1424821175125872647\u00a0\u2026— Mike (@Mike) 1628576195
People were amazed that this needed to be said.
The writer of I Am Legend having to quash anti vax theories that the movie was based in reality\u2026 https://twitter.com/akivagoldsman/status/1424821175125872647\u00a0\u2026— Adam Driver (@Adam Driver) 1628628554
When the screenwriter of I am Legend has to step up and say the fictional scenarios of vaccines resulting in zombies in the movie is, well, fiction....https://twitter.com/AkivaGoldsman/status/1424821175125872647\u00a0\u2026— Aparna Nair (@Aparna Nair) 1628553162
So glad we've cleared that up, so sad it needed clarifying.https://twitter.com/AkivaGoldsman/status/1424821175125872647\u00a0\u2026— Dr. Amanda Warr \ud83e\uddec (@Dr. Amanda Warr \ud83e\uddec) 1628626773
You can watch the I Am Legend trailer here.
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