Totally Under Control | 2020 | TV-14 | – 1.4.5

Why is “Totally Under Control” rated TV-14? The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board rating indicates that “this program contains some material that many parents would find unsuitable for children under 14 years of age.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes many scenes of dead bodies in caskets and patients being treated in hospitals, discussions of lack of safety gear available for medical personnel, and the lack of planning and oversight and listening to scientists about how to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control in the US, and at least 3 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Documentary examining the US government’s failure to contain the COVID-19 virus, comparing it to the more successful strategies of South Korea. It compiles the timeline of the Trump administration’s response through bureaucratic procedures, and interviews with experts and whistleblowers. With Rick Bright, Max Kennedy, Scott Becker, Taison Bell, Michael Bowen, Beth Cameron, Michael Shear and Victoria Kim. Directed by Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan & Suzanne Hillinger. [Running Time: 2:03]

Totally Under Control SEX/NUDITY 1

 – Many men in a room wear briefs only while square dancing together (we see bare backs, shoulders, chests, abdomens and legs). Young men and women wearing swimsuits are shown on boats (the bare chests, abdomens, backs and legs of men and cleavage, bare abdomens, backs and the legs of women are shown). A woman wears short skirts that reveal her bare legs to the mid-thighs.

Totally Under Control VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – A few scenes show many bodies in caskets being buried in mass graves. A man collapses on a street (it’s not clear if he is dead). Several scenes show very sick patients on gurneys with oxygen masks being wheeled in and around hospitals. A woman whimpers in pain, as an oxygen mask is place on her face by EMTs. Many scenes show medical professionals being suited up in protective gear before caring for contagious patents. We see videos of people arguing about wearing masks during a pandemic and people coughing on each other.
► Many people are shown crowded into airports after travel bans are initiated. Many people are shown crowded into a large church that is identified as a “doomsday Christian cult.” People on gurneys are shown lined up in hallways in hospitals and we hear about overcrowding and lack of ventilators. President Donald Trump and his representatives are shown not wearing masks when visiting a sterile factory manufacturing masks.
► We hear about the first case of COVID-19 being in Seattle. We hear that Wuhan, China was shut down completely to contain the spread of the virus. People on a cruise ship are help at a port when they begin testing positive for COVID-19; president Trump indicates that he does not want the number of reported COVID cases to rise so infected people on a cruise ship should stay on the ship.
► People talk about the perception of the US being shaken in other countries by the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. There are references to politics interfering with science, the government handling of the Zika, H1N1 and Ebola viruses, playbooks that are to be used for pandemic planning, the lack of testing kits, the 1918 influenza outbreak, climate change deniers, the importance of testing and tracing and isolating during a pandemic, and an AIDS program that supported abstinence. People discuss the need for adjusting to a significant disruption of our lives to get a pandemic under control. We hear that the stock market tumbled. We hear about continued desperate need for PPE for medical staff across the country. A reference is made to efforts being too little too late. Several references are made to the administration’s interest in making profits rather than getting supplies where they need to go. We hear about the “fatal consequences of inaction.” A discussion about the Federal stockpile of medical supplies reveals that some of the supplies had expired and others were exported to foreign countries leaving the US severely under-supplied. We hear about supplies being sold to China and then bought back at a higher price. We hear about trading government help for political advantage during a pandemic and that the administration authorized the manufacturer of a treatment to over-charge patients. We hear repeated stories about people being removed from their positions in the administration when they spoke out against what President Trump was asserting.
► We see images of wet markets in China where animals in food markets are kept in cages; a man is shown cleaning out a gutted pig using a hose and washing the blood onto a street. We see people being tested for a virus and several are swabbed through the nose while others have blood drawn.

Totally Under Control LANGUAGE 5

 – About 3 F-words and its derivatives, 2 scatological terms, name-calling (ruthless), 2 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh My God, My God). | profanity glossary |

Totally Under Control SUBSTANCE USE

 – People smoke marijuana on boats. People in a few bar scenes are shown drinking beer.

Totally Under Control DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Technology, the Internet, mega corporations, job loss, impeachment, the CDC, trade deals, Zika, Ebola, ASPR, big pharma, Deep State, Red Dawn, climate change, contact tracing, man-made problems, existential threats, consequences, prioritizing of the wealthy, lack of science, vaccines, Remdesivir, Chloroquine, the Defense Production Act, systemic racism.

Totally Under Control MESSAGE

 – The Trump administration disastrously botched the US response to COVID-19 through incompetence, indifference and corruption.