Wall St.Journal 27Feb2020

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Thursday, February 27, 2020 |A

IN MOST VERSIONSof Peter Pan,

Wendy is a mother to the gang of

Lost Boys in Neverland. She waits

for them to return from their ad-

ventures and tucks them into bed

at night. In the new movie

“Wendy,” however, she is as wild

as they are.

With his take on the girl who

wouldn’t grow up arriving in the-

aters Friday, director Benh Zeitlin

presents an island of children that

is full of joy, creativity, freedom—

and menace.

The film has been Mr. Zeitlin’s

obsession over the eight years

since his breakout feature debut

“Beasts of the Southern Wild,” an

indie film about a girl from the

Louisiana bayou on a quest to find

her mother. The movie, whose

champions included then President

Obama and Oprah Winfrey, was

nominated for four Oscars includ-

ing best picture and best director.

Mr. Zeitlin cast children for

“Wendy” who lacked any acting

experience, as he did with

“Beasts.” He found the children in

similar ways to that film, too, once

again hiring former Obama cam-

paign aides who were skilled at

getting out the vote in areas of

lower turnout, in this case can-

vassing schools, churches and

other gathering spots in southern

Louisiana.

To make sure the children in the

THE MIDDLE SEAT| SCOTT McCARTNEY

An Unsure Time to Travel

What you need to know to assess the pros and cons of a trip in the age of coronavirus

Travelers wear protective face masks

at the airport in Bangkok.

LIFE&ARTS

ROMEO GACAD/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

all had this incredible spirit that

had not been broken by whatever

they were dealing with. The way

that joy and imagination can con-

quer tragedy, that clearly con-

nectedustothesekids.

Can you describe your casting

process?

A lot of the people who came

down to do our casting work and

designed the way to do it came

out of the Obama campaign. It’s

like when you’re trying to get out

the vote and get people to come

out and vote who normally don’t.

It’s a very similar thing. We’re try-

ing to get people to come out for

auditions who normally would

never necessarily consider being

an actor. We were in small towns

in south Louisiana, we were going

to schools that don’t have theater

programs. We go to community

centers and churches, just any-

where where we can get someone

to organize the audition.

One of the boys in the film ages

unexpectedly and becomes a villain.

Were you thinking about the ways

boys in particular can turn to vio-

lence as they reach adulthood?

One big question the film is ask-

ing is how we deal with trauma

and tragedy and how it has such

an ability to break us, to turn into

anger or turn into pain that needs

to be suppressed. It can cause a

real loss of faith and loss of belief

that anything is possible. Wendy’s

ability to care and not have to be

separated from her freedom and

not have that be separate from her

strength is her salvation. In some

ways that’s something that the

boys can’t understand and need to

look to her to learn.

to have a good time. It is this un-

resolvable tension between caring

and freedom. We were asking our-

selves this question of how do we

stay free and also grow and care

about the people around us. It felt

like Wendy was the character that

couldguideus.

Does working with your sister

make it easier to tap into your

childhood feelings?

Absolutely. Eliza is wilder than

me. She has nine to 15 dogs at any

given moment and a pig and tur-

keys. She lives in a wonderland—

she lives in a barn. Her defiance of

conforming to the expectations of

the world is exponential. I more

interface with the production and

problems with the money and lo-

gistics, and when I hit those walls

where I’m deciding that I have to

compromise if something is just

impossible, she’ll force me to fight

harder to stay true to the vision. It

comes from a relationship that can

never be formed professionally.

How did you encourage the children

to be so wild on screen?

That was the easy part. They

are wild. The hard thing was to

get them to stop playing for long

enough to shoot the film. It wasn’t

just that we were looking for non-

professional kids with acting tal-

ent. We were looking for people

that would run away with Peter

Pan actually if he showed up. Ev-

ery one of those kids comes from

hardship. Nobody was coming

from what you would think about

as a conventional home life. They

MARY CYBULSK

Director Benh Zeitlin, center, with Devin France who plays Wendy in the film.

roles of Wendy (Devin France) and

Peter Pan (Yashua Mack) would be

the right age when he started film-

ing, Mr. Zeitlin cast them two years

early, at ages seven and five, respec-

tively. He took his band of child ac-

tors on challenging location shoots,

including on the mountainous Carib-

bean island of Montserrat and in

underwater caves in Mexico.

Mr. Zeitlin, a 37-year-old from

Queens, N.Y. who has lived in New

Orleans for the last 15 years, wrote

“Wendy” with his sister Eliza Zeit-

lin. The film grew partly from

their experience watching nine-

year-old “Beasts” star Quvenzhané

Wallis go from unselfconscious girl

to international celebrity.

“Wendy,” a meditation on the

power of motherhood, is dedicated

to Kassie Leah France, who died

last year and was the mother of

the actress playing Wendy. In the

film, Wendy searches for a way to

safety. Her love for her mother is

her guide.

Here, an edited transcript:

Why did the story of Peter Pan ap-

peal to you?

It’s a story that was with me

and my sister from when we were

really tiny children, just Peter Pan

as a figure. We were very much

children that didn’t want to grow

up and he was the god of eternal

youth. In some ways it is a story

of escaping from your problems

for a while and denying it in order

BYELLENGAMERMAN

A Peter Pan Tale That’s

All About ‘Wendy’

S

hould you postpone or

cancel travel because of

coronavirus?

Yes, no and maybe.

For some destina-

tions, the answer is a

clear yes; others, a clear no. An in-

creasing number are becoming a

maybe, where it’s really a question

of how much worry and hassle you

want to pack into your trip.

One threat: If you get the flu

while traveling, you could end up

quarantined somewhere because

the symptoms in early stages are

very similar to those of Covid-19.

“I think it’s a good time to as-

sess personal risk tolerance,” says

Henry Wu, director of Emory Uni-

versity’s TravelWell Center and as-

sistant professor of infectious dis-

eases at Emory University School

of Medicine. “There’s a lot of po-

tential for complications for trav-

elers that may happen even if

they’re not high-risk for getting

the disease.”

With the virus spreading be-

yond China to new countries,

events and conferences are being

canceled, airlines are expanding

waivers to change reservations

without penalty and more travel-

ers are looking to postpone or can-

cel trips. The spread of the virus

to Italy and South Korea changes

travel considerations for many.

Travel does present greater risk

because you typically encounter

more people when traveling, pub-

lic health experts say. They add

that proper precautions—fre-

quently washing hands, avoiding

touching unwashed hands to the

face and liberal use of hand sani-

tizer—reduce risk.

Here’s a guide to help you make

informed decisions on travel:

Some Absolutes

First, if you’re sick, don’t travel.

This rule applies all the time, but

people routinely ignore it. Don’t

do that in this climate unless you

want to end up quarantined.

Some countries are or will be

scanning passengers for increased

body temperature. If you have a

fever, you may be detained. Fur-

ther, airline crews are on height-

ened alert for anyone sneezing or

coughing. In the U.S., the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention

has recommended flight crews iso-

late ill passengers. And it’s not ne-

gotiable: On an airplane, failure to

comply with crew orders is a fed-

eral crime.

Second, no matter where you

travel internationally, there is in-

creased risk that travel may be

disrupted. An outbreak can mean a

city is sealed off, flights are can-

celed and travelers are quaran-

tined. So best to plan ahead for se-

rious disruption, just in case.

Some Options

There are some logical ways to

make an informed choice about

where to go. Use the CDC’s three-

level warning system, which is fre-

quently updated and considered

reliable.

Level 3 is a high-level warning

of serious outbreak and it’s a no-

go. The CDC recommends avoiding

all nonessential travel. If your des-

tination is Level 3—mainland

China and South Korea, which was

added to Level 3 on Tuesday—the

decision is simple.

Level 2 calls for practicing en-

hanced precautions. You can still

go, but a good rule for any travel-

ers nervous about the virus would

be to postpone or cancel trips to

Level 2 counties—Italy, Iran and

Japan as of Tuesday. Wait for

things to resolve.

Level 1 is when a place has been

put on watch. Right now, only Hong

Kong is listed as Level 1 for corona-

virus. But other countries are listed

with “apparent community spread”:

Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and

Vietnam. The CDC says virus spread

isn’t sustained or widespread

enough to warrant a travel health

notice. But that may be notice

enough for you.

Even without notice, you may

find public events canceled and

venues closed. And closings to pre-

vent congregating crowds may

happen anywhere.

Public health experts say the

biggest health risk for domestic

travel now is the flu. No part of the

U.S. is considered higher risk for

coronavirus than any other. But Dr.

Nuzzo of Johns Hopkins says she

doesn’t believe authorities have a

good handle on where the virus is

and where it isn’t, including in the

U.S., because many countries aren’t

testing aggressively.

“I think this virus will turn up

everywhere,” she says, because

that’s how respiratory viruses tend

to spread. She also notes that try-

ing to stop the spread by restrict-

ing travel hasn’t worked so far.

Still, Dr. Nuzzo booked a family

summer vacation recently to Mex-

ico and plans to go, even though

she expects the virus to show up

in Mexico.

“My risk tolerance is that life

needs to go on,” she says.

Flights by themselves aren’t

considered higher risk, except that

they are crowded situations. Dr.

Wu notes there have been no doc-

umented or confirmed cases of

coronavirus transmission aboard

an airplane. The World Health Or-

ganization says an airplane cabin

by itself isn’t more conducive to

spreading infection. But the prox-

imity of passengers does matter.

The WHO says the virus is

transmitted by droplets, and only

lives on surfaces for short periods,

perhaps 30 minutes. Other health

groups have questioned that, sug-

gesting it can live much longer on

surfaces.

If you are concerned, wipe down

surfaces you are going to touch on

airplanes or other public spaces,

such as hotel rooms.

before traveling if you haven’t al-

ready. It can take a week to become

effective, but it’s not too late in the

flu season to protect yourself.

Fourth, if you want to consider

travel insurance, consider only

“cancel for any reason” plans.

These policies typically cost about

40% more than standard policies

and typically reimburse about 75%

of nonrefundable trip costs if you

do cancel, says Megan Moncrief,

chief marketing officer for Square-

mouth, a travel insurance compari-

son service. That’s a lower payout

than other plans, but it’s the only

type of travel insurance that will

help at this point.

If you have insurance you

bought before the outbreak began,

it likely will only cover you if you

contract the virus. It might cover

you if you get sick and your doctor

certifies you shouldn’t travel dur-

ing your planned itinerary. But

travel insurance doesn’t cover fear.

“People are just nervous. They

aren’t sure what’s going to happen.

They simply don’t want to go any-

more, don’t feel comfortable going,

don’t feel safe going. But those

aren’t covered reasons under a

standard policy,” Ms. Moncrief says.

Now that the coronavirus out-

break is well known, policies you

buy won’t cover it. It’s the same

reason you can’t buy fire insurance

as wildfires approach your house.

Take extra supplies of your

medications with you. Take a sup-

ply of cold medicine and a ther-

mometer. You might want to take

work materials with you that you

need after your return in case you

end up stuck somewhere. Make

sure you have health insurance

documentation in case you end up

sick. And have someone back home

at the ready to help with emer-

gency travel plans if you need to

find a way home quickly. A travel

agent may be a very good idea.

“As we learn more about the vi-

rus, governments can change over-

night how they are responding,”

says epidemiologist Jennifer

Nuzzo of the Johns Hopkins Center

for Health Security.

Third, consider whether you

have a higher risk of getting sick

while traveling. Older people or

those with underlying medical

conditions may want to ground

themselves, experts say.

Dr. Wu advises getting a flu shot

What should you

consider before

postponing or canceling

travel plans?