Even ‘Little Women’ Will Stoke Your Coronavirus Anxiety

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Little Women, both the 2019 film and the 1868 book.

Greta Gerwig‘s Little Women is available on VOD as of today, and I’ve been really looking forward to forcing every single person I know to watch this movie. Now I’m not sure I can do so, because while it’s certainly no Contagion, even Little Women won’t provide an escape from the increasing anxiety surrounding COVID-19, aka coronavirus.

Most people who are choosing to watch Contagion—a movie about a fast-spreading deadly virus—during this outbreak probably know what they’re getting into. Apparently, for some of you weirdos, watching your worst fears about the virus happen to Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow is actually calming your coronavirus anxieties. But for us normal people, we’re looking for a movie to take our minds off of the constant churn of worrying news about COVID-19.

On the surface, Little Women seems like it could be that movie. The 1868 novel by Louisa May Alcott was notorious for being “sweet.” Generations have grown up knowing the story of Meg, Amy, Beth, and Jo. The March household is a place of comfort—it’s nostalgic childhood home one can return to whenever one’s wants. Greta Gerwig’s version of Little Women, which was nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture, captured all that nostalgia of the book and added humor, social commentary, and a phenomenal cast fit for a 21st-century audience.

I can confirm that watching the 2019 Little Women in the theaters last December felt like the equivalent of receiving a very emotional hug from someone wearing a very fluffy sweater. You feel great, and at the same time, you’re moved to tears. It’s a lovely, beautiful, masterpiece of a movie. You should absolutely watch it as soon as you can, if you haven’t yet already. But you should also know that it will remind you that the coronavirus exists, and that’s because of the part where (spoiler alert) Beth dies.

You probably know that the second-youngest sister Beth, played Eliza Scanlen in the 2019 film, dies. But what you might not know if you haven’t seen an adaptation of Little Women is how Beth dies. She dies from complications from scarlet fever, which she first contracts after she visits the sick children of the Hummels, the March’s impoverished neighbors. In a fairly dark scene, Beth even holds the sick infant, who, in the book, dies right there in her arms.

Beth comes down with a case of scarlet fever, a contagious bacteria that infects the throat, nose, and can easily be passed from person to person by coughing or sneezing. (Sound familiar?) These days, the disease is not such a big deal—you can take antibiotics and recover quickly. In the post-Civil War era when Little Women takes place, however, it was dangerous and sometimes fatal, especially for children. Luckily, Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Meg (Emma Watson), and Marmee (Laura Dern) have already had the disease and therefore won’t get it again. But poor Amy (Florence Pugh) hasn’t had it before, and therefore must be—wait for it—quarantined.

Man. You can’t even escape this not-yet-classified-as-a-pandemic-by-the-World-Health-Organization in the idyllic world of Little Women. I guess Louisa May Alcott kept it real, after all. Take that, haters.

But I still maintain that Little Women is a much better movie to watch this week than Contagion. At least there are no riots at the grocery store, even if you won’t be able to escape the thought of coronavirus entirely.

Where to watch Little Women