Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Human Vapor’ brings forth a mysterious entity made of smoke, intent on killing the people who wronged him and many other innocent people. The story begins with a renowned professor getting killed on live TV and the killer releasing a video of his confession. He talks about how he is going to target everyone connected to “the White Center,” which leads a journalist and a detective to dig into the said organization and unearth secrets that shock the world. The atrocities committed in the name of the organization raise a lot of questions about how the story might reflect the truth of the world in the facade of a crime thriller. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Fictional White Center Reflects the Exploitation of the Poor and Helpless
‘Human Vapor’ follows the fictional story of an entity that is created in the aftermath of a cover-up. All the characters and organizations featured in it are made up to serve the show’s plot, which includes the White Center. Initially, it is presented as a government-backed organization to help the city’s poor and homeless population. On the surface, it is a philanthropic organization, but following the arrival of the Human Vapor, shocking details about the place come to light. It turns out that the people in charge of the place used it to exploit the poor to do things that no one else would dare touch.
At first, it seems that this is a simple case of forced labor, but the truth turns out to be even more disturbing. Kyoko Kono and Kenji Okamoto discover a government cover-up in 1999. A meteorite had crashed outside the city, and scientists discovered that it was highly toxic. The longer it was allowed to remain on the surface, the more its toxic vapor would spread and kill anyone who came into contact with it. Around the same time, the country was busy hosting a world expo, so all the media and public attention was diverted there. No one thought about the meteorite, so the people no one would come looking for were hired to clean it up.
Not surprisingly, anyone who came close to the meteorite or its vapors suffered greatly and died shortly after. Instead of addressing it, the people in charge of the cleanup decided to cover up the whole thing. Because the people at the White Center, including children, were homeless, no one inquired about them when they went missing. The show uses this plot point to establish the protagonists’ backstory, including the Human Vapor, whose motivations for the murders are revealed in the context of this tragedy.
Through this, the show also highlights how easily people in power get away with things, with no one the wiser about their wrongdoings. The rampant corruption that feeds into this power imbalance and injustice also becomes a major plot point. With this, the show raises the question of what it truly means to get justice, and can justice be had morally when the people answerable are deeply immoral. Most importantly, the story points out that sooner or later, one has to answer for their crimes, no matter the intention behind a person’s actions.
Read More: Human Vapor: Is Fujita and Kaho’s Terror Zone Based on a Real Horror Channel?
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