HBO’s Chernobyl miniseries proved to be an intense and intimate dramatization of one of the worst man-made disasters in history. That would be the 1986 Nuclear Power Plant explosion in Ukraine, Soviet Union that transformed Pripyat into a ghost town. Following its conclusion this week, the five-part series stands as IMDB’s top-rated TV series of all time (even over Breaking Bad and The Wire), and that popularity has inevitably, it seems, prompted increased tourism. That’s led to the circulation of photos that are being geotagged to both the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and Pripyat on Instagram. The miniseries’ creator and writer, Craig Mazin, has become aware of the situation and is now asking people to show respect for the tragedy that occurred.
“It’s wonderful that #ChernobylHBO has inspired a wave of tourism to the Zone of Exclusion,” Mazin tweeted. “But yes, I’ve seen the photos going around. If you visit, please remember that a terrible tragedy occurred there. Comport yourselves with respect for all who suffered and sacrificed.”
https://twitter.com/clmazin/status/1138576162781683712
Mazin’s words arrive after a number of Instagram photos (which we’ll embed below) show people posing near the nuclear disaster site. In addition, there’s been plenty of attention directed toward a particular viral tweet that further sensationalizes the trend by including an old photo (the second one) while labeling each person as an “influencer.” In reality, as Atlantic writer Taylor Lorenz points out, only one of the subjects is an “actual influencer,” although the fourth photo is pretty terrible and, although all images can be deceiving, it appears to be positively Kardashian-esque.
https://twitter.com/komacore/status/1137692054899908608
Yes, the image of an influencer stripping off a hazmat suit to reveal her booty looks pretty awful. Here are some of the aforementioned Instagram entries that point toward the haunted carousel’s popularity. These photos have all been posted since Chernobyl began airing, but who knows when they were actually taken, and yes, it’s a good thing that HBO’s show has generated much more awareness of what happened in the Zone of Exclusion.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Byi9bv_gjGw/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxQNjPfFle5/
