Need Propaganda / Angels in America
Offline Hey folks, my wife is working on a presentation for her grad work here at UT Austin and I thought you might have some ideas for imagery / articles. She is doing a play analysis class and they are currently studying the controversial play Angels in America. (I have not read it so forgive any inconsistencies) It is set during the original AIDS scare which came to a head during the Ragan years.
I thought I might breach the subject with you worldly folks. Lori (my darling wife) is looking for an image or article that crystallizes the era. The play involves a great deal of religious tension, superstition, intolerance etc so I pose the question to my dear free-thinkers. I would like to be able to help her illustrate this profound era in our history in a way that might surprise her fellow artisans.
Please feel free to post your suggestions, links, etc. Any and all input you might have is more than welcome. Many thanks - in advance.
Polyamory or Promiscuity?
http://www.anopenrelationship.com/2011/02/polyamory-or-promiscuity/
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I don't know if you have seen or heard of this movie but is an excellent depiction of the U.S. AIDS epidemic in the eighties. Loosely based on actual character and events.
And the Band Played On
Here is a quote:
Roger Gail Lyon: This is not a political issue. This is a health issue. This is not a gay issue. This is a human issue. And I do not intend to be defeated by it. I came here today in the hope that my epitaph would not read that I died of red tape.
Here is a good outline of events in the rise of the epidemic:
http://www.avert.org/his81_86.htm
A website regarding Reagan's involvement/non-involvement:
http://www.actupny.org/reports/reagan.html
I am still looking for more.....
And The Band Played On is one of my favorite movies. It is also a book by Randy Shilts.
It covers the denial of a health epidemic by the Reagan administration.
It covers the death of an entire generation of hemopheliacs from tainted blood products because there was not yet a definitive test and the Red Cross didn't think it was monetarily advantageous to test blood donations.
It covers the gay community fighting the closure of the bath houses in San Francisco.
It gives incredible insight into the medical community and that they're not fighting together for a cure because each wants to write the paper or have something named for them. All the thing they care about the most is getting credit, not the actual saving of lives.
It gives insight into the administrative silliness that takes so much valuable time such as putting off important decisions while they came up with an official name for the disease.
I recommend it highly.
{edit - fixed spelling error}
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Wonderful! Thanks for the work on this, I will take a look through your recommendations and see if I can find something Lori might use.
You guys rock my socks.
Holy shit, I had no idea this even happened. I was 12 in 1981 and I guess I heard so much about AIDS going on in the background that I just tuned it out. What blatant disdain the government showed for its people... I'm really upset that I was oblivious to this malicious disregard for the lives of our fellows.
They had two things working against them:
They were social pariahs.
They had a disease the goverment did not understand and could not offer an easy solution.
I watched this movie in high school. We also watched the movie about Ryan White. My school had an AIDS awareness class in health class. They also had this thing called Peers Educating Peers. It was all about sexually transmitted diseases and they would send the student volunteers to other schools and stuff. It get nixed the year I graduated, from what I understand. I guess too many parents were complaining.
If god takes life he's an indian giver
Why do this Christian twatwaffles always feel the need to complain about stuff that's useful?
Matt Shizzle has been banned from the Rational Response Squad website. This event shall provide an atmosphere more conducive to social growth. - Majority of the mod team
For fear of the reality that education might bring.
The thing that pissed me off the most was that this particular program of teens teaching other teens was really effective. We played 'games' with the younger kids to show them how easily STDs can be spread and they really learned from it. I don't know why the program was shut down since I had graduated right before it was so I honestly can't say whether parents complained or it was a lack of funding, though I doubt the latter.
If god takes life he's an indian giver
Those of us that were already "old" in the early 80s were acutely aware of AIDS once it hit mainstream news. There was so much mis-information, especially prior to figuring out that it wasn't passed through casual contact.
I remember the case of a dentist (Florida?) that was HIV+ that intentionally infected several patients, including a grandmother. He was prosecuted, but he made the point that no one would really pay attention until it started hitting non-gay people.
I actually had a co-worker state as fact that AIDS was god's way of punishing and "getting rid" of the gays. (After that, I didn't talk to her unless it ws absolutely required.)
How HIV was allowed to become an epidemic is criminal.
There was hysteria that paralleled the polio scare in the early 50s.
From Wikipedia on polio ~ if this could only be true for HIV:
In the early 20th century much of the world experienced a dramatic increase in the number of polio cases, leading to a series of epidemics. These epidemics—which left thousands of children and adults paralyzed—provided the impetus for a "Great Race" towards the development of an effective vaccine. The development of polio vaccines by Jonas Salk (1955) and Albert Sabin (1962), are credited with reducing of the annual number of polio cases from many hundreds of thousands to around a thousand today. Recently, enhanced vaccination efforts led by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and Rotary International may soon result in global eradication of the disease.Atheist Books, purchases on Amazon support the Rational Response Squad server.
First off, I'm a big liar, I was 8 in 1981 ... but apparently my math has not improved since that age.
Thanks for the help guys, Lori is very appreciative.