Topic > The representation of AIDS in contemporary Hollywood cinema

IndexIntroductionBodyConclusionIntroduction'AIDS and/or HIV have always been seen as the disease of homosexuals and drug addicts.' (M. Grey, 2014). The lack of education and research on AIDS in the 1980s was due to homophobic stereotypes; some people believed this was God's will because same-sex sex was seen as a sin. The Church believes that sex should only be used for reproduction. Homophobic aspects surrounding AIDS and HIV are still prominent in contemporary Hollywood films. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Dallas Buyers Club (2013) directed by Jean-Marc Vallée follows the story of a homophobic and racist electrician who contracts HIV. Roy immediately denies this because he only sees HIV as something that "faggots" get. While it was never specifically said how Roy contracted HIV, we assume it was due to his lifestyle of drug abuse and casual sex. Focusing on attitudes towards AIDS and how the pandemic was addressed, we can use Dallas Buyers Clube (2013) as a point of reference since it was set in 1985 and is based on a true story. Body Matthew McConaughey's character, Ron, is 'the character that the viewer is forced to identify with from the beginning of the film' (Copier, L. 2018). This can be seen through the opening scene of the film. Throughout the title we see the bull fighting through two slabs of fencing, it fades to black with every small glimpse of the arena, this could foreshadow what will happen to Roy, as the black could connote the death that will surround Roy in the film. beginning of the film through a point of view reinforces the idea that the viewer is forced to identify with Roy. However, the first time we see Roy having a threesome with two girls and snorting what can only be cocaine, in the first two minutes of the film. film we already have an idea of ​​what Roy is like and the lifestyle he lives. This however changes throughout the film. The beginning of the film aims to reinforce how much of a "typical male" Roy is, this idea of ​​not showing emotion,. of treating women as sexual objects and of always being drunk. This is also seen through Roy's friend Tucker. Tucker is a corrupt police officer who, like Roy, enjoys the company of alcohol, drugs and prostitutes. Tucker's attitude towards Roy changes over the course of the film, they begin to be close friends, Tucker is the first person Roy confides to about having HIV. Once Tucker finds out this information, he distances himself from Ro and ends up telling everyone else. his condition. This leads to the scene in the bar where one of the men turns to Roy and says "Get me another beer, honey?" At first Roy is surprised by this, he keeps calling him "sugar pie", which is when Roy gets defensive and approaches him asking if he wanted to fight. The man responds with 'no, I don't want any of that fagot blood on me'. This homophobic comment is thrown at Roy since he himself is homophobic, so he becomes defensive. When Roy leaves the bar, the other men don't say anything to him, but instead walk away, which is also homophobic. It means that men believe they can contract AIDS simply by touching someone who is HIV positive. This could be due to the lack of information about AIDS in the 1980s. “No one knew what hit us and people were dying in large numbers around us.” (King, N. 2011) there was such a stigma around AIDS, that people thought they were safe just because they weren't gay, when in reality it spreadthrough specific body fluids such as blood, so people who used drugs ended up spreading the disease. It quickly became a pandemic itself. Matthew McConaughy's character Ron Woodroof is based on the real Ron Woodroof. «Once he found the drugs he thought would work—antivirals available in other countries but not in the United States, including dextran sulfate and procaine PVP—Woodroof began purchasing them from all over the world. Other AIDS patients soon came seeking Woodroof's drugs, and with the help of his doctor and another patient, Woodroof created what would become known as the Dallas Buyers Club in March 1988.' (2014).Ron suffered greatly during his fight to find a drug that would help people with AIDS. All of Ron's activities were trying to stay under the radar of the FDA and he claimed it was all non-profit and just an attempt to help. However, the FDA got involved when other Buyers Clubs began popping up around the country because the drug Ron had discovered improved the lives of people with AIDS although it never killed the virus, it made AIDS symptoms bearable and prolonged life just a little longer. .Towards the end of the movie, we see Ron walk into a meeting of some kind regarding drugs, in this scene Ron is handing out information to people while dismissing the fact that the mental health department "your own people deem safe", he keeps saying they say "Drug companies pay the FDA to promote their products" and how the FDA is afraid that people will find an alternative to their drugs and then the FDA will lose money. Ron is then kicked out of the meeting, as he is escorted out he says that the only reason they don't look at his research is that he doesn't have enough money and that "you'll bust your ass until I'm six feet under, and then maybe one day you 'get off your ass and do your damn job' this quote in itself speaks volumes when it comes to the real Ron Woodroof as it shows his determination to fight for what he was doing, and also highlights how corrupt the FDA are and companies are the same way. The way the pandemic was handled was with so little regard for the people who contracted it, as the biggest concern was not the death figures but what it might do to a company's reputation. There are other groups working to secure the rights of people with Help just as Ron did at the Dallas Buyers Club. ACT UP, for example, stands for AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. They are an international grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic and were founded in March 1987 under the slogan Silence = Death. They arose because of the government's refusal to take seriously the increasing deaths of people with AIDS. on critical issues surrounding the AIDS crisis.' (Banales, M.2013). This is similar to the Glaad Media Awards. They tackle LGBT+ issues and work to resolve the AIDS pandemic. After the 1967 Sexual Offenses Act, the media still had poor coverage of the LGBT+ community in the years that followed, so Glaad worked to ensure that what the media stood for was rewarded. Dallas Buyers Club (2013) remained in limbo for a while while film companies decided whether to make the film. I believe the stars of the film had a huge impact on this decision. For example, Matthew McConaughey was known for Magic Mike (2012) and Ghost of Girlfriends Past (2009). Matthew McConaughey already had a large fan base behind him when he was cast in this role. However, this film is unusual for the star, as he mainly knew it from his "chick flicks". The same goes for Jenifer Garner who plays Eve,a doctor who treats Rayon and throughout the film begins to notice that Ron is right about the drugs he gave her and works to change the outcome of her still living patience. Jenifer Garner is also known for her romantic films such as 13 going on 30 (2004) and Valentine's Day (2010). Jenifer's character Eva is quite interesting as she is the main woman we see in the film and one of the few women with a speaking part, not to forget the fact that she is a doctor and not a prostitute who seems to be the main role of the women in the Dallas Buyers Club (2013). We can look at this film from a feminist perspective when it comes to Eve. We see Eva in two meetings where she is the only woman, in the first her questions are put aside as soon as money is talked about. The second time Eve is asked to resign because it is in everyone's "best interests". When in reality the only reason they ask her to leave is that she started voicing her concerns against what the company was doing, and she didn't. He does not believe in drugging the vulnerable people in his care. There is the underlying question: would a male doctor be treated the same as Eva. Throughout the film, she is cast aside by her male medical colleagues and treated as inferior. At the same time, the other women we see in the film are constantly objectified and used for sex and drugs, so the fact that Dallas Buyers Club (2013) has a powerful woman in the 1980s can be classified as a small victory for women, she is not sexualized on camera, which gives the impression that Jenifer is there not for her looks but because she plays a key role in telling Ron Woodroof's story. Likewise, shifting our attention to the transgender aspect that Dallas Buyers Clube (2013) seeks to address. Jared Leto plays Rayon, a man who dresses like a woman and also suffers from AIDS. There are many negative and positive comments about Jared Leto's portrayal of a trans woman. For example: "In his acceptance speech, Leto didn't even mention the word transgender, much less thank the various trans people who had helped him prepare for his role." (Copier, L. 2018). The fact that Jared Leto won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor meant a lot to the trans community, just as it was a big deal for Hollywood to notice let alone give an award to a trans character. Because Leto did not recognize, the community took away the small victory they achieved. 'The audience doesn't get to see or feel the trans character Rayon in the same way (as Ron), experiencing his illness and his desires. Throughout the film she oscillates between a secondary presence and a silent absence compared to Ron's well-known Texan heterosexuality, without ever finding full enunciation in the film, much less becoming a privileged point of recognition and knowledge for the spectator' (Copier, L. 2018 ) .If we analyze this concept, it suggests that the Dallas Buyers Club does not give Rayon the opportunity to express himself, due to Ron's oppressive heterosexual behaviors. But I think that changes over the course of the film when Ron decides to work to help the gay community fight for better drugs. We are positioned on Ron's side throughout the film, but that doesn't mean the viewer can't sympathize with Rayon and his problems. However, he portrayed Rayon as a strong-headed character who knows what he wants to achieve, so his portrayal is overall very positive. Rayon is shown as equal to all the straight and "normal" characters in the film, this contradicts the popular opinion that transgender people are worth less or cannot be equal to others. "The fear of homosexuality in American culture in