I watched “How to Survive a Plague” on Netflix, and I learned that people apparently survive a plague through activism. In this class, the prejudiced social and economic inequalities embedded in government and problems of certain (regarding race or sexual orientation) groups of people is often referred to as a “plague.” This was also the case in the work about “the Bronx is Burning,” except that in this case, the meaning stays close to original meaning as it discusses the spread of AIDS in America.
I respect that this film is comprised of actual footage and the people involved. It truly transports you back to that time and shows you inside of what happened. My knowledge of AIDS mostly comes from Hollywood recreations of that time, such in the movie “Philadelphia” and “The Normal Heart” (written by one of the activist in the film), but I never saw actual footage of what it is like to have AIDS. It was sad to see home footages of the man with his daughter at the beginning of the film and towards the end of the film. He looked so sickly towards the end, but I guess he was lucky that his former wife was so understanding and let him have contact with his daughter during a time that people were still unsure about the disease.
The development of AIDS activism that proved to be extremely beneficial is when people started to educate themselves about the disease and potential treatments or ways to improve research. I imagine this to be liberating, taking at death sentence, at that time, and strategizing a solution. I realize that this was an unfortunate affect of the government’s neglect, but this became the stepping stone to real change and progress to finding a treatment. I thought that Iris was a funny, amazing character. She was a housewife in Queens with a PhD and a helpful, smart personality who became a crusader, then went back home after a legitimate treatment was found.
Some actions, however, when too far and strayed from its intended purposed. I was shocked at the scenes in which protesters threw ashes of those killed by AIDS into the White House lawn. Please do not disrespect the dead, especially loved ones. Do not fling their ashes to make a point. I thought that this crossed the line. Parading the dead body of an AIDS victim through the street is also crossing the line. These forms of protest make it look like these activists do not care or respect for the deceased. Some actions are so wrong in themselves that any intended meaning from them are rebutted and only ugliness remains. Other forms of protest presented, such as stand-ins and debate, proved much more beneficial to the cause.
Discussion Question: Did some forms of protest go to far?
