AIDS In The Film 'Age Of Aids'

AIDS is a significant issue that is still continuing on in the world today, effecting millions and adding more to the list. There have been many battles against this disease, which majority have failed, and only a small amount that have found success . The film, “Age of AIDS”, brought up many issues throughout the course of this entire AIDS epidemic, from the past, and some that are occurring in the present. There were many powerful scenes throughout the film, but some scenes particularly stood out to me more than others. 1A
The endeavour for trying to find an effective treatment for AIDS was a huge problem. The first drug to ever be discovered for the treatment of AIDS was AZT. This caused excitement and a sense of hope from many AIDS …show more content…
The death exemplified that this disease could spread to anyone, even the rich, and not just those who were poor at a low socioeconomic status. In the eyes of the public Rock Hudson was your cookie-cut typical male actor. To the public, due to the power of Hollywood, he was understood as a strong, handsome, ladies’ man. Understandably, it came with a state of surprise when people found out that he had gotten the AIDS disease as well. This scene was one of the points in “Age of Aids” that made me frustrated. When millions are fighting and dying from the disease, it was swept underneath the rug and to the public they did something to deserve it. However, when Rock Hudson died, it was getting national coverage and a big issue. On the upside this was a positive, because it gave the AIDS epidemic a popular face.Although it did bring a negative context as well, since Rock Hudson was a homosexual, which only heightened the stigma associated with AIDS. Once it was public knowledge that Rock Hudson was a gay man, it made people believe that the disease was only spread between homosexuals even more strongly. Tragically, some governments did not even want to provide medical treatment to the affected homosexual community, as they believed this was a punishment from God for their sins going against his will. This was very discriminatory but sadly at this time homosexuality was not accepted like today. In this time, people still believed it could be spread by touch, so after his death, many people that were HIV positive were not allowed to come to school or go to work. The death of Rock Hudson was a very important time in respect to the disease as it put a famous face to the problem of AIDS, spreading more and more awareness to the deadly