February 11, 2003
Buggin' Out
Controversial AIDS Film Debuts at Berlin Film Fest
Louise Hogarth's "The Gift," finished just a few days ago, is a collection of interviews with gay men, mostly from the west coast of the United States, looking at the AIDS crisis two decades after it struck.
The documentary's debut follows an article in "Rolling Stone" magazine last month quoting a San Francisco physician as estimating that at least 25 percent of gay men newly infected with the HIV virus had deliberately sought it out.
The article caused sensational headlines worldwide, one newspaper saying "Gays want AIDS," and upset many AIDS charities who have said that suggesting gays are responsible is both wrong and a threat to their funding.
Louise Hogarth's film looks at the phenomenon of "Bug Chasing" -- deliberately contracting the HIV virus -- and "Gift Giving" -- passing it on to others -- although she does not claim that either practice is rife.
I haven'te read the Rolling Stone article and I don't plan on watching this doc. It's so several years ago and smacks of journalistic/cinematic sensationalism.
Posted by ronn at February 11, 2003 05:34 PM
"I haven'te read the Rolling Stone article and I don't plan on watching this doc. It's so several years ago and smacks of journalistic/cinematic sensationalism."
Ditto.
Yeah; just keep your head in the sand, you idiot. I've seen the film and it's not at all 'yesterday' (which accurately depicts your denial) - it's very relevant. 17% of all new AIDS infections are totally impervious to all known treatments. And these new infections are occuring among young gay men, age 30 and younger. Like you; they think AIDS is very 'yesterday' - but they will be dead quicker than most, who were infected decades ago. Only conservative jerks diss a film, before ever viewing it. Why not get off your complacent ass, embrace a challenge, and go see the film?
The huge assumption that's being made by this rude-ass motherfucker is that "gift-giving" is somehow related to either quoted statistic.
Yes, it would seem valid that if more new HIV infections happen in men 30 or younger and if more new HIV infections are impervious to any treatment, then yes, younger men run the risk of developing HIV infections impervious to any treatment. But are younger men necessarily the ones seeking out HIV infection? Plus, HIV infection does not equal AIDS. And neither HIV or AIDS is an automatic death sentence. And there are MANY people who are not being treated who are not dying. Where is the statistic of men who are actually dying compared to the men who are being infected?
Plus, we are talking about San Francisco. That right there makes this documentary, really an overblown therapy production of sensation (therapeutic for whom? Probably white gay men who can AFFORD therapy and who don't consider or care that they could be fucking up funding for HIV organizations that serve people of color) a contender for the trash bin.
Donald: thank you for an eloquent reply to the
stupid motherfucker above. The cunt needs to catch a clue.
The Rolling Stone article was exposed for what it is: a bunch of lies intended to move the slumping rag. The documentary, as you rightly observed, was made for a specific audience. I most definitely am not a part of the demographic and have no intentions of watching it. I am also
thisclose to disgusted with the whining queens that think they know it all when it comes to HIV/AIDS. But what do you expect from a bunch of tired, stuck-in-the-past morons.
Donald. Ronn. I wish I could give you two a hug. Deal the real!
DizZammm!!!
You tell him bro! ;]