Hollywood has been known for misrepresentation and exaggeration, but sometimes they get it right. World AIDS Day is celebrated annually on December 1 to raise awareness, support people living with the disease, and remember those who have died from it. Here are 10 movies on the subject that got it right:
- Beautiful: The award-winning 2009 Lee Daniels film Beautiful was based on the novel Push by Sapphire. Daniels thoughtfully addresses various social issues in this moving film, and Precious’s HIV status is dealt with with refreshing candor. The initial revelation that Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) is HIV positive comes with the news that her abusive father has died of an AIDS-related illness. She is determined not to view her own diagnosis as a death sentence. Precious gives birth to her second child, who is HIV negative. Her abusive mother (Mo’Nique) is likely to be HIV positive and in denial. Precious instinctively sees an opportunity to change her life under the guidance of her new teacher, Ms. Rain (Paula Patton) and her counselor (Mariah Carey). Mo’Nique won an Academy Award in 2010 for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
- Philadelphia: This 1993 film was one of the first major studio films to tackle the AIDS crisis head-on. At the time, he had a reluctance to make movies about HIV-AIDS, especially one focused on those most affected: the gay community. Philadelphia is the story of a gay lawyer (Tom Hanks) who sues his powerful firm for wrongful termination. He believes that he was fired because of his HIV status. Hanks lost nearly 50 pounds to play Andrew Beckett who, unable to find a lawyer willing to take his case, ends up with a homophobic ambulance chaser named Joe Miller (Denzel Washington). The film is honest, raw, and cleverly balanced between educating viewers about AIDS and portraying the emotions of a man who isn’t ready to die.
- Yesterday: It is a local movie starring Leleti Khumalo as Yesterday. Ayer is a mother who lives with her daughter Beauty (Lihle Mvelase) in a rural town in KwaZulu-Natal. After getting sick, Ayer learns that she is HIV positive. With her abusive husband in denial of her and a young daughter to care for, Yesterday’s goal is to live long enough to see her son go to school. The film explores issues of superstition related to HIV and poor health care conditions in South Africa. It was nominated for the Best Foreign Film category at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005.
- Dallas Buyers Club: The 2013 film is loosely based on the true story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), a Texas-born homophobic, drug-addicted, woman-loving man who in 1986 was diagnosed with HIV-AIDS and given 30 days to live. . Shocked by the diagnosis, Woodroof, an electrician and rodeo cowboy, sets off in search of answers. His research reveals a lack of approved treatments and drugs in the US, so he crosses the border into Mexico. He begins smuggling the alternative treatments into the US, challenging the medical and scientific community, including his concerned doctor, Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner). Woodroof finds an unexpected ally in AIDS patient Rayon (Jared Leto), a transgender man who shares Woodrof’s passion for life. Seeking to avoid US government sanctions against the sale of unapproved drugs and supplements, they establish a “buyers club” where people with HIV pay monthly fees to access the drugs.
- Paris is burning: In a cultural collision, this 1990 documentary on New York dance culture was released just six months after Madonna brought “vogue” to international attention. The film explores the challenges of AIDS, racism, transphobia, and homophobia faced by the primarily African American and Latino communities that were at the heart of drag ball’s heyday.
- The Lazarus Effect: “The Lazarus Effect” describes the impact of free antiretroviral drug programs on HIV-infected people in Zambia. Produced by Spike Jonze (she, being, John Malkovich), and directed by music video director Lance Bangs, the 2015 film benefits from a minimalist filming style that allows interviewees to speak for themselves.
- Straight out of Compton: Released in 2015 and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, this biopic follows the rise and fall of the gangsta rap group. N.W.A.including the death of member Eric “Eazy-E” Wright from AIDS in 1985. Although the film focuses on the rise of the music careers of Dr Dre and Ice Cube, it is important to note that Eazy-E’s death at age 31 it was a revelation to many. youth who were not educated about the disease at the time.
- And the band played: It is a 1993 American television drama film based on the 1987 best-selling nonfiction book of the same name by Randy Shilts. Gay activist leader Bill Kraus (Ian McKellen) is dying and no doctor can name the disease that is killing him. Everybody knows that some epidemic is attacking gay men. Rather than engage in serious study and experimentation, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention obstructs any effort to prove that the disease is transmitted through blood. The movie does a great job of depicting the early days of the HIV-AIDS epidemic.
- parting glances: This is writer-director Bill Sherwood’s only film: he succumbed to an AIDS-related illness a few years after its release in 1986. The well-acted and brilliantly written film centers on Robert and Michael, a couple preparing for a two year life separation when Michael heads to Africa for work. Over the course of 24 hours, Robert, Michael, and their friends and lovers collide to hilarious and heartbreaking effect. Robert’s ex-boyfriend, Nick (Steve Buscemi), is a rock star who is dying of AIDS. But Nick is never a pitiful character, but rather a strong and defiant survivor, a rarity for 1990s cinematic portrayals of people with AIDS.
- Gia: This 1998 biographical drama follows the life and death of the world’s first supermodel, Italian-American Gia Carangi (Angelina Jolie). The movie was shot before Jolie’s own career went sky high. Shot in the style of a mock documentary, and including excerpts from Carangi’s diary, this film contains powerful messages about identity, drug addiction and AIDS. Carangi’s rise to stardom was rapid and she soon turned to drugs, and she eventually developed a severe heroin addiction. Unable to fight her addiction, she contracted HIV through a needle containing infected blood, which led to her death at just 26 years old.
