a) One of the most powerful scenes in the documentary “The Age of Aids” is the scene where society learned about the death of the well-known actor Rock Hudson. When Rock Hudson died from AIDS, panic emerges all over the United States. It was then evident that AIDS was not a “gay man 's disease”, but rather a disease that anyone could contract. Now women, straight men, and the rest of the population were at risk of contracting AIDS. This scene is very powerful because it demonstrates that society is ignorant and does not care about others unless something affects them, loved ones, or someone famous. Furthermore, when gay people were believed to be the only individuals that could be affected by AIDS, society did not care because the …show more content…
In that scene, the memorial quilts were laid out in front of Congress by family members in memory of loved ones who passed away from AIDS. When the first AIDS quilts were being placed in front of Congress, forty thousand Americans had already died of AIDS. This scene is very powerful because it really emphasizes the impact that AIDS had on Americans. Seeing the crowds of people standing around the AIDS quilts really puts into perspective how serious AIDS was and that many people showed support and hoped that a cure could be found or the spreading of AIDS could be stopped. The United States government and many Americans were now able to realize the impact that AIDS was having on American citizens. They decided that changes had to be made to help stop the spread of AIDS and possibly help cure the individuals infected by it as it was now becoming a worldwide epidemic. I found it very painful to watch people come up to the AIDS quilts and remember loved ones that passed away from this tragic disease. Watching people share memories with others and cry was difficult as well because it angered me as what came to my mind was the United States government not doing anything to put a stop to the spread of AIDS. All the government had to do was provide some money to the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) and they would try to find a cure for AIDS or find a way to stop it from spreading
Turning Point by Jimmy Carter provides a look into his first experience with politics as he runs for the Georgia state senate in 1962. He believed it was possible to change the direction his home state was headed, specifically focusing on education. Instead of having a run-of-the-mill experience in democracy, he faced election corruption by those in power and legal challenges up until the moment he was finally sworn in as state senator.
In the documentary “The Age of AIDS,” FRONTLINE examines the outbreak of AIDS since its first diagnosed case in 1981. The film investigates different medical, political and social environments under AIDS pandemic in the US and worldwide. The film not only focuses on the scientific research and progress in treating the disease, it also looks at the social stigma, government strategies and public campaigns around different countries.
During Mr. Rosenberg’s leave we learned different dramatic elements such as script analysis, stasis and intrusion, dramatic conflict, etc. This helps us to understand the different elements so one day when we have to apply the elements we will already be mindful of them. Additionally, we also learned about the beginning of theater dating back to ancient Greece and their different ways of displaying theater.
In this paper, I will dispute that in Mary Fisher 's "A Whisper of AIDS" speech, the use of pathos and ethos assists in her demand to end the ignorance, prejudice and silence surrounding HIV/AIDS. I will discuss how she replaces the "face" of AIDS with her own, allowing the conservative crowd to connect with HIV/AIDS. Fisher approaches the speech as an epidemic speech; heavily relying on ethos and pathos she created compassion and connection to an audience that usually shows disinterest and silence on the topic of HIV/AIDS. This paper will also discuss the logos within Fisher 's speech, and how she cleverly surrounds the logos of her argument with pathos and ethos. Although, Fisher has approached the speech as an epidemic, she holds a strong pervasive argument within the speech.
In Robert Cormier’s novel, We All Fall Down, is a young-adult thriller that explores the evil side of humanity through a number of corrupt characters. Cormier, to a large extent, accurately depicts manipulative and dishonest behaviour whilst also showing the evil lurking within the prominent characters of Harry Flowers, Buddy Walker and Mickey Stallings who showcase the dark side of humanity. Cormier explores this through Harry Flower’s manipulative actions that result in the suffering of others. Additionally, the constant dishonest behaviour is shown predominantly through the main protagonist of Buddy Walker, who deceives the one he loves. Cormier continues to depict the evil lurking in society through the theme of appearance
“Two hundred thousand Americans are dead or dying” Two hundred thousand Americans, two hundred thousand brothers, friends, loved ones, all fighting a war; this war is not fought in foreign countries, this war is HIV/AIDS (“American Rhetoric: Mary Fisher”). Sadly, Mary Fisher is one of the many victims that are crushed by the heartbreaking diagnostic of being HIV positive, however, this was her alarm to the severity of the virus. As a result, Fisher dedicated her life to spread awareness of HIV and AIDS. In addition to the jaw-dropping speech, Fisher, has dedicated her whole life to the awareness of AIDS, through her store, biographies, non-profitable organizations, and many more. However, “A Whisper of AIDS” is the first domino in her line of work to break the “shroud of silence” known as AIDS (“American Rhetoric: Mary Fisher”).Fisher spoke from the heart, and as well as the mind in “A Whisper of AIDS”, which effectively touched the hearts of many and did exactly what she hoped it would, turned the whisper of the word AIDS into a shout spoken from numerous to prevent fear in the hearts of many. In order to show the dire importance of awareness of HIV/AIDS, Fisher, Effectively uses heartbreaking pathos, strong logos, and persuasive ethos.
In the film, “Age of AIDS”, there were several scenes that were quite impactful. In my opinion, the three most powerful scenes in the documentary film were: President Ronald Reagan‘s speech about transmitting HIV (1a), William Dodge triple cocktail trail (1b) and Bill Clinton’s handshake with HIV positive man in the Chinese conference (1c). These sections in the documentary were instrumental in conveying a compelling story about the effects of AIDS.
The media and the government did not help in alleviating any of these fears and used the Aids panic to broadcast homophobic messages and using the gay community as a scapegoat or ‘folk devil.’
Beginning in the mid-1980’s, a number of efforts were initiated to bring awareness and enlightenment to the actual tragedy of AIDS. Two films that evolved out of these awareness campaigns were the documentaries “Paris Is Burning” and “How to Survive a Plague” . Both films, although in significantly diverse ways, provide a window into the alternative lifestyles of LGBT people of the times and the problems and issues they faced. A comparison of these two documentaries demonstrates the initial fears of the public and affected people and the beginnings of acceptance or at least tolerance of these alternative lifestyles.
The movie, Philadelphia, was an excellent example of the severe discrimination many people with Aids are exposed to. In this instance the main character, Andy, was also gay. Unfortunately, in our society, he was faced with a double whammy. The gay issue is controversial enough, but to compound that in the work force with having Aids would be almost unbearable for any person to cope with. Tom Hanks played Andy with a serious need to communicate to the viewers how everyday life, work, emotions and mental well being are affected by this kind of situation. The movie was well cast and thoughtfully portrayed Andy's serious predicament. The theme was very interesting. It made me realize how lucky I am to not have to deal with those kinds of
Although the Stonewall riots increase the awareness of gay rights, the 1980s AIDS epidemic was another turning point for the gay community. Thus many gay artists expressed their concerns and views through their art about how the society has ignored them in time of crisis. It was clear that massive numbers in the gay community were being infected with previously unknown blood borne pathogens that destroy the immune system. The government ignored the rise of the epidemic. For example, there were no AIDS-related research, prevention, and treatments. Instead, AIDS was originally framed by the media as a homosexual issue because the first individuals to contract AIDS were gays. Another right-wing idea was that gay men brought this disease onto themselves and that it was God’s punishment for their immoral behaviors. As a result, most people—especially gay artists expressed their anger and concerns through their art. For example, David Wonjnarowicz was diagnosed with AIDS and was not shy about expressing his anger through his art. His 13-minute video A Fire in My Belly 1987 expressed his outrage and about grief the AIDS epidemic. The first half of the video shows the street of Juarez, Mexico, where amputees pass through intersections and headlines blare reports of daily murder. The second section depicted more personal concerns. Wojnarowicz himself appeared
Mary Fisher, an American political activist, author, and artist, has survived a fatal disease, and who lives to support those who suffer the mutual virus known as H.I.V. or Human Immunodeficiency Virus. She spreads awareness of the outbreak through the use of speeches, campaigns, and volunteer opportunities. Her most famous speech, which defined her as a political icon, was titled “A Whisper of AIDS”. The speech was delivered at the Republican National Convention, on August 19, 1992, in Houston, Texas. The AIDS rife entered the United States in 1989 and was most common among homosexual men, or African Americans, but began to represent a growing threat to women by 1992. However, citizens of America unassociated with the disease, were still accustomed to the early reputation of the disease, formulating their biased opinions. The American populace of the time had set their focus on the Presidential race, which included choosing delegates and following certain campaigns, along with new innovations such as email and electronic communication, creating a developmental state of mind for the population of America. Mary Fisher’s speech overviews the necessity of banishing the known stereotypes related to the disease and creating the new face of AIDS. The purpose of “A Whisper of AIDS” is to inform people of the disease and to motivate the individuals with the ability to help to be more involved. Given the historical context of the AIDS epidemic in America, and Mary
The film depicts the camaraderie among the group’s members, and the empowerment resulting from their collective sense of belonging. However, given the group’s diverse membership, it is unlikely that this fluid narrative put forth by Hubbard tells the whole story. Taking this into consideration, how does United in Anger portray the makeup of ACT UP, and what impact does its depiction have on understanding the larger AIDS movement? Jih-Fei Cheng offers his viewpoint in his article “How to Survive: AIDS and Its Afterlives in Popular Media.” He condemns the precedent of cherry-picking AIDS movement coverage “through the lens of white male heroes” at the expense of “women and queers of color” (Cheng 73). However, Cheng argues that United in Anger is an exception to this widespread oversight, and takes into account the “multiracial” and “multigendered” diversity of AIDS activism (Cheng 76). He commends United in Anger and how it “carefully [portrays] how AIDS activists have countered capitalism, racism, sexism, and transphobia” (Cheng 78). Like Cheng, Alexandra Juhasz, an activist who took part in the AIDS movement, addresses the issue of misrepresentation of the AIDS movement in her article “Forgetting ACT UP.” Juhasz similarly criticizes the media and public’s focus on white gay males, a phenomenon that downplayed the numerous races, genders, and sexualities that comprised people with AIDS (Juhasz 72). However, she adds that there was an unacknowledged sense of exclusiveness in ACT UP that fostered the underrepresentation of minorities such as herself (Juhasz 70). She argues that United in Anger omits important minority members of the AIDS activist community left unrepresented by ACT UP, and thereby discounts the barriers they faced (Juhasz
The first scene in the movie I thought was powerful was the scene where kids with HIV were forced to leave school due to the fear of the parents and the ignorance they had back then about not understanding how HIV were transmitted. Dwayne Maori a 12 year old hemophiliac infected with HIV from Tennessee was forced to quit school due to the fear of other parents and the ignorance that they had about AIDS. In this particular scene the parents were protesting outside the school with big poster boards, when Dwayne Maori left in the car there was a parent shouting out loud that he is trying to kill everyone but the parent is not going to let him kill her baby. Others were shot or got their houses burnt to the ground. I think that this scene is important and powerful because this scene tells us how one person’s word can lead to so many fears in the society (when president Reagan re-enforces that AIDS can spread by casual contact). This scene also showed us how scared people were about this new virus. At the same time, this scene tells us that HIV doesn’t only affect the person infected by it, it affects their families as well. This scene is effective because it allows us to learn that when these new
In my opinion, Elton John has had a massive influence in development. Not only is the singer/songwriter searching for a cure for HIV/AIDS with world-renowned scientists, but he is also working tirelessly to eliminate the stigma associated with the illness being known as a “gay disease.” (Elton John Op-Ed on Tirelessly Fighting AIDS Through His Foundation, Billboard.com) Elton John is also striving to improve the quality of life for patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, focusing heavily on the LGBTQ community (Frequently Asked Questions, Newyork.ejaf.org). In this essay I will be stating the ways in which Elton John has positively influenced the lives of countless individuals, and how he has made a difference in fighting against a disease