In 1989, a dear friend from college who wasn't out to his conservative religious family called me and told me he had been diagnosed with Aids. When he finally told his family, they disowned him. I called my mother in tears and told her he had nowhere to go. She quickly said she would care for him. She didn't know much about Aids but she said that every person needed to die with love. She was so courageous. She lost numerous friends over her decision. She passed 4 years ago, and whenever someone asks me about her, this is the story I tell them. It was a different time......❤❤❤
Wow! That just made me cry. I see vile people with no compassion and making hateful comments or decisions about anyone different from them. Then I see a comment like this, and I realize there’s still honest decent caring people still out there. Your mom is amazing to have done this!! ❤❤
I am a retired nurse, I remember my first AIDS patient like I just walked out of room after caring for him. His name was “Tom” I was one of two nurses his family requested to care for him, his mom would spend hours at his bedside wet eyes holding his hand through the multiple layers of protective gear required to enter his room. ‘Tom’s “father would sit as far away as possible,his head buried in a newspaper. Taking care of ‘Tom” taught me more about nursing and more about myself than any other experience I can remember. I was blessed to have known him and making his passing easier for him and his family was an honor I will never forget.
Elizabeth Taylor also did. She was spurred to action by the death of her good friend Rock Hudson and became an advocate, fund raiser, and friend. Some of the celebrities who flocked around Ryan White also helped. People like Elton John and Michael Jackson.
@@AutoPilate As much as i hated the grift and hypocrisy of the ministry, Tammy Faye really had a good heart and was fearless when it came to something she believed in.
Yes! She did that here in Toronto on a visit to Casey House. Sat on the side of a patient's bed and held his hand while they chatted. Apparently had some of the staff in tears.
"Sorry if I sound ignorant..." There is no shame in ignorance. Ignorance is important because it means you're still growing as a person. It is the refusal to acknowledge and learn that brings harm to oneself and others
@@SonOfMuta No, there is not. If its WILFUL ignorance sure, but we are ALL ignorant about things we dont know, that is just how it works. Right now there are tons of groups of people around the globe facing oppression, do you know everything about all of them? Of course not. Can you break down the Shia/Sunni strife? What about explaining whats going on in New Caledonia? What about the Awa's? Do you know about Bamber Bridge and instances like that? I could list tons of examples and there is no shame in not knowing what you do not know. You dont shame people who are ignorant and willing to learn. Doing that just keeps people from seeking knowledge.
I think there are three main things that helped to change the public's perception of AIDS in the early 90s: celebrities admitting their illness, such as Freddie Merctury and Magic Johnson, Princess Diana hugging AIDS patients and this movie. Tom Hanks was already one of America's favourite actors, which I think helped people a lot to sympathise with the character. It really was an important movie.
Definitely true. Including Arthur Ashe, who contracted it through a blood transfusion, Rock Hudson, who Elizabeth Taylor stood up for, and really publicly. Also Tim Richmond, NASCAR driver and well known for lots of girlfriends, and Gia Carangi, America's first super model (and unfortunately, IV drug user)
I was going to mention Pedro from The Real World on MTV too. As Gen X’er who grew up watching MTV religiously, showing a real person who you grew to love and seeing what he went through and then his passing, it was gut wrenching. It created a personal element to have people sympathize and not just see as “not my problem.” I also remember Madonna being very vocal supporting the gay community, promoting wearing condoms and getting AIDS testing.
This came out a few months after I was diagnosed with HIV. I was 21. I was told that I'd be dead within eight years.. and that a majority of those years would be a horror. I've been positive for over 31 years now. This movie illustrates the ignorance, at the time, it was filmed. There was a fear that they didn't **really** know, for sure, how it was transmitted. There were fears about it being airborne (especially in backwoods Texas, where I lived at the time). There were fears that it could be transmitted through mosquito bites, like malaria... It's *not* a "fun" Pride movie.. but Ashleigh is absolutely correct in saying it's an important film to see. Love your channel.. love your reactions.. love you, hubbin, and all of your fur-babies. Keep it up, sweetheart. 🫂
Our dear Dr Fauci predicted AIDS WOULD become airborne, so not just 'backwoods Texas'... But, wow! 31 YEARS?!?! Gives me a glimmer of hope for my son that has it-he's 24 and has had it for a while now.
I'm so sorry you had to live with HIV during those uncertain times when there was so much miseducation, fear, and fear mongering about it. But I'm glad you lived close enough to that turning point where the original prognosis for you, that was true for so many, was not true for you. I'm so glad that people are able to live with HIV today and still have long and considerably healthy lives. I'm also angry that if there hadn't been so much prejudice due to which community was hit the hardest by HIV/AIDS, and had it not been initially avoided, or seen as some divine retribution for an "ungodly" lifestyle, and it had been treated with urgency and genuine concern from the start, so many more lives could have been saved. The community at large would have had a better understanding and perhaps a lesser need to demonize others or make it a moral issue rather than simply a medical one. I'm glad you're still here to tell your story. Younger generations won't understand how scary and uncertain those times were. You get to be a bridge between then and now and I think that's so amazing, and a testament to what can be done, in a relatively short time, when education and knowledge overcome ignorance and bigotry.
Please don't feel bad for not knowing about HIV and Aids. Knowing what it was like in the 80s and 90s, it's actually a relief that people don't have to experience that kind of fear, hate and paranoia now. You're a sweetheart, I don't think there's a viewer here who would ever assume otherwise or take offense at something.
I am going to watch this anyway, but not knowing about AIDS and HIV is unbelievable. My brother raised money for the clinic in Houston and did the memorials of about 3 people a week for years. She didn't know about Rock Hudson.
Agreed! But her school system has once again utterly failed her. The fact, that she didn't know anything about HIV/Aids makes me angry! We've actually watched this movie in school. The whole subject was a big part of our curriculum in Biology in 9th and 10th grade. That was 95-97!
I only wish that people don't have to experience that kind of fear, hate and paranoia now. Unfortunately, it's not true. Clarence Thomas has made it very clear through public statements that he wants to see Obergefell (making gay marriage legal) overturned. He also wants to overturn the Lawrence case. Prior to Lawrence, states could imprison people for the "crime" of being gay, viewing any form of homosexuality as a criminal offense deserving of prison. This is where this country is headed in an attempt to drive the LGBTQ+ community back into the closet. Thomas isn't the only one on the Supreme Court who wants to see this happen. He has other conservative judges on the Court agreeing with him. They just might get their wish.
It’s also even more understandable because the experience of HIV/AIDS is drastically different now than it was then. A lot of the consequences are at least drastically decreased, and there are genuinely effective treatments that can potentially allow a fairly normal life as long as the treatment is always taken. Which is its own issue since it’s very expensive, and a lot of people especially most at risk for HIV just don’t have access to medical care period.
Ashely, thank you for your posting of your reaction to this, yes as you stated. very important film. I am 74 years old; I was 31 when AIDS first appeared as a "Gay Cancer" in San Francisco. over the next three decades I witnessed the deaths of 80% of my friends, some as young as 25 when they passed. You might say that my generation's boys were devastated by two wars, Vietnam and the War On AIDS. I survived the pandemic that was and still is with us and I am one of the lucky ones. So, to this day I contribute to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation for research and treatment in the ongoing battle against AIDS. I urge anyone who is moved by this film to do the same. The War isn't over. Thank you, Ashley, thank you from the center of my heart and in memory of Kevin, Preston, Stephen, Chris, Mark, Rick, Jimmy (who died just last year from AIDS) and so many more of my friends who died too young.
I'm surprised Ashleigh didn't notice baby Antonio Bandaras as Andrew's boyfriend. Yes, that is Puss n Boots is the flesh. Also I believe this is the first time we have seen the great actor Jason Robbards on the channel. He's the awful boss man. A great Halloween watch with him is Something Wicked This Way Comes.
One aspect of the story NOT to overlooked...The way the family members were written and played...it's almost like the viewer is being tutored on how to be a supportive dad, mom, brother to a family member in such a dire situation. As heart-wrenching as the movie is anyway, imagine how absolutely soul-ripping it would have been if his family had been anything less than incredibly supportive and steadfast....such a united pillar of strength for him.
A friend of mine was in a car accident in the 80's & his leg was crushed. While he was in his hospital room a team of people wearing hazmat suits came in & started cleaning the entire room with bleach. That's when he realized he was HIV positive. His doctor told him that the damage to his leg was too severe, he'd never walk again. My friend wouldn't accept that & asked for a second opinion. The doctor left in a huff, but did hand his case over to another doctor. The next doctor my friend saw came in smiling & told him that with intensive therapy he would be able to walk. Not for long treks, but enough to get around. And so he did. He is also one of the most compassionate people I've ever met. Unable to work any longer due to his leg injury, he spent much of his time volunteering at the hospitals & hospices sitting bedside with AIDS patients. Often, too often, comforting them in their last moments. Thankfully, HIV/AIDS isn't the death sentence it used to be. ❤🧡💛💚💙💜
🌈❤️🧡💛💚💙💜. Thank you for being so compassionate 😌. I'm not gay, but did experiment with homosexuality, when I was homeless for a year. It's not for me. But I can understand how it is for others. Having Asperger's and Bipolar: I know how it feels to be on the Outside. That's why I love the live version of "Outside" by Stain'd/Fred Durst. 🏳️🌈Take care friend❤.
This movie hits me so hard because my dad, Dr. Charles Craig MD, was at the forefront when HIV/AIDS came out to the public perception. He was an infectious disease specialist so he was one of the doctors studying and treating this goddamn disease. To the day he died he would always accept and help treat patients who had it whether they had insurance or not and I like to think in another universe he was there to help Andy, especially since he lived in Philadelphia for a long time. This movie just reinforces how important my father's work was and still is. Thank you. RIP Dad, you were the greatest man I ever knew.
That’s something to be immensely proud of him for. It was a brave thing to do, if not as much for personal safety since he would have known earlier than realities of transmission but for the financial and professional effects.
"I'll see you tomorrow" is the last thing I said to my mother before she passed away. I didn't expect her to go so soon and must of said in unconsciously...
Ashleigh, I’m an elder millennial and I grew up with gay uncles in corporate life. They saw many of their friends die, the read their names at the AIDS quilt, my grandmother welcomed many a lonely young man to Thanksgivings and Christmas because their family disowned them. I wanna thank you for your sweet spirit, tender heart and the willingness to show your vulnerability. Please don’t let comments stop you from being you ❤
At the time people were still unsure that AIDS could not be spread from a handshake or contact in general. There was a lot of fear, ignorance and horrible treatment towards sufferers.
I already commented this on its own, but my mom worked in the pathology department of a large hospital back when all of this was first starting, when they still didn't know much of anything about it like you've said. She didn't handle samples or patients, only typed up the dictated doctor's notes, but she told me about how scary of a time it was because of everything that was still unknown. The bodies of people who had died of AIDS were handled with hazmat suits, and a lot of staff straight up refused to handle them at all let alone perform autopsies on them because, again, _they just didn't know_ how it was spread yet. I'm glad Ashleigh watched this for the start of pride month because it's a huge chapter in the history of everything the LGBTQIA+ community has had to battle through and survive, and we lost thousands to it back in the day while it was ignored by the people in power. It's important to remember and educate about the dark times in order to make the progress we've made all the sweeter. We still have a ways to go, but what has been done by the generations before us up until now is really phenomenal. 💜
@@marianne5055Worse than that. His head of HHS at one point called for action to make sure that AIDS didn't spread into the "normal population." It wasn't until C Everett Koop actually produced an apolitical and unbiased analysis of HIV that we began to get past some of the stigma and misinformation. Koop was a die hard conservative, but he put his profession ahead of his politics as more people should.
17:47 Andrew's mom is played by Joanne Woodward. She and her husband Paul Newman (both legendary actors. He passed away in 2008) have done a lot of work for civil rights.
My uncle passed from aids in the 90s, I was about 10. We visited him when he was full blown. It was not pretty. Idk if that's a good thing for a kid to see but it did give perspective on life and the disease. RIP Uncle Carl
My most beloved uncle passed in 1996 at the age of 41. All of his friend circle (including his dear friend named Carl) is also long gone. I’m so thankful these new generations won’t know what it was like to live through this devastating epidemic. I was 19 when he left us and I still cry for him to this day.
My uncle also passed from AIDS in the 90s, and I was around the same age. My mom took him in and we cared for him because my grandmother threw him out of the house. I'm so proud of my mom for doing that. RIP Uncle Tucker.
@thoma9410 Sorry for your loss brother. And Melanie. Who commented. My grandmother threw him out years earlier when she found out he was gay but near the end she took him in and let him pass in his childhood bedroom.
Pride isn’t about rainbows and flags… it’s about overcoming struggles that have been perpetrated by others due to their ignorance of facts and lack of education/empathy about the challenges of others. You presented this perfectly.
Ron Vawter, the actor who played Bob had AIDS at the time of this movie. He was an extremely brave and talented performer who sadly passed a year later.
@@katieoberst490 He had his AIDS diagnosis in March of '92, the shooting of Philadelphia began in October of '92. He was actually very sick at the beginning of the filming, the production was afraid he wasn't going to be able to be part of the film, but he made it.
Antonio Banderas's performance often goes underappreciated in this masterpiece... (Hanks and Washington obviously were in top form as the leads)... but I think his role here is important as well.
I remember my mom telling me about the early days of the AIDS epidemic and doing an X-ray on a patient in the ICU. She had to wear a ton of personal protective equipment just to go into the room. The doctors and nurses only ever went in to take blood, and the family wasn’t allowed in, so this poor guy-who was no doubt terrified, because all they knew then was that it was always fatal-was alone in that room 95% of the time. She said that when she touched him to help him sit up and to guide him into the right position for the portable machine, he started crying. No one had touched him for more than a few seconds for weeks, and they treated him like a pariah and ran away as fast as possible, and so my mom just stood there and held his hand until she had to go do her next patient. That story makes me simultaneously so angry and so proud-angry that that poor man went through it, and proud that my mother’s kindness was so profound that she stayed, even though she was scared. She worried that she was being irresponsible because she was a single mom and was scared what would happen if she got sick. RIP Mom, I miss you every day.
I volunteered as a candy striper at our local hospital. There was a room on my floor that had one of those biological danger signs on the door, covering the window. No one but doctors and nurses went in there, and it seemed the light was always off. This was in '84 or '85, and I figured that the patient had AIDS. I asked if I could take him food and read to him, but I was quickly admonished and switched to a different floor, probably because stubborn, rebellious teenager me got in the head nurse's face about it. I don't think she liked me calling her prejudiced, but it made me so angry I couldn't help him and so brokenhearted for him to be treated as a threat. I'm glad your mom got the chance to show kindness in a way I wasn't allowed to do.
Yep. And then they did the same thing with COVID. People dying alone in hospital beds and family members not allowed to go in and visit them. For a disease far, far, far less harmful than AIDS.
It is a great movie, but it's also infuriating. Seeing how long they knew about it and did nothing just to decide who got "credit" for discovering it... ugh
The Normal Heart is another great one. It was made much more recently, but the screenplay was based off a stage play of the same name that WAS of the era. I guess it just took ages to get it funded and turned into a film.
I had to watch And the Band Played On for one of my sociology classes in college in the late 90s. So glad I had to as it opened my eyes to the AIDS crisis.
The book of The Band Played On was life changing for the little conservative girl I was in early 80s. I turned against Reagan and became an LGBTQ+ ally.
It is kind of nice that young people like Ashleigh don't know anything about AIDS and are surprised at such In-your-face prejudice against gays and Black people. It was such a huge thing when I was a young adult, in the early 80s and homosexuality was deeply closeted because the stigma was so great against it. Up until my senior year of college (79-80) I did not know ANYBODY who was an out gay or lesbian. Around that time, a handful of friends of mine started coming out. Most of them said they told their friends, filled with fear that that knowledge would end our friendship. Then AIDS appeared on the scene and it was quickly associated with gay men. It makes me tear up to recall how the first time I knew that many people I knew were gay was when I found out they had died of this mysterious new disease. I know that many of them felt they could not have open, stable relationships with other men, and so they sought out sex with strangers in clubs or in parks - they were afraid that if they were found out by the straight community, they would lose their friends and their family. AIDS destroys the immune system. This results in a very enhanced susceptibility to many kinds of infections and to cancer. Those dark skin lesions were pretty common, and are called Carposi's sarcoma, a type of skin cancer that is normally controlled by our immune systems. With AIDS, this skin disease would often emerge like you saw with Andy.
I always say how thankful I am that the younger generations will never know what it was like living through this crisis. I grew up in the SF Bay Area so I was on the frontlines of seeing the toll AIDS took on so many lives. It was a terrible time.
Oh definitely. One of my college room mates (who I was constantly trying to get to go on a date with a girl) waited to come out to me literally, 10 years after college because he was afraid of my reaction. My reaction was basically to say "why would it matter what your sexuality is, and it would have been nice to have known back in college so I wouldn't have wasted so much time trying to find you a date"
I'm 43 Ftm from a tiny town in AK, closeted for years and could only finally come out of closet to everyone about less than 10 years ago. Technically still coming out. Ak is a red state unfortunately and treated like a foreign country. I was only able to love and accept myself when I moved to Oregon.
One of my childhood friends died from Aids. His family told everyone he died of cancer because they didn't want to admit that he was gay. Attitudes have come a long way, but still have a ways to go. My friend would be very proud to see that so many places and channels like yours are celebrating Pride Month, Ashleigh!
The guy in the library looked at Denzel like that because he's black. Denzel then realized Tom Hanks was facing the same prejudice. That's when he started to look and listen.
It was not the same thing. He just looked at denzel and felt he didn't belong. He deduced hanks had aids because of the literature he was looking at. Those are difft scenarios. The man treated hanks that way because at the time, people thought AIDS could be contracted airborne or on surfaces. The man could not catch being black
@@ertfgghhhh They were both experiencing prejudice for things outside of their control. That was the entire point of that scene. For a moment Denzel was reminded of how it feels to be on the receiving end of prejudice and so put his own prejudices aside.
Yeah so true, that is what i thought as well. He realized he gets the same bigotry and prejudice and that is why he took the case. This is a beautiful movie.
Ashleigh, I want you to know that you honor every single soul we lost to the AIDS epidemic. Including my cousin, Patrick. He was only 25 years old when he passed in 1997. This movie always made my sister and I worry for our cousin, and our worst fears were realized. It is the hardest thing in the world to watch someone you love soo much waste away and there is nothing you can do about it. I named my first child after him, and my second son was actually born on my cousins birthday. I would like to think that was Patricks way of telling me he is still here and watching over my sons. Every human, regardless of how they identify or whom they love, are worthy of love and acceptance and DIGNITY. Thank you for reacting to this movie. Love is Love. Thank you for honoring my Patrick.
Please don’t listen to comments saying you shouldn’t watch a movie like this during Pride Month. Yes, you should get a spectrum of LGBT movies, happy and sad and tragic and about coming out and love and all that But HIV/AIDS is such an integral part of our history and it cannot be forgotten. This is a good movie and you’ve clearly taken it to heart. Take care of yourself ❤
Absolutely! Years ago a young friend from Florida was visiting Toronto during Pride. He was gay and from a small town, and this was the first Pride he'd been to. We did all the fun stuff, parades, beer gardens, balcony parties (at the time my best friend/ex-boyfriend, and his now husband, and I lived right in the heart of the Gay Village). But we also took him to the annual AIDS Vigil ceremony at the AIDS memorial. Precisely because it isn't just about parties and parades.
Yes watch it during fake, sorry pride month .. when your watching pride and all the S&M clad ppl simulating sex acts and half naked ppl “celebrating” who they like to have sex with just remember this movie and put two and two together, then you will understand how it ripped through their community like a wild fire.. sorry snowflakes if you don’t like it but it’s the truth!!
Completely agree. There was a time when we desperately needed to bring attention to queer media/stories that weren't tragic, because they were so rare in the public consciousness, but right now it almost seems like the pendulum has swung the other way. History is important, and guess what - a lot of history sucks.
There are 53 actors who were HIV Positive who appeared in this film. 43 of them died before the movie was released. 16:30 Ron Vawter was one of them. 27:09 Michael Callen, the fellow in the middle was diagnosed with AIDS in 1982 and lived for almost 11 years with the virus until he died at the age of 32.
If you didn't live the period, you cannot have any idea of how shockingly intrusive the AIDS scare was to the whole world. You lived through he pandemic, like all of us, and if you project the fear of contact with other people that people had for something that might possibly be hazardous to their health, with something like AIDS which had no treatment, no cure, was absolutely going to be terminal and proliferated mostly, in the early stages, amongst a particularly despised minority of the population, you can maybe imagine how people viewed this disease. Having it made you a leper, an outcast, untouchable, almost instantly. The ignorance and fear were mountainous, and the infected were pariahs. This film highlighted that attitude, so beautifully, and reversed that thinking in a lot of people's minds. It was almost a PSA on how loving people shouldn't be a death sentence and a crime.
So well said! I lived through the AIDS / HIV crisis as well. I remember the fear, ignorance and EXTRA bigotry and hatred towards gay men especially. I was in art school and had a lot of gay, male friends (I'm a straight woman). I remember the fear and for some, a fatalistic resignation that they were going to get sick and die. It was a horrible time. 💔
People forget that very few people back in the 80's understood how AIDS was transmitted. There was no internet for them to educate themselves. Everything was conjecture. We had friends showing up, with pneumonia, and lesions and none of us understood what was happening. Most people I knew, thought that it was something that came from the bathhouses. People were not really fearful until the late 80s into the early 90's. Then, people started dying. My best friend, James Edward Locklear, died of AIDS in 1992. It was my honor to help care for him. The progress of AIDS was horrifying and something I will never forget. While this movie makes an attempt to address the myriad issues, for me, it falls far short of the reality for many friends and families at the time. Longtime Companion is also a movie you may want to watch for more viewpoints on the early AIDS crisis. When I look back, at how far society has come, I am pleased. But it came at a such great cost.
I'm sorry for your loss. Went to high school in Manhattan in the 90s and one of the (most beloved) staff passed from Aids during my time at the school. He was instrumental in educating us on what he was going through. He was honest with us and full of compassion, it was one of the most important lessons of many I learned in those years.
Unfortunately, having the Internet today still doesn't help educate everybody. There is so much misinformation out there and those that don't want to have their beliefs challenged will hang on to any crumb that they can find, that they feel supports that belief. No matter how much evidence to the contrary is available.
Even some medical personnel were afraid and refused to help treat AIDS patients. That did not help encourage understanding and empathy. Fear of the unknown. We saw it again when COVID started. No internet may have actually been a blessing back then because when research discovered important data and was communicated at large, there was little or no misinformation circulated by everybody with an opinion to contradict what scientists and doctors were saying. Society has come some way and great strides have been made in the treatment of AIDS. My brother's best friend tested positive for HIV when he was 22 years old. He's 56 now and doing very well.
On the legal question: Jury verdicts must be unanimous in CRIMINAL trials. This is a civil lawsuit, which in many states does not require unanimity. In Pennsylvania, 5/6ths of the jurors must agree.
Neil Young is the artist at the end of the movie with his song "Philadelphia". He was supposed to write the opening anthem song, but after watching the movie wrote a more fitting song instead. Bruce Springsteen was then asked to create a song for the movie as well. Both "Streets of Philadelphia" and "Philadelphia" are great songs and both were nominated for awards with both competing for an Oscar for best original song won by Bruce.
As a GenX gay this movie is pivotal to my soul, changed my life and cemented my love for Tom Hanks, I've only been able to see it once. Ashleigh is a safe space and i can watch it again thru her eyes.
It must have been really tough for you at the time as you would have been seeing all the hysteria surrounding HIV in the 80's early 90's. I remember when Freddie Mercury died of AIDS i cried non-stop. It's the only time I ever cried over the death of a celebrity
@@believer773 no probs mate. When I teach kids about infectious disease HIV always gets mentioned because some of the kids i teach will be gay, and some idiots on social media have been spreading about that HIV can be cured. The key message in those lessons (even though they are under 16 is whoever you have sex with, be careful
The most perfect ending to a movie about AIDS….at the end of the day it’s someone’s baby. Andy is your neighbor, your teacher, your friend, your cousin,…..AIDS kills a person and wounds a community.
Bruce Springsteen wrote the theme song for this. He had never done that before but director Jonathan Demme called him and said, "I'm going to make a very important movie about AIDS and people's rights and I want you to write a song for it. " The Boss didn't hesitate.
Jonathan Demme first asked Neil Young to write a song for the opening credits and he came up with an introspective slow song. Demme didn't think it would fit so he asked Springsteen to write one. He also came up with a slow, introspective song. Demme realized the songwriters knew better than him so he opened with Springsteen and closed with Young. Both were nominated for Oscars and they made for perfect bookends to the movie.
If one film was going to make you cry it was this one. Such an amazing film for when it came out and dealt with the subject in such a heartfelt way. Ive loved this ever since seeing it at the cinema. This came out at a time when HIV/AIDS was still not well understood and prejudices against the disease were high as well as homophobia was still a massive issue. It just tried to tell a story really well and get the issues to a wider audience.
The fact that you know so little about AIDS reflects how medicine has removed it from big time discussion. During the time of this film there was a series of deaths because of blood transfusion. People who unknowingly had HIV had donated blood & thus passed on the illness. There was a Ryan White who was a teen hemophiliac who became infected & he was banned from school. He became a National celebrity as a face of the AIDS epidemic
Thank you Ashleigh. I'm sorry you've been getting some comments about what you're watching for Pride Month. I'm a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and I appreciate you and your compassion and empathy. There's just been a lot of anger in the world right now, and I wish we could all just open up our hearts to each other--I think we'd all realize we're not all that far apart. I know I've seen a bigger push back against Pride this year than I have in previous years, and it makes me sad. And I agree with you--I think this movie is so important. Thank you for being you.
My mom worked in the pathology department of the local hospital when the AIDS crisis was just beginning in the late '70s/early'80s (she typed up the dictated doctor's notes, she didn't handle any actual material or patients), and she's told me about how scary it was because they just _didn't know anything about it._ Staff wore hazmat suits and would refuse to perform autopsies on people who had died of AIDS because they didn't know how exactly it was transmitted yet, and I just can't imagine what that must have been like.
Growing up in NYC through the 80’s and 90’s the effects of AIDS was everywhere, on the streets, subways, schools and in your home. Me and everyone I knew, knew someone who had it and died from it and the effects on the gay community was catastrophic. Philadelphia is definitely not a pride movie but a very important moment in time for the LGBTQ to know about, because it seems most of the younger generation doesn’t know about it and that history can not repeat itself!
It is an appropriate day to be watching this movie as it is the birthday of a young man named Randy Ray. He and his two brothers were hemophiliacs and contacted aids through transfusions. They weren’t allowed to go to school and it took a federal court order to make the schools accept the then 8 year old Randy back in the class room. Their family house was burned down a week after the court decision, that was in 1986. People with aids were discriminated against at all levels then. It was disgraceful and cruel.
I was going to suggest people look into the Ray brothers. Such horrible treatment of three little boys. The ignorance and hatred that the family had to cope with was sadly the norm rather than the exception back then.
I don't want to say thank you for reacting this movie but I do want to say thank you for watching it and responding to it like the caring human person that you are.
31:00 "do sex movie theaters exist?" They're probably nonexistent these days, but before the internet, they were common. It was also a place to fool around in the dark that wasn't a park and probably not get beaten up.
I randomly watched this on cable one day during my childhood because I like Tom Hanks. I was just getting to the age (and was living in the era) where the biggest playground insult was to call someone gay. And not even really understanding what it meant to be gay, that kind of insult created the impression that you didn't want to be gay and you didn't want to be friends with the person everyone was calling gay. It was like the perfect timing in my development to see this movie and understand that whether someone is gay or has AIDS or whatever the case may be, they're still a person just like me and deserve the same kindness and respect I want to be treated with. I mean, I like to think I would have learned that anyway but I still feel fortunate to have seen this when I did.
Thank you Ashleigh for being you and reacting to this film. I volunteered for a local Aids project in the midwest in the 80s, we had to move the office frequently because once people figured out who we were the harassment began. We could never have an office on the ground floor with windows facing the street because of the risk of bricks flying through the glass. I remember Meryl Streep and other big name stars doing public service announcements assuring people you could not get Aids through mosquito bites. It was a scary time that began to improve a little when Rock Hudson came out with Aids. and wonderful Doris Day came out and stood by his side. Thanks again, love you!!..
Believe it or not, I like the judge. There is the point where Andy's former boss is asked by Denzel's character if he is gay and the judge thinks about it for a second and after the boss says "How dare you." The judge makes his decision and says "You will answer the question." Its one of my favorite bits where its like "Okay, you think its a joke, answer it."
As someone who lived through the time, and lost a cousin to AIDS, this is a movie youngbloods need to see. The 'safe and open' world they live in has not existed for very long and can easily be lost.
Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington were AMAZING in this film. As others have stated, you have to remember that this was at a time when little was known about AIDS. People thought it was contageous. If you were gay, (and especially if you worked in a corporate environment) you kept it hidden. If you got AIDS (at the time this story takes place) it was like leprosy or the plague - people were afraid to go near you or even touch something that you touched. It was really out of fear. This film is so heartbreaking. The story is beautifully told and gorgeously filmed. As a born and raised Philadelphian, I’m proud to have my city’s name on this film.
I was in high school in the 80s, I feel like we were told what was known pretty matter of factly (like things like casual contact would not transmit it, or the bugaboo at the time: toilet seats), but despite that there was general apprehension & fear around the disease. So when I saw this when it came out several years later it was a bit of a surprise, like what do you mean people don't know the facts (like the scene where Denzel talks to his doctor)? I guess I had good teachers. Makes me feel guilty for being such a little shit. On the other hand, the homophobia was really present, and the film doesn't shy away from it.
34:37 In a criminal trial the verdict has to be unanimous. This is a civil trial, which isn't really about commiting a crime. It's about damages caused and compensation for those damages. Getting unfairly fired and losing medical insurance at a time when you most need it is pretty damaging.
Here are just some of the celebrities who died from AIDS Rock Hudson (1925-1985) ... Freddie Mercury (1946-1991) ... Anthony Perkins (1932-1992) ... Arthur Ashe (1943-1993) ... Liberace (1919-1987) ... Gia Carangi (1960-1986) ... Elizabeth Glaser (1947-1994) ... Perry Ellis (1940-1986)
Amanda Blake (Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke) died from AIDS. Dan Hartman (bassist and lead singer of the Edgar Winter Group and solo artist) died from an AIDS related cancer. Jermaine Stewart (Shalamar and solo artist) died from AIDS. Gene Anthony Ray (Fame) died of a stroke and AIDS complications. This list goes on and on and on.
Also Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), who was so acutely aware of the fear and stigma surrounding AIDS that he had his family promise to keep his cause of death secret for 10 years
Kevin Peter Hall, the PREDATOR, passed away in 1991, following a car accident, he was given a blood transfusion that was tainted with HIV. He was 36 years old.
This movie hits me hard today. My high school (80s) friend who is gay fell and hit his head two days ago, and is in a coma. They’re pulling the plug on him today. He’s always had health issues and was really thin to begin with. He practically destroyed his body and brain over the last 35 years from alcoholism, in large part due to the discrimination he experienced in life, and his inability to cope with it, or find acceptance. RIP Bob Hartman. My bisexual, drug addicted cousin died of AIDS about 20 years ago. His lifestyle caused a lot of division in my conservative, evangelical family. Lots of drama, crying and fights, at holidays. This movie was so controversial when it came out. It was really the first mainstream movie that I recall that addressed these issues openly and directly, just a decade after the AIDS crisis initially hit. Now, 30 years later, though I know it has, it doesn’t seem like too much has changed. With our current SCOTUS, things are actually likely to get worse. What a messed up world we live in.
I graduated from Emory university with a BSN-bachelor degree of nursing-in 1990. The CDC sits on Emory’s campus. The team that did the initial investigation on AIDS at the CDC taught us and it was amazing. I took care of children who had AIDS-hemophiliacs as well as those who got it from their mothers. It was such a devastating diagnosis. Another movie is And The Band Played On if you want to know more about AIDS-it’s also a book. This movie is a favorite of mine and brings back such memories. Thank you for watching it and Happy Pride.
If you’re interested in movies about AIDS, I highly recommend the film “And the Band Played on”, starring Matthew Modine, about the discover of HIV and AIDS, and the development of early treatments.
Seeing the younger brother lose it in the hospital room always hits me hard. I've been in that position, having to say goodbye to my older brother lying in a hospital bed.
While this is a sad movie, I think it IS an important Pride movie. I feel like it reminds people that equal rights and recognition under the law are important and, even today, must be defended.
My parents come from a small town where everyone knows everybody. My uncle is gay and growing up in that small town must have been hard in the 70s and 80s. My dad always treated my uncle(his younger brother) with nothing but love and my grandparents were amazingly proud of my uncle. I was raised to love people and to understand that people love who they love. My Uncle is one of the most kindhearted, funny, and genuine people I've known and to see how close my dad and he are makes me so happy and proud of my family. I remember one day in my 20s walking through my uncles home and his husband Marc was showing me around the place. We got to this one beautiful painting on the wall in the front foyer. I made a comment about how great it was and Marc told me it was painted by one of their friends a couple years before. I asked if he would ever be willing to paint something for me. Marc looked away and you could see he was getting emotional I put my hand on his back and just before I could ask if he was okay Marc said "He can't. He died of AIDS just over a year ago". That was the first time I saw the torment AIDS has on loved ones.
I'm glad she did watch this for Pride. I understand wanting to focus more on queer joy rather than tragedy, but Pride is also about remembering where we came from and learning about our collective past. And the AIDS crisis was a major moment in time globally. And I'm glad to see my UA-cam friend starting to learn about that period, because I know she cares.
It’s hard to overstate how influential this movie was on sentiment about AIDS at the turn of the 90s. I think that much of the acceptance of gay people is because of this movie. Tom Hanks really stuck his neck out for this one, and it really shifted culture at the time. Glad that you liked it.
My boyfriend and I watched this together many years ago. He never cried at any movie unless it involved animals...but he cried at this one quite a bit. I met him in a gay men's chorus that I was singing in, and I remember coming to rehearsals and Bill, or Jim, or Mike would be missing. I would hear they were ill, or went to hospice, or even had died that week. That is one of my most vivid memories of the late 80s and early 90s: a series of increasingly numerous empty chairs at choir rehearsal, and singing at endless funerals. I had a view of death when I was in my twenties that no one should have at that age. Thank you for watching this, Ashleigh, and for your sensitive comments.❤
“The prejudice surrounding AIDS exacts a social death which precedes the actual physical one.” One of the most profound and thought-provoking, yet simple and true, quotes in this film. It was a crazy time, back then. People didn’t know or understand AIDS (as we didn’t know or understand COVID more recently), but everyone was deathly afraid of it and outcast those who had it.
My brother died from AIDS in 1992, so this movie was very important in helping me understand what dealing with AIDS was like and how frustrating and devastating it was. Other movies that helped me understand were the HBO movie AND THE BAND PLAYED ON (1993), and to some degree the earlier film TORCH SONG TRILOGY (1988) helped me understand a little bit what gay life was like for some people.
I would say that if you do not want to cry as much as you did here, then do not watch And The Band Played On or The Normal Heart until you are emotionally ready. Both really depicts the battles and struggles within the community and government about the disease and getting help for it and both are heartbreaking and brilliant.
I've had 2 people that I loved very much die of AIDS. It's absolutely devastating. This movie came along at an important time in our history. Thank you for watching this beautiful movie.
It was the stoic support of his mum that really got me. To watch her child wither before her eyes but to remain steadfast in her love and support for him was amazing. To all the mums out there - we salute you.
I was a nurse when AIDS hit. I worked before it even had a name, before they knew what caused it, or how it was spread. It was awful. The guys came into the hospital and died so quickly, we had no good treatments then. So many died. I was working in California at the time.
As someone who lost my brother from this disease, thank you. The nurses in the hospital were literally angels on earth. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you.
Ashley as a someone from TN, I remember being a nurse at Vanderbilt in the 80’s thank you for showing what went on and why we should simply care for others.
Paul Michael Glaser, best known for the 70s cop show “Starsky & Hutch” but went on to a career as a diector/producer (directed “The Running Man” with Arnold Schwarzenegger), lost his wife, Elizabeth, to AIDS in 1998. She got it via an emergency blood transfusion after the birth of her daughter, Ariel, in 1981. Unfortunately, she wasn’t diagnosed until after the birth of her son Jake. Ariel got it from her mother’s breast milk & passed away from the disease at age 7, while Jake got it from his mother’s womb, but is still alive. Elizabeth founded the Pediactric AIDS Foundation.
i really appreciate you doing this, Ashleigh. you are such a powerful, tender, honest, and open reactor. my dad was diagnosed with HIV in 1982. i want to say he was one of the lucky ones. by the late 90s so many of his friends had died. every year he was more alone. (if you've seen The Fisher King there's a line where one of the characters compares being gay at that time to being a war veteran since so many of your friends die.) dad fought in a way that reminds me of you -- by being very positive about life, and being strict as hell about his medication. he lived and fought until april of last year. there's a lot more i could share -- but all i really want to say is big hugs to you, hugs to your family and friends, and thank you so much for all you do for this community. you're just the best. keep on being you, Ashleigh. we are all so lucky you exist in this world. thank you.
Another movie worth watching is "And the Band Played On," based on Randy Shilts' book of the same name. It tells the story of the beginnings of the AIDS crisis and the people fighting to save lives in the early 80s. A stellar cast.
Another important and great movie about AIDS: And The Band Played On. When and where they became aware of this new disease, how they tracked it, the impact of it on those that contracted it and their loved ones, the struggle to get funding, the research, the fight for a patent. It's both hopeful and infuriating. Great acting: Matthew Modine, Alan Alda, Glenne Headly, Ian McKellen, Lili Tomlin, Saul Rubinek , Charles Martin Smith, Richard Gere and more. Cameos by Angelica Huston, Phil Collins, Steve Martin, Swoosie Kurtz.
Ashleigh! Thank you for the sensitive, adult reaction. I lived through that period. I have had AIDS for 35 years, and there are others out there. You shed the tears of a lost population. ❤
I really appreciate how authentic you are. When you don't know something (like the AIDs crisis) it's good to be honest and open about it. And you come from a place of learning, which this channel has been about. Keep up the good work
Beautiful reaction! So many of the things that we know and feel now, are because of the groundbreaking work done by normal everyday people, with a good heart, and strong people who were in a position to make a difference. In the UK, Princess Diana showed great strength of character, by holding hands with AIDS patients, and through television, educating people. This movie is important, and from the opening song, 'packs no punches'. As a straight man, I stand with our LGBT+ friends/ colleagues/ family.
I was in my 10th grade year of high school when the ‘AIDS epidemic ‘ came into full swing. There was not a lot of info out there about it. I was terrified of getting it and I stopped drinking from the school fountains. As with too darn much info, news sources were reporting on the scariest parts of any storyline without having all the facts. I mean, consider how many acted over COVID, and are still acting.
Ashleigh, as a trans woman who watches your channel when I need a smile, or a laugh, or a cry, I am so thankful for your support of my community. Don't let the anons on Patreon get you. We love you, we're here for you AND we are so grateful you are here for us too. Happy Pride month sweetheart. ~Sarah
Thank you for saying that. As a gay man I absolutely agree with what you wrote. Ashleigh is a strong, caring, funny, and compassionate ally. Definitely someone I would be happy to call a friend if I knew her in real life. The world needs more people like her.
I was a kid in the 90s and remember watching the Ryan White Story in health class about a boy with AIDS. It is a tear-jerker based on a true story starring Judith Light as the mom. Well worth a watch.
Early 90s 3rd we had a special health class about aids. Nothing sexuel but basically saying, "Don't touch anyone's blood. You'll get aids" And i thought that for the longest time. Now touching blood isn't a good idea but they made it seem like a automatic
"And the Band Played On". A book about the beginnings of AIDS by Randy Shilts. It was made into a film starring Matthew Modine, Lily Tomlin, Ian McKellen and Alan Alda.
For as many amazing films that Tom Hanks has made over his career, this is arguably his most important and absolutely one of his best performances. If you have anyone comment against this film, block the f**k out of them. This IS an important film to watch during Pride month because of how much AIDS was a part of the story for (mostly) gay men worldwide, and how it's important to celebrate how much progress has been made treating it since then. From this old straight white man, Happy Pride Month.
Around the time of this movie, I volunteered my time and skills to the Vortex Theater in Austin, Tex. Many of the people performing and directing plays were gay. In the 3 years I helped out, every gay male died from an AIDS related illness. It was sad and tragic. I wouldn’t wish that death on my worst enemy and certainly not the sweet, gentle, creative people who populated the Vortex.
I remember it starting. Seeing people half dead riding the train. Terrible scary times. Glad to see a new generation seeing movies like this. Another great film on this topic. And the band played on
You have such a big heart, Ashleigh. It's why I watch you. Having a big heart means you're going to hurt more when you see things like this, but it also means you're going to give and receive more love in your life, because you're open to it. Thank you for being you, thank you for caring.
When Aids first came out it was like Covid, no one would come close to you or touch anything behind you out of fear. After more was learned about Aids and how it works the fears subsided, but it was awful at the time.
Yes, I was pretty young at the time but I remember the fear, even though I didn't fully understand it. And it was for HIV, too, not just actual AIDS (though some people seemed to think they were the same thing). Thank Goddess we've come so far medically, HIV is no longer a death sentence. 💙
Yep. I just kept thinking during the initial height of COVID that this isn't my first pandemic. I was a kid in the 1980s, and I learned more about it from television and films and the news than I ever did in school, and I'm actually really grateful for all of those very special episodes and for people like Ryan White and Elizabeth Glaser for all of the education and advocacy they did, and to allies like Princess Diana and Elton John and Elizabeth Taylor for raising awareness and raising money for AIDS research and treatment. I actually went on to become a social worker and worked for an HIV/AIDS support organization for a while. And to train domestic violence advocates on the intersections of HIV and domestic violence. To this day, growing up during the AIDS crisis continues to inform my work and my advocacy as a queer person.
@@DravenGal 1) In domestic violence work, a domestic violence advocate is a person who provides counseling and advocacy services to survivors of domestic violence, working with them and advocating on their behalf to assist them in developing and carrying out a service plan and safety plan. And 2) I did do some volunteer work at the local HIV/AIDS organization where I lived during my MSW program before being hired on as staff, but I'm a professional social worker and I actually worked there before I had to leave that position to complete my second internship for my social work program. Now I work professionally in the domestic violence field, but I specialize in understanding, developing policy around, and training staff on the ways in which different life experiences intersect with intimate partner violence, including HIV/AIDS.
Ashleigh, this is why you are one of my favourite reactors. You listen to the message of the movie, and even as you are falling apart, you still spend time to remind us to take care of our selves. You do the same friend. Here's hoping the next movie is more fun
I recently rewatched this, Silverlake Life, And The Band Played On as an ongoing study of cinema on AIDS. Silverlake Life is absolutely devastating as they film an AIDS victim moments after death and the reaction of his partner and family is haunting.
Treatments have improved dramatically since then. The images of emaciated men with sores seems to have nearly disappeared (I could be wrong). Again Magic Johnson contracting was a catalyst for a lot of things.
Civil lawsuits do not have to be unanimous, just 3/4's of the jury unanimous on each question, depending on the verdict form. Criminal charges, those must be unanimous.
I saw this in a packed cinema when it came out I literally cried through the entire film, and pretty much the rest of the cinema was too At the time there was still a lot of unknowns around AIDS and HIV so it was very powerful stuff Longtime Companion is a powerful film too
This movie is a time capsule that reflects the beliefs, fears, stigma, and how little was understood about AIDS at this time. I am glad that you have a chance to see this. Those difficult early days need to be remembered.
I don't know where you might have seen Antonio Banderas before, but he's a famous actor who's been in a lot. You will certainly have heard his voice though, playing Puss in Boots. 😄
In 1989, a dear friend from college who wasn't out to his conservative religious family called me and told me he had been diagnosed with Aids. When he finally told his family, they disowned him. I called my mother in tears and told her he had nowhere to go. She quickly said she would care for him. She didn't know much about Aids but she said that every person needed to die with love. She was so courageous. She lost numerous friends over her decision. She passed 4 years ago, and whenever someone asks me about her, this is the story I tell them. It was a different time......❤❤❤
God bless your Mom.
Wow! That just made me cry. I see vile people with no compassion and making hateful comments or decisions about anyone different from them. Then I see a comment like this, and I realize there’s still honest decent caring people still out there. Your mom is amazing to have done this!! ❤❤
Your Mom was a real one. I know God said, "Well done," when he welcomed her.❤
What an lovely woman. Yes, it's like looking back on a completely different universe isn't it. And that's a really good thing.
Your mother was a saint as far as I'm concerned.
I'm crying so hard, it's hard to see the screen to type this...
I am a retired nurse, I remember my first AIDS patient like I just walked out of room after caring for him. His name was “Tom” I was one of two nurses his family requested to care for him, his mom would spend hours at his bedside wet eyes holding his hand through the multiple layers of protective gear required to enter his room. ‘Tom’s “father would sit as far away as possible,his head buried in a newspaper. Taking care of ‘Tom” taught me more about nursing and more about myself than any other experience I can remember. I was blessed to have known him and making his passing easier for him and his family was an honor I will never forget.
Princess Diana actually did a lot to de-stigmatize aids by going to hospices and holding hands with patients.
So did Tammy Faye Bakker, of all people.
Elizabeth Taylor also did. She was spurred to action by the death of her good friend Rock Hudson and became an advocate, fund raiser, and friend. Some of the celebrities who flocked around Ryan White also helped. People like Elton John and Michael Jackson.
@@AutoPilate As much as i hated the grift and hypocrisy of the ministry, Tammy Faye really had a good heart and was fearless when it came to something she believed in.
@@FranzAntonMesmertake that nonsense elsewhere please. It was a tragic accident. Sometimes they happen.
Yes! She did that here in Toronto on a visit to Casey House. Sat on the side of a patient's bed and held his hand while they chatted. Apparently had some of the staff in tears.
"Sorry if I sound ignorant..."
There is no shame in ignorance.
Ignorance is important because it means you're still growing as a person.
It is the refusal to acknowledge and learn that brings harm to oneself and others
she is virtue signalling and you bozos are falling for it
"There's no shame in ignorance" Yeah, there is.
@@SonOfMuta No, there is not. If its WILFUL ignorance sure, but we are ALL ignorant about things we dont know, that is just how it works. Right now there are tons of groups of people around the globe facing oppression, do you know everything about all of them? Of course not. Can you break down the Shia/Sunni strife? What about explaining whats going on in New Caledonia? What about the Awa's? Do you know about Bamber Bridge and instances like that? I could list tons of examples and there is no shame in not knowing what you do not know.
You dont shame people who are ignorant and willing to learn. Doing that just keeps people from seeking knowledge.
@@__Andrew Facts!!! Very well put. ❤🧡💛💚💙💜
This!!!!
I think there are three main things that helped to change the public's perception of AIDS in the early 90s: celebrities admitting their illness, such as Freddie Merctury and Magic Johnson, Princess Diana hugging AIDS patients and this movie. Tom Hanks was already one of America's favourite actors, which I think helped people a lot to sympathise with the character. It really was an important movie.
Definitely true. Including Arthur Ashe, who contracted it through a blood transfusion, Rock Hudson, who Elizabeth Taylor stood up for, and really publicly. Also Tim Richmond, NASCAR driver and well known for lots of girlfriends, and Gia Carangi, America's first super model (and unfortunately, IV drug user)
I was going to mention Pedro from The Real World on MTV too. As Gen X’er who grew up watching MTV religiously, showing a real person who you grew to love and seeing what he went through and then his passing, it was gut wrenching. It created a personal element to have people sympathize and not just see as “not my problem.”
I also remember Madonna being very vocal supporting the gay community, promoting wearing condoms and getting AIDS testing.
I would add Ryan White. He and his family were really insistent that people didn’t treat gay AIDS patients as somehow deserving of the disease.
This came out a few months after I was diagnosed with HIV. I was 21.
I was told that I'd be dead within eight years.. and that a majority of those years would be a horror.
I've been positive for over 31 years now.
This movie illustrates the ignorance, at the time, it was filmed. There was a fear that they didn't **really** know, for sure, how it was transmitted. There were fears about it being airborne (especially in backwoods Texas, where I lived at the time). There were fears that it could be transmitted through mosquito bites, like malaria...
It's *not* a "fun" Pride movie.. but Ashleigh is absolutely correct in saying it's an important film to see.
Love your channel.. love your reactions.. love you, hubbin, and all of your fur-babies. Keep it up, sweetheart. 🫂
So glad you're still here. ❤
Our dear Dr Fauci predicted AIDS WOULD become airborne, so not just 'backwoods Texas'... But, wow! 31 YEARS?!?! Gives me a glimmer of hope for my son that has it-he's 24 and has had it for a while now.
I'm so sorry you had to live with HIV during those uncertain times when there was so much miseducation, fear, and fear mongering about it. But I'm glad you lived close enough to that turning point where the original prognosis for you, that was true for so many, was not true for you. I'm so glad that people are able to live with HIV today and still have long and considerably healthy lives. I'm also angry that if there hadn't been so much prejudice due to which community was hit the hardest by HIV/AIDS, and had it not been initially avoided, or seen as some divine retribution for an "ungodly" lifestyle, and it had been treated with urgency and genuine concern from the start, so many more lives could have been saved. The community at large would have had a better understanding and perhaps a lesser need to demonize others or make it a moral issue rather than simply a medical one.
I'm glad you're still here to tell your story. Younger generations won't understand how scary and uncertain those times were. You get to be a bridge between then and now and I think that's so amazing, and a testament to what can be done, in a relatively short time, when education and knowledge overcome ignorance and bigotry.
So happy to hear you are with us. I am sorry for any fear, pain; and ignorance from others you have had to endure experience
Please don't feel bad for not knowing about HIV and Aids.
Knowing what it was like in the 80s and 90s, it's actually a relief that people don't have to experience that kind of fear, hate and paranoia now.
You're a sweetheart, I don't think there's a viewer here who would ever assume otherwise or take offense at something.
I am going to watch this anyway, but not knowing about AIDS and HIV is unbelievable. My brother raised money for the clinic in Houston and did the memorials of about 3 people a week for years. She didn't know about Rock Hudson.
Agreed! But her school system has once again utterly failed her. The fact, that she didn't know anything about HIV/Aids makes me angry! We've actually watched this movie in school. The whole subject was a big part of our curriculum in Biology in 9th and 10th grade. That was 95-97!
I only wish that people don't have to experience that kind of fear, hate and paranoia now. Unfortunately, it's not true.
Clarence Thomas has made it very clear through public statements that he wants to see Obergefell (making gay marriage legal) overturned. He also wants to overturn the Lawrence case. Prior to Lawrence, states could imprison people for the "crime" of being gay, viewing any form of homosexuality as a criminal offense deserving of prison. This is where this country is headed in an attempt to drive the LGBTQ+ community back into the closet.
Thomas isn't the only one on the Supreme Court who wants to see this happen. He has other conservative judges on the Court agreeing with him.
They just might get their wish.
It’s also even more understandable because the experience of HIV/AIDS is drastically different now than it was then. A lot of the consequences are at least drastically decreased, and there are genuinely effective treatments that can potentially allow a fairly normal life as long as the treatment is always taken. Which is its own issue since it’s very expensive, and a lot of people especially most at risk for HIV just don’t have access to medical care period.
Yes another film worth watching to get an idea of the time is when it was new 'And the Band Played On'
Ashely, thank you for your posting of your reaction to this, yes as you stated. very important film. I am 74 years old; I was 31 when AIDS first appeared as a "Gay Cancer" in San Francisco. over the next three decades I witnessed the deaths of 80% of my friends, some as young as 25 when they passed. You might say that my generation's boys were devastated by two wars, Vietnam and the War On AIDS. I survived the pandemic that was and still is with us and I am one of the lucky ones. So, to this day I contribute to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation for research and treatment in the ongoing battle against AIDS. I urge anyone who is moved by this film to do the same. The War isn't over. Thank you, Ashley, thank you from the center of my heart and in memory of Kevin, Preston, Stephen, Chris, Mark, Rick, Jimmy (who died just last year from AIDS)
and so many more of my friends who died too young.
Tom Hanks won for Best Actor and Bruce Springsteen won for Best Original Song
The first of his two back to back Oscars🎩
I think even Bruce knew that Neil Young should have won Best Original Song
Yes. Bruce stood up at the broadcast when Neil performed the title song, which is a superior song to Springsteen's imo@@jackhagens8964
It is a shame denzel was not nominated and won
I don't remember - what was the song?
I'm surprised Ashleigh didn't notice baby Antonio Bandaras as Andrew's boyfriend. Yes, that is Puss n Boots is the flesh. Also I believe this is the first time we have seen the great actor Jason Robbards on the channel. He's the awful boss man. A great Halloween watch with him is Something Wicked This Way Comes.
One aspect of the story NOT to overlooked...The way the family members were written and played...it's almost like the viewer is being tutored on how to be a supportive dad, mom, brother to a family member in such a dire situation. As heart-wrenching as the movie is anyway, imagine how absolutely soul-ripping it would have been if his family had been anything less than incredibly supportive and steadfast....such a united pillar of strength for him.
Agreed. Nothing worse than losing a kid, with the last business of his life they backed him up all the way.
A friend of mine was in a car accident in the 80's & his leg was crushed. While he was in his hospital room a team of people wearing hazmat suits came in & started cleaning the entire room with bleach. That's when he realized he was HIV positive. His doctor told him that the damage to his leg was too severe, he'd never walk again. My friend wouldn't accept that & asked for a second opinion. The doctor left in a huff, but did hand his case over to another doctor. The next doctor my friend saw came in smiling & told him that with intensive therapy he would be able to walk. Not for long treks, but enough to get around. And so he did. He is also one of the most compassionate people I've ever met. Unable to work any longer due to his leg injury, he spent much of his time volunteering at the hospitals & hospices sitting bedside with AIDS patients. Often, too often, comforting them in their last moments. Thankfully, HIV/AIDS isn't the death sentence it used to be. ❤🧡💛💚💙💜
🌈❤️🧡💛💚💙💜. Thank you for being so compassionate 😌. I'm not gay, but did experiment with homosexuality, when I was homeless for a year. It's not for me. But I can understand how it is for others. Having Asperger's and Bipolar: I know how it feels to be on the Outside. That's why I love the live version of "Outside" by Stain'd/Fred Durst. 🏳️🌈Take care friend❤.
This movie hits me so hard because my dad, Dr. Charles Craig MD, was at the forefront when HIV/AIDS came out to the public perception. He was an infectious disease specialist so he was one of the doctors studying and treating this goddamn disease. To the day he died he would always accept and help treat patients who had it whether they had insurance or not and I like to think in another universe he was there to help Andy, especially since he lived in Philadelphia for a long time. This movie just reinforces how important my father's work was and still is. Thank you. RIP Dad, you were the greatest man I ever knew.
Your dad sounds amazing, what a cool legacy to leave behind ❤️
That’s something to be immensely proud of him for. It was a brave thing to do, if not as much for personal safety since he would have known earlier than realities of transmission but for the financial and professional effects.
The multiverse is infinite. There's definitely a reality where they met, and he helped him.
"I'll see you tomorrow" is the last thing I said to my mother before she passed away.
I didn't expect her to go so soon and must of said in unconsciously...
Ashleigh, I’m an elder millennial and I grew up with gay uncles in corporate life. They saw many of their friends die, the read their names at the AIDS quilt, my grandmother welcomed many a lonely young man to Thanksgivings and Christmas because their family disowned them.
I wanna thank you for your sweet spirit, tender heart and the willingness to show your vulnerability. Please don’t let comments stop you from being you ❤
@ccochran4191 : Thank you for being so kind to my friend Ashleigh ❤️. Never let anyone, stop you from being you.🥲
From a guy who lost his boyfriend from Aids in 1990, I thank you very much for your heartfelt message at the end. ❤ Ashleigh
you still serve satan for 30+ years?
At the time people were still unsure that AIDS could not be spread from a handshake or contact in general. There was a lot of fear, ignorance and horrible treatment towards sufferers.
I already commented this on its own, but my mom worked in the pathology department of a large hospital back when all of this was first starting, when they still didn't know much of anything about it like you've said. She didn't handle samples or patients, only typed up the dictated doctor's notes, but she told me about how scary of a time it was because of everything that was still unknown. The bodies of people who had died of AIDS were handled with hazmat suits, and a lot of staff straight up refused to handle them at all let alone perform autopsies on them because, again, _they just didn't know_ how it was spread yet.
I'm glad Ashleigh watched this for the start of pride month because it's a huge chapter in the history of everything the LGBTQIA+ community has had to battle through and survive, and we lost thousands to it back in the day while it was ignored by the people in power. It's important to remember and educate about the dark times in order to make the progress we've made all the sweeter. We still have a ways to go, but what has been done by the generations before us up until now is really phenomenal. 💜
Especially since Reagan really slept on calling this what it was…an epidemic and acting out on it.
@@marianne5055Worse than that. His head of HHS at one point called for action to make sure that AIDS didn't spread into the "normal population." It wasn't until C Everett Koop actually produced an apolitical and unbiased analysis of HIV that we began to get past some of the stigma and misinformation. Koop was a die hard conservative, but he put his profession ahead of his politics as more people should.
@@Stile4aly Fauci was there
Fauci is the government official who the "Dallas buyer's club" was about@@Cheryworld
17:47 Andrew's mom is played by Joanne Woodward. She and her husband Paul Newman (both legendary actors. He passed away in 2008) have done a lot of work for civil rights.
My uncle passed from aids in the 90s, I was about 10. We visited him when he was full blown. It was not pretty. Idk if that's a good thing for a kid to see but it did give perspective on life and the disease. RIP Uncle Carl
My most beloved uncle passed in 1996 at the age of 41. All of his friend circle (including his dear friend named Carl) is also long gone. I’m so thankful these new generations won’t know what it was like to live through this devastating epidemic. I was 19 when he left us and I still cry for him to this day.
My uncle also passed from AIDS in the 90s, and I was around the same age. My mom took him in and we cared for him because my grandmother threw him out of the house. I'm so proud of my mom for doing that. RIP Uncle Tucker.
@thoma9410 Sorry for your loss brother. And Melanie. Who commented. My grandmother threw him out years earlier when she found out he was gay but near the end she took him in and let him pass in his childhood bedroom.
Pride isn’t about rainbows and flags… it’s about overcoming struggles that have been perpetrated by others due to their ignorance of facts and lack of education/empathy about the challenges of others. You presented this perfectly.
Well said!
Well said.
Hear, hear!
Very well said❤️
Here is the reason for pride month being June: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots
Ron Vawter, the actor who played Bob had AIDS at the time of this movie. He was an extremely brave and talented performer who sadly passed a year later.
He actually found out his diagnosis while filming this movie.
@@katieoberst490I can’t imagine what that experience must have been like.
He passed away before the film was released
@@katieoberst490 He had his AIDS diagnosis in March of '92, the shooting of Philadelphia began in October of '92. He was actually very sick at the beginning of the filming, the production was afraid he wasn't going to be able to be part of the film, but he made it.
Antonio Banderas's performance often goes underappreciated in this masterpiece... (Hanks and Washington obviously were in top form as the leads)... but I think his role here is important as well.
Washington's performance remains underappreciated. He had the tougher role.
I remember my mom telling me about the early days of the AIDS epidemic and doing an X-ray on a patient in the ICU. She had to wear a ton of personal protective equipment just to go into the room.
The doctors and nurses only ever went in to take blood, and the family wasn’t allowed in, so this poor guy-who was no doubt terrified, because all they knew then was that it was always fatal-was alone in that room 95% of the time. She said that when she touched him to help him sit up and to guide him into the right position for the portable machine, he started crying. No one had touched him for more than a few seconds for weeks, and they treated him like a pariah and ran away as fast as possible, and so my mom just stood there and held his hand until she had to go do her next patient.
That story makes me simultaneously so angry and so proud-angry that that poor man went through it, and proud that my mother’s kindness was so profound that she stayed, even though she was scared. She worried that she was being irresponsible because she was a single mom and was scared what would happen if she got sick.
RIP Mom, I miss you every day.
I volunteered as a candy striper at our local hospital. There was a room on my floor that had one of those biological danger signs on the door, covering the window. No one but doctors and nurses went in there, and it seemed the light was always off. This was in '84 or '85, and I figured that the patient had AIDS. I asked if I could take him food and read to him, but I was quickly admonished and switched to a different floor, probably because stubborn, rebellious teenager me got in the head nurse's face about it. I don't think she liked me calling her prejudiced, but it made me so angry I couldn't help him and so brokenhearted for him to be treated as a threat. I'm glad your mom got the chance to show kindness in a way I wasn't allowed to do.
Yep. And then they did the same thing with COVID. People dying alone in hospital beds and family members not allowed to go in and visit them. For a disease far, far, far less harmful than AIDS.
And The Band Played On is another good one that covers how fearful AIDS was in the 80's.
It is a great movie, but it's also infuriating. Seeing how long they knew about it and did nothing just to decide who got "credit" for discovering it... ugh
The Normal Heart is another great one. It was made much more recently, but the screenplay was based off a stage play of the same name that WAS of the era. I guess it just took ages to get it funded and turned into a film.
I had to watch And the Band Played On for one of my sociology classes in college in the late 90s. So glad I had to as it opened my eyes to the AIDS crisis.
The book of The Band Played On was life changing for the little conservative girl I was in early 80s. I turned against Reagan and became an LGBTQ+ ally.
It is kind of nice that young people like Ashleigh don't know anything about AIDS and are surprised at such In-your-face prejudice against gays and Black people. It was such a huge thing when I was a young adult, in the early 80s and homosexuality was deeply closeted because the stigma was so great against it.
Up until my senior year of college (79-80) I did not know ANYBODY who was an out gay or lesbian. Around that time, a handful of friends of mine started coming out. Most of them said they told their friends, filled with fear that that knowledge would end our friendship. Then AIDS appeared on the scene and it was quickly associated with gay men. It makes me tear up to recall how the first time I knew that many people I knew were gay was when I found out they had died of this mysterious new disease. I know that many of them felt they could not have open, stable relationships with other men, and so they sought out sex with strangers in clubs or in parks - they were afraid that if they were found out by the straight community, they would lose their friends and their family.
AIDS destroys the immune system. This results in a very enhanced susceptibility to many kinds of infections and to cancer. Those dark skin lesions were pretty common, and are called Carposi's sarcoma, a type of skin cancer that is normally controlled by our immune systems. With AIDS, this skin disease would often emerge like you saw with Andy.
I always say how thankful I am that the younger generations will never know what it was like living through this crisis. I grew up in the SF Bay Area so I was on the frontlines of seeing the toll AIDS took on so many lives. It was a terrible time.
I became a teenager in the 80s. A very difficult, hard and confusing time for a young person struggling with their sexuality.
Oh definitely. One of my college room mates (who I was constantly trying to get to go on a date with a girl) waited to come out to me literally, 10 years after college because he was afraid of my reaction. My reaction was basically to say "why would it matter what your sexuality is, and it would have been nice to have known back in college so I wouldn't have wasted so much time trying to find you a date"
I'm 43 Ftm from a tiny town in AK, closeted for years and could only finally come out of closet to everyone about less than 10 years ago. Technically still coming out. Ak is a red state unfortunately and treated like a foreign country. I was only able to love and accept myself when I moved to Oregon.
@Alaskan_Two_Spirit_Wolf I'm do glad you were finally able to live your truth. Happy pride month! Hoping you are happy and celebrating!🎉❤
One of my childhood friends died from Aids. His family told everyone he died of cancer because they didn't want to admit that he was gay. Attitudes have come a long way, but still have a ways to go. My friend would be very proud to see that so many places and channels like yours are celebrating Pride Month, Ashleigh!
The guy in the library looked at Denzel like that because he's black. Denzel then realized Tom Hanks was facing the same prejudice. That's when he started to look and listen.
I also thought it was because he was eating in the library.
It was not the same thing. He just looked at denzel and felt he didn't belong. He deduced hanks had aids because of the literature he was looking at. Those are difft scenarios. The man treated hanks that way because at the time, people thought AIDS could be contracted airborne or on surfaces. The man could not catch being black
@@ertfgghhhh They were both experiencing prejudice for things outside of their control. That was the entire point of that scene. For a moment Denzel was reminded of how it feels to be on the receiving end of prejudice and so put his own prejudices aside.
Yeah so true, that is what i thought as well. He realized he gets the same bigotry and prejudice and that is why he took the case. This is a beautiful movie.
@@dandyberlin3328 exactly
Ashleigh, I want you to know that you honor every single soul we lost to the AIDS epidemic. Including my cousin, Patrick. He was only 25 years old when he passed in 1997. This movie always made my sister and I worry for our cousin, and our worst fears were realized. It is the hardest thing in the world to watch someone you love soo much waste away and there is nothing you can do about it. I named my first child after him, and my second son was actually born on my cousins birthday. I would like to think that was Patricks way of telling me he is still here and watching over my sons. Every human, regardless of how they identify or whom they love, are worthy of love and acceptance and DIGNITY. Thank you for reacting to this movie. Love is Love. Thank you for honoring my Patrick.
Please don’t listen to comments saying you shouldn’t watch a movie like this during Pride Month.
Yes, you should get a spectrum of LGBT movies, happy and sad and tragic and about coming out and love and all that
But HIV/AIDS is such an integral part of our history and it cannot be forgotten.
This is a good movie and you’ve clearly taken it to heart.
Take care of yourself ❤
Absolutely! Years ago a young friend from Florida was visiting Toronto during Pride. He was gay and from a small town, and this was the first Pride he'd been to. We did all the fun stuff, parades, beer gardens, balcony parties (at the time my best friend/ex-boyfriend, and his now husband, and I lived right in the heart of the Gay Village). But we also took him to the annual AIDS Vigil ceremony at the AIDS memorial. Precisely because it isn't just about parties and parades.
Yes watch it during fake, sorry pride month .. when your watching pride and all the S&M clad ppl simulating sex acts and half naked ppl “celebrating” who they like to have sex with just remember this movie and put two and two together, then you will understand how it ripped through their community like a wild fire.. sorry snowflakes if you don’t like it but it’s the truth!!
Yes. I was surprised people gave backlash on this movie. I'm in lbgt community and 1000% for her doing this for Pride. Thank you, Ashleigh ❤ 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Completely agree. There was a time when we desperately needed to bring attention to queer media/stories that weren't tragic, because they were so rare in the public consciousness, but right now it almost seems like the pendulum has swung the other way.
History is important, and guess what - a lot of history sucks.
Absolutely
There are 53 actors who were HIV Positive who appeared in this film. 43 of them died before the movie was released. 16:30 Ron Vawter was one of them. 27:09 Michael Callen, the fellow in the middle was diagnosed with AIDS in 1982 and lived for almost 11 years with the virus until he died at the age of 32.
If you didn't live the period, you cannot have any idea of how shockingly intrusive the AIDS scare was to the whole world. You lived through he pandemic, like all of us, and if you project the fear of contact with other people that people had for something that might possibly be hazardous to their health, with something like AIDS which had no treatment, no cure, was absolutely going to be terminal and proliferated mostly, in the early stages, amongst a particularly despised minority of the population, you can maybe imagine how people viewed this disease. Having it made you a leper, an outcast, untouchable, almost instantly. The ignorance and fear were mountainous, and the infected were pariahs. This film highlighted that attitude, so beautifully, and reversed that thinking in a lot of people's minds. It was almost a PSA on how loving people shouldn't be a death sentence and a crime.
So well said! I lived through the AIDS / HIV crisis as well. I remember the fear, ignorance and EXTRA bigotry and hatred towards gay men especially. I was in art school and had a lot of gay, male friends (I'm a straight woman). I remember the fear and for some, a fatalistic resignation that they were going to get sick and die. It was a horrible time. 💔
People forget that very few people back in the 80's understood how AIDS was transmitted. There was no internet for them to educate themselves. Everything was conjecture. We had friends showing up, with pneumonia, and lesions and none of us understood what was happening. Most people I knew, thought that it was something that came from the bathhouses. People were not really fearful until the late 80s into the early 90's. Then, people started dying. My best friend, James Edward Locklear, died of AIDS in 1992. It was my honor to help care for him. The progress of AIDS was horrifying and something I will never forget. While this movie makes an attempt to address the myriad issues, for me, it falls far short of the reality for many friends and families at the time. Longtime Companion is also a movie you may want to watch for more viewpoints on the early AIDS crisis. When I look back, at how far society has come, I am pleased. But it came at a such great cost.
I'm sorry for your loss. Went to high school in Manhattan in the 90s and one of the (most beloved) staff passed from Aids during my time at the school. He was instrumental in educating us on what he was going through. He was honest with us and full of compassion, it was one of the most important lessons of many I learned in those years.
Unfortunately, having the Internet today still doesn't help educate everybody. There is so much misinformation out there and those that don't want to have their beliefs challenged will hang on to any crumb that they can find, that they feel supports that belief. No matter how much evidence to the contrary is available.
Even some medical personnel were afraid and refused to help treat AIDS patients. That did not help encourage understanding and empathy. Fear of the unknown. We saw it again when COVID started. No internet may have actually been a blessing back then because when research discovered important data and was communicated at large, there was little or no misinformation circulated by everybody with an opinion to contradict what scientists and doctors were saying. Society has come some way and great strides have been made in the treatment of AIDS. My brother's best friend tested positive for HIV when he was 22 years old. He's 56 now and doing very well.
Longtime Companion is one of my favourite films on the subject. Hell, one of my favourite films period.
My brother contracted AIDS in the 90's was able to survive it until the mid 2000s. He died of complications while I was stationed in Kuwait.
Dallas Buyers Club 2013. Covers the early days covering the struggle to aquire afordable HIV drugs.
On the legal question: Jury verdicts must be unanimous in CRIMINAL trials. This is a civil lawsuit, which in many states does not require unanimity. In Pennsylvania, 5/6ths of the jurors must agree.
Neil Young is the artist at the end of the movie with his song "Philadelphia". He was supposed to write the opening anthem song, but after watching the movie wrote a more fitting song instead. Bruce Springsteen was then asked to create a song for the movie as well. Both "Streets of Philadelphia" and "Philadelphia" are great songs and both were nominated for awards with both competing for an Oscar for best original song won by Bruce.
This is probably Mary Steenburgen's best work -- cause I HATE her character so much, and that means as an actress she is doing the JOB!
Her *character* isn't happy, either. After the stunt with the mirror you can hear her mutter to herself, "I *hate* this case!".
What's interesting is that her character doesn't like what she's doing. She's doing her job though
She's normally such a likeable character. Completely different for this one.
@@danielallen3454"I hate this case" was a totally improvised line as Mary herself hated inhumanity of the mirror scene.
@@mithroch Really? Interesting. I had no idea.
Andy's mom was played by the great Joanne Woodward. Someday, you will want to see her in "The Three Faces of Eve."
As a GenX gay this movie is pivotal to my soul, changed my life and cemented my love for Tom Hanks, I've only been able to see it once. Ashleigh is a safe space and i can watch it again thru her eyes.
It must have been really tough for you at the time as you would have been seeing all the hysteria surrounding HIV in the 80's early 90's.
I remember when Freddie Mercury died of AIDS i cried non-stop. It's the only time I ever cried over the death of a celebrity
@@evorock thank you for the empathy
As a GenX straight this movie played a major part in my understanding of both LGBT and AIDS.
@@believer773 no probs mate. When I teach kids about infectious disease HIV always gets mentioned because some of the kids i teach will be gay, and some idiots on social media have been spreading about that HIV can be cured. The key message in those lessons (even though they are under 16 is whoever you have sex with, be careful
@@MravacKid same here, especially when princess Di kissed that patient with HIV. That was a powerful image
The most perfect ending to a movie about AIDS….at the end of the day it’s someone’s baby. Andy is your neighbor, your teacher, your friend, your cousin,…..AIDS kills a person and wounds a community.
Bruce Springsteen wrote the theme song for this. He had never done that before but director Jonathan Demme called him and said, "I'm going to make a very important movie about AIDS and people's rights and I want you to write a song for it. " The Boss didn't hesitate.
Jonathan Demme first asked Neil Young to write a song for the opening credits and he came up with an introspective slow song. Demme didn't think it would fit so he asked Springsteen to write one. He also came up with a slow, introspective song. Demme realized the songwriters knew better than him so he opened with Springsteen and closed with Young. Both were nominated for Oscars and they made for perfect bookends to the movie.
That's nice but he's still a far left ass kissing dbag fraud.
The Boss never hesitates
The entire soundtrack is an absolute masterpiece, one of my favorite soundtracks
@hectorsmommy1717 great info, thanks!
If one film was going to make you cry it was this one. Such an amazing film for when it came out and dealt with the subject in such a heartfelt way. Ive loved this ever since seeing it at the cinema.
This came out at a time when HIV/AIDS was still not well understood and prejudices against the disease were high as well as homophobia was still a massive issue. It just tried to tell a story really well and get the issues to a wider audience.
The fact that you know so little about AIDS reflects how medicine has removed it from big time discussion. During the time of this film there was a series of deaths because of blood transfusion. People who unknowingly had HIV had donated blood & thus passed on the illness. There was a Ryan White who was a teen hemophiliac who became infected & he was banned from school. He became a National celebrity as a face of the AIDS epidemic
Thank you Ashleigh. I'm sorry you've been getting some comments about what you're watching for Pride Month. I'm a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and I appreciate you and your compassion and empathy.
There's just been a lot of anger in the world right now, and I wish we could all just open up our hearts to each other--I think we'd all realize we're not all that far apart. I know I've seen a bigger push back against Pride this year than I have in previous years, and it makes me sad. And I agree with you--I think this movie is so important. Thank you for being you.
My mom worked in the pathology department of the local hospital when the AIDS crisis was just beginning in the late '70s/early'80s (she typed up the dictated doctor's notes, she didn't handle any actual material or patients), and she's told me about how scary it was because they just _didn't know anything about it._ Staff wore hazmat suits and would refuse to perform autopsies on people who had died of AIDS because they didn't know how exactly it was transmitted yet, and I just can't imagine what that must have been like.
Growing up in NYC through the 80’s and 90’s the effects of AIDS was everywhere, on the streets, subways, schools and in your home. Me and everyone I knew, knew someone who had it and died from it and the effects on the gay community was catastrophic. Philadelphia is definitely not a pride movie but a very important moment in time for the LGBTQ to know about, because it seems most of the younger generation doesn’t know about it and that history can not repeat itself!
"Is this movie gonna make me cry?" A little bit, right before it makes you bawl uncontrollably. 😉😭
It is an appropriate day to be watching this movie as it is the birthday of a young man named Randy Ray. He and his two brothers were hemophiliacs and contacted aids through transfusions. They weren’t allowed to go to school and it took a federal court order to make the schools accept the then 8 year old Randy back in the class room. Their family house was burned down a week after the court decision, that was in 1986. People with aids were discriminated against at all levels then. It was disgraceful and cruel.
I remember watching that story on the news.
I was going to suggest people look into the Ray brothers. Such horrible treatment of three little boys. The ignorance and hatred that the family had to cope with was sadly the norm rather than the exception back then.
I don't want to say thank you for reacting this movie but I do want to say thank you for watching it and responding to it like the caring human person that you are.
31:00 "do sex movie theaters exist?" They're probably nonexistent these days, but before the internet, they were common. It was also a place to fool around in the dark that wasn't a park and probably not get beaten up.
Pee Wee Herman got arrested at a sex theater for masterbating, did jail time.
They still exist, just go to any local adult store and ask about a back room or video room or booth.
Paul Reubens' famous arrest occurred in one 30 miles from where I lived.
Um. They still exist.
I randomly watched this on cable one day during my childhood because I like Tom Hanks. I was just getting to the age (and was living in the era) where the biggest playground insult was to call someone gay. And not even really understanding what it meant to be gay, that kind of insult created the impression that you didn't want to be gay and you didn't want to be friends with the person everyone was calling gay. It was like the perfect timing in my development to see this movie and understand that whether someone is gay or has AIDS or whatever the case may be, they're still a person just like me and deserve the same kindness and respect I want to be treated with. I mean, I like to think I would have learned that anyway but I still feel fortunate to have seen this when I did.
One of the most powerful and important motion pictures ever made.
Thank you Ashleigh for being you and reacting to this film. I volunteered for a local Aids project in the midwest in the 80s, we had to move the office frequently because once people figured out who we were the harassment began. We could never have an office on the ground floor with windows facing the street because of the risk of bricks flying through the glass. I remember Meryl Streep and other big name stars doing public service announcements assuring people you could not get Aids through mosquito bites. It was a scary time that began to improve a little when Rock Hudson came out with Aids. and wonderful Doris Day came out and stood by his side. Thanks again, love you!!..
Believe it or not, I like the judge. There is the point where Andy's former boss is asked by Denzel's character if he is gay and the judge thinks about it for a second and after the boss says "How dare you." The judge makes his decision and says "You will answer the question." Its one of my favorite bits where its like "Okay, you think its a joke, answer it."
RIP Charles Napier. Excellent character actor with an impressive resume.
As someone who lived through the time, and lost a cousin to AIDS, this is a movie youngbloods need to see. The 'safe and open' world they live in has not existed for very long and can easily be lost.
Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington were AMAZING in this film. As others have stated, you have to remember that this was at a time when little was known about AIDS. People thought it was contageous. If you were gay, (and especially if you worked in a corporate environment) you kept it hidden. If you got AIDS (at the time this story takes place) it was like leprosy or the plague - people were afraid to go near you or even touch something that you touched. It was really out of fear. This film is so heartbreaking. The story is beautifully told and gorgeously filmed. As a born and raised Philadelphian, I’m proud to have my city’s name on this film.
I was in high school in the 80s, I feel like we were told what was known pretty matter of factly (like things like casual contact would not transmit it, or the bugaboo at the time: toilet seats), but despite that there was general apprehension & fear around the disease. So when I saw this when it came out several years later it was a bit of a surprise, like what do you mean people don't know the facts (like the scene where Denzel talks to his doctor)? I guess I had good teachers. Makes me feel guilty for being such a little shit.
On the other hand, the homophobia was really present, and the film doesn't shy away from it.
34:37 In a criminal trial the verdict has to be unanimous. This is a civil trial, which isn't really about commiting a crime.
It's about damages caused and compensation for those damages.
Getting unfairly fired and losing medical insurance at a time when you most need it is pretty damaging.
Here are just some of the celebrities who died from AIDS
Rock Hudson (1925-1985) ...
Freddie Mercury (1946-1991) ...
Anthony Perkins (1932-1992) ...
Arthur Ashe (1943-1993) ...
Liberace (1919-1987) ...
Gia Carangi (1960-1986) ...
Elizabeth Glaser (1947-1994) ...
Perry Ellis (1940-1986)
Amanda Blake (Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke) died from AIDS.
Dan Hartman (bassist and lead singer of the Edgar Winter Group and solo artist) died from an AIDS related cancer.
Jermaine Stewart (Shalamar and solo artist) died from AIDS.
Gene Anthony Ray (Fame) died of a stroke and AIDS complications.
This list goes on and on and on.
Also Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), who was so acutely aware of the fear and stigma surrounding AIDS that he had his family promise to keep his cause of death secret for 10 years
Kevin Peter Hall, the PREDATOR, passed away in 1991, following a car accident, he was given a blood transfusion that was tainted with HIV.
He was 36 years old.
Nureyev. The greatest dancer probably ever.
Also fashion designer Willi Smith (1948-1987), and the designer Halston (1932-1990).
This movie hits me hard today. My high school (80s) friend who is gay fell and hit his head two days ago, and is in a coma. They’re pulling the plug on him today. He’s always had health issues and was really thin to begin with. He practically destroyed his body and brain over the last 35 years from alcoholism, in large part due to the discrimination he experienced in life, and his inability to cope with it, or find acceptance. RIP Bob Hartman.
My bisexual, drug addicted cousin died of AIDS about 20 years ago. His lifestyle caused a lot of division in my conservative, evangelical family. Lots of drama, crying and fights, at holidays. This movie was so controversial when it came out. It was really the first mainstream movie that I recall that addressed these issues openly and directly, just a decade after the AIDS crisis initially hit. Now, 30 years later, though I know it has, it doesn’t seem like too much has changed. With our current SCOTUS, things are actually likely to get worse. What a messed up world we live in.
I graduated from Emory university with a BSN-bachelor degree of nursing-in 1990. The CDC sits on Emory’s campus. The team that did the initial investigation on AIDS at the CDC taught us and it was amazing. I took care of children who had AIDS-hemophiliacs as well as those who got it from their mothers. It was such a devastating diagnosis. Another movie is And The Band Played On if you want to know more about AIDS-it’s also a book. This movie is a favorite of mine and brings back such memories. Thank you for watching it and Happy Pride.
If you’re interested in movies about AIDS, I highly recommend the film “And the Band Played on”, starring Matthew Modine, about the discover of HIV and AIDS, and the development of early treatments.
Seeing the younger brother lose it in the hospital room always hits me hard. I've been in that position, having to say goodbye to my older brother lying in a hospital bed.
While this is a sad movie, I think it IS an important Pride movie. I feel like it reminds people that equal rights and recognition under the law are important and, even today, must be defended.
My parents come from a small town where everyone knows everybody. My uncle is gay and growing up in that small town must have been hard in the 70s and 80s. My dad always treated my uncle(his younger brother) with nothing but love and my grandparents were amazingly proud of my uncle. I was raised to love people and to understand that people love who they love. My Uncle is one of the most kindhearted, funny, and genuine people I've known and to see how close my dad and he are makes me so happy and proud of my family. I remember one day in my 20s walking through my uncles home and his husband Marc was showing me around the place. We got to this one beautiful painting on the wall in the front foyer. I made a comment about how great it was and Marc told me it was painted by one of their friends a couple years before. I asked if he would ever be willing to paint something for me. Marc looked away and you could see he was getting emotional I put my hand on his back and just before I could ask if he was okay Marc said "He can't. He died of AIDS just over a year ago". That was the first time I saw the torment AIDS has on loved ones.
I'm glad she did watch this for Pride. I understand wanting to focus more on queer joy rather than tragedy, but Pride is also about remembering where we came from and learning about our collective past. And the AIDS crisis was a major moment in time globally. And I'm glad to see my UA-cam friend starting to learn about that period, because I know she cares.
It’s hard to overstate how influential this movie was on sentiment about AIDS at the turn of the 90s. I think that much of the acceptance of gay people is because of this movie. Tom Hanks really stuck his neck out for this one, and it really shifted culture
at the time. Glad that you liked it.
My boyfriend and I watched this together many years ago. He never cried at any movie unless it involved animals...but he cried at this one quite a bit. I met him in a gay men's chorus that I was singing in, and I remember coming to rehearsals and Bill, or Jim, or Mike would be missing. I would hear they were ill, or went to hospice, or even had died that week. That is one of my most vivid memories of the late 80s and early 90s: a series of increasingly numerous empty chairs at choir rehearsal, and singing at endless funerals. I had a view of death when I was in my twenties that no one should have at that age. Thank you for watching this, Ashleigh, and for your sensitive comments.❤
“The prejudice surrounding AIDS exacts a social death which precedes the actual physical one.”
One of the most profound and thought-provoking, yet simple and true, quotes in this film. It was a crazy time, back then. People didn’t know or understand AIDS (as we didn’t know or understand COVID more recently), but everyone was deathly afraid of it and outcast those who had it.
My brother died from AIDS in 1992, so this movie was very important in helping me understand what dealing with AIDS was like and how frustrating and devastating it was. Other movies that helped me understand were the HBO movie AND THE BAND PLAYED ON (1993), and to some degree the earlier film TORCH SONG TRILOGY (1988) helped me understand a little bit what gay life was like for some people.
I would say that if you do not want to cry as much as you did here, then do not watch And The Band Played On or The Normal Heart until you are emotionally ready. Both really depicts the battles and struggles within the community and government about the disease and getting help for it and both are heartbreaking and brilliant.
I've had 2 people that I loved very much die of AIDS. It's absolutely devastating. This movie came along at an important time in our history. Thank you for watching this beautiful movie.
It was the stoic support of his mum that really got me. To watch her child wither before her eyes but to remain steadfast in her love and support for him was amazing. To all the mums out there - we salute you.
I was a nurse when AIDS hit. I worked before it even had a name, before they knew what caused it, or how it was spread. It was awful. The guys came into the hospital and died so quickly, we had no good treatments then. So many died. I was working in California at the time.
As someone who lost my brother from this disease, thank you. The nurses in the hospital were literally angels on earth. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you.
Ashley as a someone from TN, I remember being a nurse at Vanderbilt in the 80’s thank you for showing what went on and why we should simply care for others.
Paul Michael Glaser, best known for the 70s cop show “Starsky & Hutch” but went on to a career as a diector/producer (directed “The Running Man” with Arnold Schwarzenegger), lost his wife, Elizabeth, to AIDS in 1998. She got it via an emergency blood transfusion after the birth of her daughter, Ariel, in 1981. Unfortunately, she wasn’t diagnosed until after the birth of her son Jake. Ariel got it from her mother’s breast milk & passed away from the disease at age 7, while Jake got it from his mother’s womb, but is still alive. Elizabeth founded the Pediactric AIDS Foundation.
i really appreciate you doing this, Ashleigh. you are such a powerful, tender, honest, and open reactor. my dad was diagnosed with HIV in 1982. i want to say he was one of the lucky ones. by the late 90s so many of his friends had died. every year he was more alone. (if you've seen The Fisher King there's a line where one of the characters compares being gay at that time to being a war veteran since so many of your friends die.) dad fought in a way that reminds me of you -- by being very positive about life, and being strict as hell about his medication. he lived and fought until april of last year. there's a lot more i could share -- but all i really want to say is big hugs to you, hugs to your family and friends, and thank you so much for all you do for this community. you're just the best. keep on being you, Ashleigh. we are all so lucky you exist in this world. thank you.
Another movie worth watching is "And the Band Played On," based on Randy Shilts' book of the same name. It tells the story of the beginnings of the AIDS crisis and the people fighting to save lives in the early 80s. A stellar cast.
Another important and great movie about AIDS: And The Band Played On. When and where they became aware of this new disease, how they tracked it, the impact of it on those that contracted it and their loved ones, the struggle to get funding, the research, the fight for a patent. It's both hopeful and infuriating. Great acting: Matthew Modine, Alan Alda, Glenne Headly, Ian McKellen, Lili Tomlin, Saul Rubinek , Charles Martin Smith, Richard Gere and more. Cameos by Angelica Huston, Phil Collins, Steve Martin, Swoosie Kurtz.
Ashleigh! Thank you for the sensitive, adult reaction. I lived through that period. I have had AIDS for 35 years, and there are others out there. You shed the tears of a lost population. ❤
I really appreciate how authentic you are. When you don't know something (like the AIDs crisis) it's good to be honest and open about it. And you come from a place of learning, which this channel has been about. Keep up the good work
Beautiful reaction! So many of the things that we know and feel now, are because of the groundbreaking work done by normal everyday people, with a good heart, and strong people who were in a position to make a difference. In the UK, Princess Diana showed great strength of character, by holding hands with AIDS patients, and through television, educating people. This movie is important, and from the opening song, 'packs no punches'. As a straight man, I stand with our LGBT+ friends/ colleagues/ family.
That Neil Young song at the end always makes me tear up.
I was in my 10th grade year of high school when the ‘AIDS epidemic ‘ came into full swing. There was not a lot of info out there about it. I was terrified of getting it and I stopped drinking from the school fountains. As with too darn much info, news sources were reporting on the scariest parts of any storyline without having all the facts. I mean, consider how many acted over COVID, and are still acting.
Ashleigh, as a trans woman who watches your channel when I need a smile, or a laugh, or a cry, I am so thankful for your support of my community. Don't let the anons on Patreon get you. We love you, we're here for you AND we are so grateful you are here for us too.
Happy Pride month sweetheart.
~Sarah
Thank you for saying that. As a gay man I absolutely agree with what you wrote. Ashleigh is a strong, caring, funny, and compassionate ally. Definitely someone I would be happy to call a friend if I knew her in real life. The world needs more people like her.
Well said.
The final home movie clips with the gorgeous voice of Neil Young……has me in bits…..every time 😢😢
I was a kid in the 90s and remember watching the Ryan White Story in health class about a boy with AIDS. It is a tear-jerker based on a true story starring Judith Light as the mom. Well worth a watch.
Same - graduated in HS 1995 - that story was so heartbreaking
Early 90s 3rd we had a special health class about aids. Nothing sexuel but basically saying, "Don't touch anyone's blood. You'll get aids" And i thought that for the longest time.
Now touching blood isn't a good idea but they made it seem like a automatic
"And the Band Played On". A book about the beginnings of AIDS by Randy Shilts. It was made into a film starring Matthew Modine, Lily Tomlin, Ian McKellen and Alan Alda.
For as many amazing films that Tom Hanks has made over his career, this is arguably his most important and absolutely one of his best performances. If you have anyone comment against this film, block the f**k out of them. This IS an important film to watch during Pride month because of how much AIDS was a part of the story for (mostly) gay men worldwide, and how it's important to celebrate how much progress has been made treating it since then. From this old straight white man, Happy Pride Month.
Around the time of this movie, I volunteered my time and skills to the Vortex Theater in Austin, Tex. Many of the people performing and directing plays were gay. In the 3 years I helped out, every gay male died from an AIDS related illness. It was sad and tragic. I wouldn’t wish that death on my worst enemy and certainly not the sweet, gentle, creative people who populated the Vortex.
I remember it starting. Seeing people half dead riding the train. Terrible scary times. Glad to see a new generation seeing movies like this. Another great film on this topic. And the band played on
I can’t emphasize enough the paranoia and hate in the 80’s and 90’s regarding AIDS. I recommend looking into it.
You have such a big heart, Ashleigh. It's why I watch you. Having a big heart means you're going to hurt more when you see things like this, but it also means you're going to give and receive more love in your life, because you're open to it. Thank you for being you, thank you for caring.
When Aids first came out it was like Covid, no one would come close to you or touch anything behind you out of fear. After more was learned about Aids and how it works the fears subsided, but it was awful at the time.
Aids was the reason why I wasn't scared of Covid, but I was scared of the reaction to COVID, I have seen it before.
Yes, I was pretty young at the time but I remember the fear, even though I didn't fully understand it. And it was for HIV, too, not just actual AIDS (though some people seemed to think they were the same thing). Thank Goddess we've come so far medically, HIV is no longer a death sentence. 💙
Yep. I just kept thinking during the initial height of COVID that this isn't my first pandemic. I was a kid in the 1980s, and I learned more about it from television and films and the news than I ever did in school, and I'm actually really grateful for all of those very special episodes and for people like Ryan White and Elizabeth Glaser for all of the education and advocacy they did, and to allies like Princess Diana and Elton John and Elizabeth Taylor for raising awareness and raising money for AIDS research and treatment. I actually went on to become a social worker and worked for an HIV/AIDS support organization for a while. And to train domestic violence advocates on the intersections of HIV and domestic violence. To this day, growing up during the AIDS crisis continues to inform my work and my advocacy as a queer person.
@@sadfaery Isn't an advocate usually FOR something? Perhaps I read that wrong. But it's awesome that you did that volunteer work. Good for you! 💙
@@DravenGal 1) In domestic violence work, a domestic violence advocate is a person who provides counseling and advocacy services to survivors of domestic violence, working with them and advocating on their behalf to assist them in developing and carrying out a service plan and safety plan. And 2) I did do some volunteer work at the local HIV/AIDS organization where I lived during my MSW program before being hired on as staff, but I'm a professional social worker and I actually worked there before I had to leave that position to complete my second internship for my social work program. Now I work professionally in the domestic violence field, but I specialize in understanding, developing policy around, and training staff on the ways in which different life experiences intersect with intimate partner violence, including HIV/AIDS.
Ashleigh, this is why you are one of my favourite reactors. You listen to the message of the movie, and even as you are falling apart, you still spend time to remind us to take care of our selves. You do the same friend. Here's hoping the next movie is more fun
I recently rewatched this, Silverlake Life, And The Band Played On as an ongoing study of cinema on AIDS. Silverlake Life is absolutely devastating as they film an AIDS victim moments after death and the reaction of his partner and family is haunting.
Try to track down the Normal Heart. It's so effing sad.
Yes, Longtime Companion was a great movie too.
Treatments have improved dramatically since then. The images of emaciated men with sores seems to have nearly disappeared (I could be wrong). Again Magic Johnson contracting was a catalyst for a lot of things.
This one is from the director of The Silence of the Lambs, Married to the Mob, Something Wild and Beloved - the great, late Jonathan Demme.
Civil lawsuits do not have to be unanimous, just 3/4's of the jury unanimous on each question, depending on the verdict form. Criminal charges, those must be unanimous.
I saw this in a packed cinema when it came out
I literally cried through the entire film, and pretty much the rest of the cinema was too
At the time there was still a lot of unknowns around AIDS and HIV so it was very powerful stuff
Longtime Companion is a powerful film too
This movie is a time capsule that reflects the beliefs, fears, stigma, and how little was understood about AIDS at this time. I am glad that you have a chance to see this. Those difficult early days need to be remembered.
My father had HIV (not full AIDS) and died not long before I saw this movie. It's very heavy, but it has a special place in my heart.
I don't know where you might have seen Antonio Banderas before, but he's a famous actor who's been in a lot.
You will certainly have heard his voice though, playing Puss in Boots. 😄