HIV/AIDS

During the publishing of Sontag discourse and Woodroof’s movie, Dallas Buyers Club, reflect a time when HIV/Aids faces stigma culturally, socially, economically, and politically. In 1992, when Dallas Buyers Club filmed, the world was going frantic over the HIV/Aids pandemic that had hit the world (Brennar & Winter, 2013). Although there was progress in treatment, The Food and Drug Administration, a body that regulates pharmaceutical drugs was yet to approve it. As expected, victims of HIV/Aids were quick to accuse the body of being slow in sanctioning medication that could help prolong and improve their lives. As a result, the Buyers club members were forming groups around the country to contribute to importation of prescription drugs.

Stigmatization of HIV/Aids in the 20^th century was so much that it gave rise to buyers’ club. The film follows the story behind the motivation of the buyers’ club in Dallas (Brennar & Winter, 2013). The real club was one of the edgiest things ever seen that even the leader of the movement remains a mystery. The fact that the society was not ready for HIV/aids, made it hard for the victims to come out in the open and fight for their rights. While it was believed that drugs that control HIV were in other parts of the world, the US government was reluctant to address the issue. People who were diagnosed with the disease were believed to have not more than 30 days remaining (Brennar & Winter, 2013). 

The political stigmatization of the disease was because there was word going round that HIV was as a result of scientific experiments in the US. Misinformation about  the disease believed to have come from the Soviet propaganda specialists in 1985 alleged that HIV/aids was generated by US scientists in the lab during a war-fare research at Fort Detrick, Maryland (Bauer, 2000). They said that US servicemen were used as guinea pigs to spread the disease outside America. Because of these allegations, the whole world came to believe that HIV and aids was a result of lab-generated virus. Although the US provided an official statement to deny the allegations, they had already spread across Africa, Europe and even Asia. Such things further add to the stigmatization of HIV/Aids. The members of Buyers Club were more aggravated by the accusations and because of the delay of the FDA to allow for the distribution of drugs. Due to the above allegations, the US was under duress for their role in spreading of HIV (Bauer, 2000). Since the allegations, most believe that the US was trying to create some form of biological warfare weapon. As such, the disease is not just a social problem, but also a political issue.

Ron Woodrrof’s, Dallas Buyers Club shed light on the social and economic stigma that HIV/aids victim in the 20^th century. Most of the stigma as depicted in the film stemmed from the fact that people were ignorant (Brennar & Winter, 2013). It would not be fair to place the blame on the late 1980’s society which was oblivious of the dynamics that surrounded the disease. In the film, mimics the man who does not accept his status even when the doctors give him a few days to live. He first goes through denial before he could accept the reality of his condition. In fact, he continues his reckless behavior of drugs and unsafe sex (Brennar & Winter, 2013). However, as reality sets in, he began his dedication to finding drugs that would help him and other victims tackle the disease. 

The fact that the members of the buyers’ club had to go out of their way to smuggle drugs into the country, shows how much the government had neglected their people (Brennar & Winter, 2013). It was believed that there were some other countries that had already begun the journey of fighting the disease. As such, the reluctance of the government to intervene also made the people more ignorant about HIV/aids. The onset of HIV/aids was met with stigma and the government had a huge role to play. For instance, in the medical sector, people would get the diagnosis of a death sentence simply because they had contracted the disease (Brennar & Winter, 2013). 

Another social stigma illuminated in the film is that HIV/aids were as a result of homosexual engagement. As a result, people used to discriminate against the gay community because of HIV/aids (Brennar & Winter, 2013). The myth was that it was a disease was special for homosexuals and therefore, it put them on the spot for discrimination. Dallas Buyers Clun depicts the main character as someone who hated the gay people and was racist as well. Although the government was sluggish in coming up with cure, there doctors who were working with the community to ensure that HIV/aids victims got the help that they needed (Brennar & Winter, 2013). Therefore, despite the discrimination and stigma, the victims had people who were sympathetic and wanted to work with them to ensure that they had as flawless life as possible. 

Susan Sontag also sheds lights on another way that people stigmatize against AIDS. In her book, ”AIDS and Its Metaphors” reflects on the way that people talk about aids and make the disease even worse than it looks (Sontag, 2001). The metaphor behind AIDS is intense suffering and this only increases the anxiety among the people. Those who have come across Sontag’s reading ”Illness as Metaphor” (1978) will identify a familiar pattern in her works. He puts her critical skills together and exposes the metaphors behind tuberculosis of the 19^th century and that of the 20^th. She reveals how language changes the reality of both ailments. In cancer, the patients were discouraged form seeking help as they were told that they had only a few months of survival yet she recovered (Sontag, 2001).

When it comes to AIDS she analyzes the metaphorical process in the way people look at the disease. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome is a disease that goes through stages that attack ones immune system. By the time is on the final stages, it is fatal and this shows not only does HIV infection lead to sickness, but also death. People believe that the disease is an invitation to despair and causes so much misery that they lack a sensible approach towards their condition. As a result, many people lose hope and wait for their passing without any medical intervention. However, if the approach towards HIV infection was positive, people would be striving to stay alive by leading healthy and responsible lives.

Ms. Sontag is hopeful that one day she will be able to deal with stigma associated with AIDS. She feels like she has the power to stop HIV from causing death, just like she did with her cancer. She speculates that the high mortality rates reflect those who are most susceptible to the virus (Sontag, 2001). Sontag refuses to accept the illicit metaphor surrounding HIV saying that it is as bad as the disease itself. At the time Sontag was writing, those with HIV infection were most likely to develop AIDS within five years. According to Sontag, this is metaphorical double talk that stigmatizes against HIV infection victims and an insidious apology for failing in medical intervention (Sontag, 2001). Because she did not allow cancer to her judgment about chronic illnesses, she has the strength to stand up against the interpretation of HIV and aids. She was the best candidate for this campaign because she had been there before but she fought and won over the prognosis. It is not an easy journey for her because unlike cancer, AIDS has no cure.

The second metaphor that Sontag explores is the notion that the disease is a plague as opposed to epidemic. The main reason that she is against the plague metaphor is because makes the disease appear as if it is a punishment. Of course the society wants to hold on to the fact that the AIDS is a result of moral laxity (Sontag, 2001). The view implicates the homosexual community although it contradicts those who got it in Africa in the 70’s. The image of the plague is regrettable because it portrays death and suffering. It is also a vehicle for inexorability and inescapability. Sontag is against the idea that AIDS is dehumanizing and degrading because she knows how it feels for people to look down on someone just because their disease is incurable. She notes that people stigmatize against diseases that cause the body to change drastically, especially the face. Notably, Aids has the same characteristics with those of syphilis and leprosy and this adds to the burden of suffering. She is not impressed with the fact that AIDS mainly affects people when they are at their prime age, when one’s physical attractiveness is important (Sontag, 2001). Not only is AIDS   depressing, it is also disfiguring, and does away with erotic attraction. As such, these sudden over-the-tops physically changes puts one in a position where they fear what the public will say about their sickness because of the metaphorical association with dehumanization.

To sum it up, at the onset of HIV/Aids, people were ignorant about the disease and this caused a lot of stigmatization. The stigma was caused by the metaphors that surrounded the illness. The film, Dallas Buyer Club, shows how the people had to find other ways of finding drugs that would prolong their lives without the intervention of the government. Aids as a Metaphor, by Sontag also shed light on the fact that doctors provided gloomy prognosis for patents with terminal diseases and this spelled doom for them. She admits that it is hard to think without metaphors and therefore, the correct question to ask is whether the metaphors around HIV and AIDS are fair to the victims (Sontag, 2001). The metaphors reflect on the stigma that society has and this further adds to the pain. At the present, with technology and education, people are more lenient towards the disease. Victims of HIV and AIDS have more years to live, procreate and continue to contribute to the society. As such, the narrative has changed and so have the metaphors. However, it is undeniable that the physical aspect of the disease is what contributes to stigma. Nowadays, it is hard to tell a HIV patient and some even expire before they can show full-blown signs and this has kept the society in check for a minute.

References

Bauer, H. H. (2000). The AIDS War: Propaganda, Profiteering and Genocide from the 

Med. Book Reviews, 43, 1.

Brennar, R., & Winter, R. & Vallée, JM (Director). (2013). Dallas buyers club.Sontag, S. (2001). Illness as metaphor and AIDS and its metaphors. Macmillan.