And The Band Played On

Proper communication and working side by side is the key to understanding how the spread of AIDS is preventable.

                As the AIDS epidemic came to a full circle, newspaper reporter Randy Shilts, who had been following doctors and the CDC for his articles, wrote “And the Band Played on” in 1987, which later was made into the same name movie in 1993. The movie itself was considered a low budget telefilm with several big name actors like Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin and Richard Gere. Originally intended for TV, the movie was shot down by local stations at the time because of fear to touch on the subject.   

                The movie starts with a group of doctors in 1976 in Ebola Africa being dropped off by WHO (World Health Organization), and combatting the beginning of the Ebola fever before reaching epidemic proportions.   The horrific scenes of Ebola fever’s death toll was just a forewarning of what was to come with the AIDs virus. Quick shots of years and hospital scenes between statistics is the norm for this movie, the thought behind the directors’ fast pace is most likely matching with the quickness of the illness spreading. The background silence in the first half of the film makes the person watching the movie feel disconnected and leaves them wondering what is happening. The film quickly cuts to scenes of the first AIDS sufferers; the confusion of the viewers’ matches the confusion the doctors are feeling as they witness this new virus.

                The movie brings to light the controversy involving the government’s refusal to tell the public about the disease.  Several scenes that imply the fear of mentioning the word gay, one CDC member hid the fact that the disease was only affecting homosexual men because he felt the government would throw out the research if they were to discover that fact. Part of the movie shows a religious figure speaking out about the gays dying because they were being punished by God demonstrating the feelings of the general public.

                Overall, the serious tone of the movie had very little comic relief, but was steadfast on keeping the dialogue focused on the growing disease not being treated or released to the public. As the main doctor is trying to find the cause of the disease he has a chalk board in the lab with the “The Butcher’s Bill” written on the top and on going cases and deaths throughout the US. He modeled it after Napoléon who would ask on a daily basis, “what’s the butcher’s bill?” meaning: what was the death count for the day. The public is blaming the disease on gays when a report comes in that just Haitians in the United States are now infected.  The Haitians considered as low priority as the gays were. The question seems to be asked and emphasized in the movie.

                The major turning point of the movie happens when one doctor unwinds by playing Pac Man while the other stands by and watches. He has a sudden epiphany when Pac Man eats the dots and he says “Something’s gobbling up T-Cells!” The pace is getting faster now, allowing the viewers to share the excitement of the recent findings.  The CDC is unable to fund the doctors’ quest for the cure but the passionate doctors pay out of their own pockets to get to the answers they have worked so hard at. The scenes make you wonder, how much sleep and money and sweat the real doctors put into the investigations.

                Music is finally beginning to play in the background when a choreographer whose name is never   mentioned, and later dies of an “ongoing illness” donates money to help find the cause, and in the background there are dancers in white while one dancer is dressed in black and all have their heads covered by a cloth while carrying the one dressed in black. He seems to have foreseen his death and was telling it the only way he knew how, with dance and music.

                                At a public hearing with state reps and doctors, the camera again moves in a dizzying circular ongoing motion showing everyone’s expressions while discussing new cases of the disease within hemophiliacs.  The tensions and concerns grow more while the camera moves even faster around while the word gay is thrown out and a doctor requests the stigma be thrown out because it is not only affecting homosexuals. They finally agree to call the disease AIDS instead of GRID (gay related immune deficiency) more tension is shown as music becomes more of background softness. According to “Avert.org’s” timeline, the CDC agreed to change the name when non-gay cases started to appear.

                In the ending segment of the movie, a news flash of President Reagan winning his second term and flash of gays with AIDS speaking out about government red tape, and of losing their jobs and homes because of discrimination and the unknown disease. Blackness appears with a low drumming sound as words appear on the screen explaining what more has been done and what still needs to be done for AIDS sufferers. The song, “Between a Father and His Son” by Elton John begins to play while pictures of famous people like Rock Hudson, Liberace and Freddy Mercury as well as advocates like Arthur Ash and Elizabeth Glaser and Ryan White that died of AIDS appear alongside of everyday people who died. Also shown are the many quilts made with the names of the AIDS patients on it and the candle light vigils all around to show respect for the loved ones lost and for government attention.

                When song and videos end, a final commentary appears on the screen:

Reagan delivered his first speech on AIDS in his second term after more than 25,000 people had died of the disease. More statistics showed of women, children and adolescents becoming the fastest growing population to have HIV. Although Reagan still gets criticized for his lack of concern, writer Matt Conner remembered some fond memories of President Reagan being close friends of many gay people (Lockhaven.com).

                This film was based on facts and elements from historical records. Some of the dialogue, events and characters were created or combined for dramatic purposes.

                Over all, this film won numerous awards not only from GLADD, but an EMMY, an EDDIE as well as well as grand prize from the Montreal Film Festival (IMDB.com).

                 

Works Cited

Conner, Matt. "The Reagan Century: An Encounter with a Great Man." Lockhaven.com. The Express 26 Feb. 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2011.   

Averting HIV and AIDS. Avert.org, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.           

And the Band Played on. Dir. Spottiswoode, Roger. Perf. Alan Alda, Phil Collins, Richard Gere, Angelica Houston, and Matthew Modine. Writ. Randy Shilts. 1993. HBO, 2001. DVD-ROM.           

IMDb.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2011.