How to Survive a Plague is a documentary film which premiered in 2012.
The topic of this film is the early history of HIV and AIDS in the USA, with special focus on two groups of activists who were driven by anger and frustration:
** ACT UP
Founded in 1987
** Treatment Action Group (TAG)
Founded in 1991
The members of these two groups were angry and frustrated with the medical and the political establishment, because they did not do enough to help and support the people who were affected by HIV and AIDS. The time frame runs from 1987 to 1996.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Director: David France
** Writers: David France, Todd Woody Richman and Tyler H. Walk
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 109 minutes
Many people are featured in this film, including the following:
Bill Bahlman
David Barr
Gregg Bordowitz (born 1964)
Spencer Cox (1968-2012)
Jim Eigo
Dr Emilio Emini
Susan Ellenberg (born 1946)
Dr Anthony Fauci (born 1940)
Garance Franke-Ruta (born 1972)
Gregg Gonsalves (born 1963)
Mark Harrington
Ed Koch (1924-2013)
Larry Kramer (1935-2020)
Mathilde Krim (1926-2018)
Derek Link
Iris Long (born 1934)
Ray Navarro (1964-1990)
Ann Northrop (born 1948)
Bob Rafsky (1945-1993)
Peter Staley (born 1961)
Barbara Starrett
Dr Joseph Vacca
Members of ACT UP and TAG organize demonstrations, attend meetings, and arrange spectacular events of civil disobedience.
In the beginning, they are ignored or vilified by the mainstream media. But after a while, the situation begins to change. The topic HIV and AIDS becomes a part of the mainstream agenda.
The activists of ACT UP and TAG want medical corporations to develop new medication to help and support people who are affected by the HIV virus.
The activists want governmental organisations such as FDA to speed up the process of testing and giving approval to new types of medication.
They say testing and giving approval to new types of medication should take six or seven months, not six or seven years.
They explain that they cannot be patient, because they are dying. The need for help and support is urgent.
In 1991, a small group of activists split off from ACT UP and establish a separate group, whose name is Treatment Action group (TAG).
All activists have the same goal, but they do not always agree on the means to reach this goal.
While members of ACT UP focus on mass demonstrations and spectacular events, the members of TAG want to focus on quiet diplomacy and personal contact with some of the doctors and scientists who are working in the health sector.
The year 1996 is the turning point. In that year, new medication has been developed and approved.
The new medication cannot cure AIDS, but it can slow down the effects of the disease.
In 1987, a positive test of HIV was an almost certain death sentence. From 1996, HIV and AIDS have been reduced to problems which can be managed.
From 1996, most patients who are HIV positive could survive the virus and did not die from an AIDS-related disease.
But one important problem still remained: the price of the medication was very high, something like 10,000 dollars per year for one patient. Many patients could not afford to pay so much for their medication.
The activists said the medical corporations had to lower the price of the medication in order to make it available to all patients and not only to patients who are rich.
In this film, we follow the development of the case year by year, from 1987 to 1996.
When you look at the chart above, you can see that not all the people who are featured in this film lived to benefit from the new medication which became available in 1996.
But many of them did. Many of them survived the critical decade and they are still alive today.
What do reviewers say about this film?
Here are some results:
76 percent = IMDb
86 percent = Meta
83 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
98 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
On Amazon there are at the moment more than 450 ratings of this product, including more than 100 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.7 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 94 percent.
The ratings are very good, as you can see. I understand the numerous positive reviews, and I agree with them.
The topic is important. The story deserves to be told. And in this film, it is done very well.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
REFERENCES
# 1. Film and video
The Times of Harvey Milk
(1984)
Before Stonewall
(1984)
And the Band Played On
(1993)
After Stonewall
(1999)
Milk
A historical drama
(2008)
Stonewall Uprising
(2010)
Stonewall
A historical drama
(2015)
Killing Patient Zero
(2019)
# 2. Books
And the Band Played On:
Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
By Randy Shilts
(1987)
Contagious:
Cultures, Carriers, and the Outbreak Narrative
By Priscilla Wald
(2008)
How to Survive a Plague:
The Inside Story of How
Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS
By David France
(2016)
Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic
By Richard McKay
(2017)
*****
How to Survive a Plague:
The Inside Story of How
Citizens and Science
Tamed AIDS
By David France
(2016)
*****
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