Killing Patient Zero is a documentary film which premiered in 2019.
This film is about the life of the French-Canadian flight attendant Gaëtan Dugas who was for several years described as patient zero. He was blamed for bringing HIV and AIDS to the USA.
This film shows that the description was false: Dugas was not patient zero. This film shows that Dugas was falsely blamed: he did not bring HIV and AIDS to the USA.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer and director: Laurie Lynd
** Historical consultant: Richard A. McKay
** Based on and inspired by the book Patient Zero by Richard A. McKay (2017)
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 100 minutes
More than fifteen persons are interviewed in the film, including the following:
** Michael Denneny (1943-2023) – editor of the book And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts (1987)
** Richard A. McKay – Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge - author of the book Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic (2017)
** Dr Harold Jaffe – worked for the CDC, now retired
** Dr James Curran – worked for the CDC, now retired
** Priscilla Wald (born 1958) – professor of English and Women’s Studies at Duke university - author of the book Contagious: Cultures, Carriers, and the Outbreak Narrative (2008)
Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the talking heads.
This film is divided into two parts.
In the first part, the accusation is presented.
Why was the French-Canadian flight attendant Gaëtan Dugas described as Patient Zero? Why was he blamed for bringing HIV and AIDS to the USA?
How did this happen?
Why did this happen?
In the second part, the accusation is analyzed and shown to be false.
Why is it wrong to describe Dugas as patient zero?
Why is it wrong to blame him for bringing HIV and AIDS to the USA?
The film includes some general background information about the HIV virus and the AIDS epidemic.
The film shows how the question of AIDS was treated in the US during the early years of the epidemic.
One very interesting and very revealing moment is a report about a press briefing which was held in the White House on 15 October 1982.
When a reporter asked the spokesperson if President Ronald Reagan had any comment regarding the question of AIDS, the question was brushed aside. The question was treated as a joke. The question was an occasion for laughter.
At that time - October 1982 - President Reagan had not yet spoken the word AIDS in public. He carefully avoided saying this word in public.
He mentioned the word in public for the first time on 17 September 1985. This was long after the beginning of the epidemic.
What do reviewers say about this film?
Here are some results:
75 percent = IMDb
100 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
100 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
The ratings are very good, as you can see. When you look at Rotten Tomatoes, you can see that the general audience and the professional critics offer the same high rating. It is most unusual to see the audience and the critics offering a score of 100 percent for the same item.
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. The following items are available online
Dan Amira
“AIDS Was Hilarious to the Reagan White House, Press Corps,”
New York Magazine
02 December 2013
Ben Dreyfus
“Flashback: The Reagan White House Thought AIDS Was Pretty Hilarious in 1982,”
Mother Jones
01 December 2014
Mark Joseph Stern
“Listen to Reagan’s Press Secretary Laugh About Gay People Dying of AIDS,”
Slate
01 December 2015
German Lopez
“The Reagan administration’s unbelievable response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic,”
Vox
01 December 2016
Frank Scheck
“Killing Patient Zero: Film Review,”
The Hollywood Reporter
09 May 2019
Stephen Rodrick
“Killing Patient Zero restores the humanity of an undeserving scapegoat,”
The Globe & Mail
24 July 2019
[This item is placed behind a paywall]
James Kleinman
“DOC NYC Film Review: Killing Patient Zero,”
The Queer Review
09 November 2019
# 2. Film and video
Before Stonewall
(1984)
And the Band Played On
(1993)
After Stonewall
(1999)
Stonewall Uprising
(2010)
How to Survive a Plague
(2012)
# 3. 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:
How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS
By David France
(2016)
Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic
By Richard A. McKay
(2017)
*****
Patient Zero and the
Making of the AIDS Epidemic
by Richard A. McKay
(2017)
*****
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