Ignorance and Preference Cannot Overshadow This Film.

I've read a lot of posts in which people have said that they disliked/hated this film because they didn't like the actors or they thought it was "overdone".

Let me tell you something: I watched this movie after completing a school related AIDS Epidemic research project and I was blown away by this film.

Not a single damn thing about this movie is "blown out of context". From late President Reagan refusing to even mutter the word AIDS, to coroners dumping AIDS victims' bodies in black garbage bags and leaving them on the side of the road with the rest of the trash. All of it happened.

But perhaps the most maddening aspect o the AIDS Epidemic was the denial that it received. Gays refused to acknowledge what was happening because the epidemic was born during the peak of gay related sexual freedom. Just about everyone else refused to acknowledge the disease because they believed it would only ever affect gays, a religiously just punishment in some people's minds.

I think the tag line for this film (To Win a War You Have to Start One) is absolutely perfect. Because that's exactly what the AIDS Epidemic resulted in: full blown war. A war to educate people, a war to receive recognition and support, a war to save the dying, and most importantly, a war against prejudice.

As for not liking the actors? This movie was not intended to make you drool or sport a hard-on, so quit saying that so-and-so would have been a much better/more attractive choice for a specific character. This movie was intended to make you think and remember, so that healthcare and society does not handle any future epidemic/situation the way they handled the AIDS Epidemic.

Furthermore, all of the actors did a phenomenal job. If at point they seemed irrational or hopeless, it's because they were. It's because those emotions stemmed from a deep rooted anger. The government and society stood by and watch the gay population drop like flies, intervening only when the epidemic affected straight women and children.

Those maddening facts paired with the actors' all to real performances are what make this movie.

I won't lie, I sobbed my heart out for at least the entire last half of this film. Did it have to do with the fact that I had excessively researched the AIDS Epidemic and was now watching a visual description of everything I had read? Yes. But it also had to do with the fact that those who were affected by the epidemic were dehumanized and treated like dirt during the outbreak year. And we, as a society, allowed that to happen.

So hats off to the actors/actresses who took part in this incredible film and god bless Larry Kramer for writing such a moving and important piece of literature. This will be a film that's remembered for years to come.

Now that I got that off my chest, I'm done with my rant.