Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1984. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The New York Times - August 29, 1984
John Corry
The intent of the documentary is to dispel myths about AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, which destroys its victims' natural immunities and leaves them vulnerable to deadly diseases. The myths, says Edward Asner, the documentary host, spring from "prejudice against the groups AIDS most affects." It is the subtext to the documentary.
In fact, 72 percent of AIDS's victims are male homosexuals; 17 percent are intravenous drug users; 4 percent are Haitians; 1 percent are hemophiliacs. Certainly there is prejudice directed against these groups, except, presumably, the hemophilia victims, but the documentary doesn't show us what this has to do with AIDS. The suggestion that our fear of a dreadful disease is rooted in social prejudice is frivolous.
We see some victims of AIDS: a male homosexual, a drug user, a Haitian, a 6-year-old boy whose mother is a drug user, a hemophiliac. They are all courageous; the quiet dignity of the Haitian and the hemophiliac is particulrly moving.
The selection of the victims, however, is skewed. In giving us one representative from each group in the population that is threatened, the documentary implies that members of those groups are all equally threatened. This is simply untrue. Mr. Asner and his colleagues are starting a myth of their own.
Clearly the documentary wants us to sympathize with AIDS victims, and indeed it's hard to imagine civilized people who don't. The paradox is that the documentary seems to regard references to homosexuality as bad taste. The soul-searching in the homosexual community over the association between promiscuity and an increased vulnerability to AIDS is ignored. And although Mr. Asner tells us that Government researchers last April said they had discovered the probable cause of AIDS, he does so in something of a coda. It's almost as if this isn't important.
"AIDS: Profile of an Epidemic" is produced for public television by Channel 13, with grants from Hoffmann-La Roche, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Cancer Institute. A panel of experts will answer questions from a studio audience after the program.
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