For my research paper, I studied the primary text Philadelphia, a 1993 film that details the social and physical struggles faced by Andrew Becket—a successful lawyer infected with HIV/AIDS—during the last few years of his life. In the film, Beckett is fired from the law firm on account of his illness and brings a lawsuit against the firm’s senior partners for wrongful termination. Citing the 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act, Beckett’s attorney notes the following:
Employees with HIV/AIDS should be protected by law against wrongful termination
“not only due to the physical limitations [AIDS] imposes but also because the social stigma surrounding AIDS creates a social death that precedes the
physical one.”
When I first heard this excerpt from the film, I was struck by the disheartening truths it revealed. Our society’s fear-driven approach towards illness—specifically HIV/AIDS—can create a situation in which patients are doubly victimized. How does this excerpt from the film resonate with you? Do you agree or disagree? Do you believe individuals with HIV/AIDS still face a social “death” in our society? If not, how has the American public worked to change the shameful fact that HIV/AIDS patients were often ostracized for their illness, and what more can we do to prevent this from occurring in the future? How do the texts we’ve read in class support or refute this statement?
Please feel free to share your opinions and thoughts regarding this quote or discuss any aspect of your own research that you found particularly convicting.
14 comments:
In regards to the quote from Philadelphia, I find it rather depressing that legal measures are required to enforce tolerance, although I admit that is not a new development in our society. A person who has HIV/AIDS already has an incredible burden on their shoulders; adding the weight of prejudice to such a responsibility is undeniably cruel. Regardless of how and why a person has HIV/AIDS, she should not need to strengthen her will against both the illness and bigots. However, I am not sure the social “death” presented in this quote and, I’m assuming, the rest of the film provides an accurate depiction of contemporary society. While HIV/AIDS may have been a shameful illness in past decades, I am not convinced that such stigmas are as critical to the metaphor of HIV/AIDS. Previous to this class, I was actually unaware of many of the stigmas associated with this illness (I suppose it is important to note this may be due to my personal ignorance rather than any societal change). For example, I new a great deal about HIV/AIDS and how the virus affected the body but had never once heard of it described in context with gay males. The one fear-based aspect of HIV/AIDS that I believe is still largely prevalent is the concept of foreignness. The illness is still very much seen as an epidemic only present in other countries, particularly those in Africa, regardless of the over a million people living with HIV/AIDS in America today. By disassociating herself from such an illness, a person can easily forget the need to help.
I would like to pick up on Travis' opening sentence in which he says, "I find it rather depressing that legal measures are required to enforce tolerance, although I admit that is not a new development in our society."
This is undeniably true, and is reflected throughout history. We have seen various examples of compulsory tolerance, such as affirmative action, equal employment opportunity, and civil rights, all of which sought to resolve devastating and inhuman problems. In these cases -- and perhaps in the case of disease such as HIV/AIDs -- legal action is the only valid option.
Universal tolerance seems to me to come in stages, and its first appearance is among those who are the most educated (and associated with a susceptibility to being tolerant anyway). More often than not, these people are our legislators. The concept of tolerance trickles down through a sort of hierarchical diffusion from there, moving slowly through the masses until, much later down the road, tolerance of taboo X or taboo Y is very nearly universal.
However, there will always be the odd person or two that will never be tolerant on every issue. This is a lamentable fact of human nature as well. In this vein, I believe it is our own personal duty to be as tolerant ourselves as we are able. While we cannot necessarily influence others to do so, we do have individual impact. The readings from this class have already afforded me some insight that I did not have before, and this progress on the individual level is exactly what we need.
I believe that HIV/AIDS still does carry a social stigma that is detrimental to those who are afflicted with the disease. But regardless of one's feelings on this subject, most can probably find some truth in the excerpt that Alyssa relayed from the film. To me it seems that illness in itself “…creates a social death that precedes the physical one”, at least to some degree. When someone is diagnosed with a long-lasting illness (whether it be AIDS, cancer, diabetes, MS, or any number of other diseases) it seems that their person and the place they previously held in society dies. In many cases, (I might even be bold and say most) once a person has a life-threatening illness, people begin to treat that individual differently. Pity is offered, as is extra help. Often times, people also act differently around people with diseases. I do not suggest that this is necessarily a bad thing, only that this differential treatment characterizes a death of sorts. The transition from being a normal human being to being an AIDS patient or a cancer patient puts the focus on illness and loses other parts of a person’s character and personality. And this loss is a shame. That is why many patients work hard to try and break out of being characterized by their disease. But it takes extra effort on both the part of the sufferer of the illness and the people around them to not cause that piece of “social death” that can occur, an effort that is well worth it. Sure assistance and respect should be offered to the ill, but these are gifts that help improve life. The pity and differential treatment are what contribute to that death which society should try to avoid, but this only if it is done with compassion.
To an extent, the social stigma of AIDS/ HIV has somewhat died down, but of course not completely. There is still the occasional shudder or slight jerk when someone mentions anything to do with either subject.
However, many efforts have been set forth in order to destroy this social stigma. Many awareness programs have created goals in hopes of helping those with the illnesses. In this light, I would like to focus on the positive results of such efforts.
Realizing that these truths once existed, and have a possible existence today is crucially important. But by focusing on this negativity it only furthers its existence. Instead of recognizing the issue and dealing with it, we have began to over analyze and focus on it.
I think we, as a society, should come to some sort of conclusion that AIDS/ HIV is a terrible illness in which we need to find a cure. But leave it at that, and set our sights on the positive accomplishments that we have made. Perhaps this will raise our moral all around about the subject, and fade out this negativity that we still hold and associate with this particular topic.
Regarding the instance of social death due to the presence of HIV/AIDS, I have to disagree whole heartedly with Travis and his uncertainty regarding discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients. At the same time, I have to agree with Lauren it is the foreign that people are scared of. It reminds me of an essay by James Baldwin in which he was wondering around a Swiss village and its citizenry were unsure how to react to his presence; was he a monster, a criminal, etc. After spending some time there the people eventually warmed up to him and became accepting. However, this initial knee-jerk reaction truly shows the underlying human nature: fear of the unknown (death for example). Similarly, across the world HIV/AIDS patients are pushed away and feared because of their disease. A show produced by HBO showed how people were hesitant to shake the hand an AIDS patient and only after a period of cajoling.
The fear is of the unknown and unlike the nation because united against this common cause (sounds like I'm running for political office) there will be stigma around the presence of HIV/AIDS sufferers.
Here is Sarai Glass's comment:
As horrible as it may be, the social death that HIV/AIDS victims experience is sometimes worse than the physical death. I think that people with a terminal illness eventually come to terms with death as a natural process of life. However, it is not natural to be excluded from society. In suffereing from a terminal illness, anything but seclusion is desired. It is a sad, but true statement. I think even today we ostracize those with almost any illness. We don't want those stigmas attached to us, even if we don't have the illness. As far as Susan Sontag is concerned, she directly comments on the social death that cancer and AIDS victims experience. This of course was written in the 80s however, I still think that this "outcasting" of those with illness is still present. Work is definately being done to portray the image that AIDS affects a real human being, that is the same as you and me. But even so, the stereotypes are still present, and of course more progress could be made in protecting those with life-threatening illnesses.
I think that the quote from the movie is rather insightful into the state of our society during that time period. Its nice to see that actions and measures were taken to protect those from being ostracized. However, the sad fact of the matter is, that unfortunate events like that still happened. In today's society, I'm not sure if HIV/AIDS is still considered a "death sentence" but there is certainly a stigma still attached to it. I think that because it still cannot be cured, there is still a fear of the unknown that is reflected to those who have it. I guess what I am trying to say, is that although there is still a stigma behind the disease, it isn't one of shame but one of fear. Our society hasn't figured out how to cope with something that it doesn't know how to solve. Cancer was much the same way, and as we continue to make further developments to curing certain types, the stigma is slowly disappearing.
The truly unfortunate reality about the quote, is that it even had to be put in place to begin with. It still shocks me that our world can be so callous to our fellow people when they need us the most. Our society fears the disease due to the pain and suffering that it causes and due to its current un-curable nature. As a result, we have also pushed it as far from our country as possible.
It really struck me as I was doing research for my paper about AIDS in the 1990's in the US that more than 90% of the articles I found were about Africa. The United States seems to be pushing the focus of the issue across the ocean in an effort to thwart the realization and acknowledgment that it is also a serious problem here.
I strongly believe that what our society needs to do, it become more accepting of the disease. We need to realize that it is no different from any other illness and rather than ostracize or fear those who have had the unfortunate reality of contracting it, we should be working to assist them through this painful part of their lives. We have the opportunity to make a difference. They are people just like us. Its as simple as the golden rule that we learned in pre-school. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you wouldn't like the actions being taken against you, how do you think it makes them feel?
I agree with this quote. It identifies in simple terms the fact that society is not able to digest this AIDS epidemic as something that can be lived with but as something to die from. Because of the complete absence of experience I have in the arena of befriending AIDS patients, I still see the disease through this ignorant lense. And I suppose that until I have an authentic and impactful event in my life to change this fact, I will continue to view AIDS in this manner. I know no other way.
I agree with the general theme of most of these posts, which is that AIDS does carry a stigma to some extent, and we need to work towards changing our mindsets about the disease. This process should be simple, if not easy, to accomplish. We just convince ourselves that people with AIDS are no different from us, right? Then, ideally, the stigma would be eradicated.
I would love for this to happen. However, the fact of the matter is that the stigma surrounding AIDS is in no way mutually exclusive to so many other stigmas that persist in our country today. AIDS is inherently tied to prejudices about socio economic class, sexual orientation, religion (or lack thereof), and race. If it were possible for us to combat the AIDS stigma in isolation from any other prejudice in our society today, it would be much simpler to do so. Sadly, though, the negative stigmas involved with AIDS are intertwined with these other biases. As Lauren mentioned, we need to increase our tolerance in general. We need to acknowledge, and then forget about the differences that exist between us and them in income, color of skin, partner’s gender, belief in a god, etc. When we can start to extinguish, or at least lessen, these more general social stigmas, it will be easier for us to feel differently about those living with AIDS.
I wonder if the social death we're talking about could be even more detrimental than we might think. What if people did not give volunteer time and funding to organizations who assist those with AIDS (like PAH) because of their prejudice? Will someone who loses their job because of this "social death" be able to afford quality health care? I think it's highly possible that the social death could hurry the actual death, for very practical reasons as well as the emotional damage it would cause. Caring about people and laying aside personal prejudice for the sake of seeing someone's humanity can have very tangible results – a meal, a job to pay medical bills - perhaps even a few extra years of life.
i think the bottom line is that AIDS has a very powerful social stigma attached to it that is relatively inescapable. and as we have exhausted - in class, through the readings, through the blogging - it is tragic and it is something that needs to end. but will it ever really go away?
i think i've actually said this in another blog post, but there are certain associations and stigmas are impossible to erase from certain people. usually such deeply embedded stigmas and opinions are direct results of how a person is raised/his rearing environment. and i think that while this is something that is sad and sometimes frustrating, it is once again completely inescapable to a certain extent.
I completely agree with Cortney. We can go on and on about how this stigma is harmful, that we need to get rid of it, this stigma is a great hindrance to the healing process. But the fact is that this stigma is here to stay. No matter what, our culture has made a permanent association with HIV/AIDS with death, sexual promiscuity, and drugs.
While we can convince people that there is no problem, that it is just another disease, we would only be convincing their conscious mind, while their subconscious still believes in the stigma. In short, it sucks.
Alyssa, I really like that you provided an excerpt from Philadelphia because I am examining Rent as my primary source for the paper. The contrasts in characters between the two productions are tremendous. While Beckett is an attorney making his way through the working world, the characters in Rent are staunchly opposed to even entering into that realm. Collins leaves his job as a professor at NYU, Mark can't reconcile his job in the television with the love of his art, and Joanne is having trouble finding a medium between her law career and aiding in the awareness fight with Maureen. Benny is the "bad guy" in Rent only because he is now their landlord and has entered the corporate sphere.
What's important to remember, and I think these films do an excellent job at evidencing, is that HIV/AIDS and disease in general affects everyone, regardless of their social class or their professional achievements. In accordance with Cortney and Ryan, it might just be impossible to erase the social stigma attached to HIV/AIDS but it doesn't hurt to take look at the wide breadth of our society that is affected by the illness. Philadelphia and Rent provide excellent examples with which to do just that.
To be completely honest, I'm still not sure where I stand on this. I believe that in some parts of society it may still be true that those with AIDS face an incredible amount of challenges generated by the social stigma surrounding AIDS. Yet, I can't help but feel as though it is not nearly as bad as it used to be.
For evidence, I would like to cite a 1993 episode of Captain Planet (Yeah. That's right. I went there. Just Bear with me, ok?). The premise of the episode was as follows: the lead character (whose name escapes me, but it could have been something like Mike) was discovered to have AIDS, and faced a ridiculous amount of prejudice from his classmates at school. They called him names, wouldn't let him use the drinking fountain, and generally did anything in their power to make his life hell. Contrast that with the 2005 movie RENT. Here several of the lead characters had AIDS, but this was more of a characteristic than a challenge. It made their lives more difficult, certainly, but not because of any social stigma. They endured more for their bohemianism than anything else.
I suppose what I am really trying to say is that while the social stigma surrounding AIDS still exists, I believe society--or at least our generation--is ready to move past this. Perhaps Sontag's are a bit dated? I could, of course just be overly optimistic, but I contend that prejudice against AIDS victims is a thing of the past.
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