The Oscar buzz got me, and like a bunch of other folks, worked up to see Dallas Buyers Club. I took my cat to the vet a few weeks ago and we got on the subject of absolutely needing to watch DBC.
Wow. This film actually looks like it was filmed in 1985. Kudos to the sound guy. Little touches like hearing a train in distance and I remember hearing church bells at one point added to the realism. I get the Oscar thing now too. Pretty darn impressive acting; Matthew and Jared just gobbled up their roles.
For me it was a movie about being told your options and you deciding to make your own options.
I think this is an important film, least we forget how ignorant people were about AIDS and how it ultimately affected both the homosexual and non-homosexual communities. Please don't forget Ryan White. Ryan, a life long hemophiliac, was given a very short time to live after he was diagnosed with AIDS. Ryan received weekly transfusions of Factor VIII which was contaminated. Nearly 90% of hemophiliacs who received transfusion using Factor VIII between 1979 and 1984 became infected.
It's also an important film because it clearly shows how our treatment of gay men has evolved. Back in the day, not only was it not acceptable to society to be gay, it wasn't acceptable to have gay friends. I remember people asking me, "How can you be friends with that queer?" Good point - if only his knuckles were closer to the ground he'd be the perfect beast. Times have changed. Everyone wants to have a gay friend. I belong to film buff group and the chicks practically cat fight over the gay couple in the group. "They're my gay friends, I go to their house." "They're my gay friends, I go to their house and watch movies."
Oddly enough, I was at Farm Aid April 7, 1990 @ the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. Rumor had it that Elton John was visiting Ryan White and was going to make an appearance. This was pre-internet, so it was all speculation. When he appeared on stage, it became so surreal. I don't believe there was a dry eye in the house.
