QueerAnarchism

queeranarchism:

leatherguy9027:

Battle of the AIDS Activist Documentaries

United in Anger: A History of ACT UP

vs

How to Survive a Plague

So. I just watched United in Anger finally, and I just gotta say, if you’re only going to watch one recent AIDS activism documentary, watch that one.

They are both very similar, cover just about the same span of time (mid 80s-mid 90s) and cover the same subject matter: documenting the activism (mainly in NYC) that sprung up in the wake of the AIDS epidemic and the gross government negligence in terms of acknowledging and treating said epidemic because no one cares about queers and junkies. There is a lot of overlapping footage, people, etc, between the two films.

Even though they are basically the same story, they couldn’t have been told more differently. In my opinion, How to Survive a Plague goes a lot like this: here’s the story of how white gay men started dying mysteriously and no one cared, and how like 5 white gay men became activists and pressured the FDA into releasing drugs and basically saved the day.

Obviously, we are missing huge parts of the story with that narrative.

United in Anger specifically focuses on the activist group, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), and through that tells the same story but in a much different way. This documentary includes and acknowledges the roles & struggles of women, people of color, drug users, & poor people affected by AIDS as well as gay men. It talks about how this huge organization and all the smaller groups within that organization used direct action to affect massive social change. It acknowledges that when ACT UP was formed, they had one immediate and pressing need: get drugs into bodies, but through the years, even with everything that was happening, they were still able to look in at themselves, at their privilege, and make the group inclusive for everyone affected, which included women, people of color, and poor people. It became as much about universal healthcare for all as it was about fighting AIDS. (At least that was the impression I got from watching this film) This documentary highlights the many different faces of the AIDS activist movement, it includes interviews and footage from all kinds of different people, and it is very clear that it was not, in fact, just like 5 gay white men who saved the day. Is it perfect? Probably not. But it is definitely a powerful documentary about a time in queer / American history that I’m incredibly passionate about.

tl;dr: Just watch United in Anger.

Yes yes yes. Watch United in Anger. It is incredible. If you are an activist you will also learn about 50 new tactics abd ideas and ways to organize from it.