And The Band Played On
And the band played on is a non-fiction movie that was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. This film was centered on the emergence of the aids epidemic back in 1981. The main character in the movie is Dr. Don Francis, an immunologist who, together with other staff of the Centers for Disease Control are trying to understand the emergence of this strange that is affecting a vast population leading to deaths. Through the research, Francis discovers that the disease is affecting men more than women as most of the victims happened to be gay. The study finds that the virus is transmitted through sexual intercourse. During the research, they faced some challenges, such as time factors. But the respondent was free and willing to give information about their sexual life. Francis develops a negative effect on homosexuality after listening to a television preaching film when he had the preacher saying that God will judge us if we brake the law. In the film, the gay representative is requesting the democratic government to recognize them as human. However, Francis faces a stumbling block when he tries to find ways of cubing the epidemic as the government does not accord him the right support. The film depicts the high level of stigma that both those handling the victims of the disease and those having the condition go through (Spottiswoode, 1993).
Francis decides to look for ways of cubing the spread of the diseases, which include the closure of bathhouses situated in San Francisco. These bath places were the epicenter of the Aids epidemic as these places were mostly frequented by men most who were gay. Gay men were free to engage in sex acts in these places, most of who were having unprotected sex hence being exposed to the acquisition and spreading of the disease. Francis found it had to advocate for the closure of bathhouses as the government was collecting a lot of taxes from them. Moreover, these bathhouses were owned by people of high authority both in and out of the government (Spottiswoode, 1993).
From watching the movie, I realized that human dignity is very vital to humans. This is evident as most of the individuals affected by the disease showed no sense of pride. Additionally, I have realized that stigmatization of those leaving with the aids disease is not a good thing. This is because stigmatization has proved to harm the victims more than the disease itself. To this end, the support and care of individuals affected by the aids disease are vital as it will enable them to improve their self-esteem.
By watching the film, I was surprised to find how first the disease spread from one person to another. The film explains how the government of the U.S was not concern about the health care of the people, despite the rapid increase of death. The government did not provide enough capital to research the AIDS virus. Due to a lack of government support, the diseases spread because it was tough for the doctors to come up with the policy to create awareness for the public. By evaluating the current state of the illness, we are grateful for the doctors’ researcher of the way to prevent this disease, how to treat it, and the proper medication on the same hence reducing the spread and its effect. Therefore, precautions should be taken by avoiding careless sexual intercourse. The government should support the researchers to carry out sufficient work.