This is my first-ever attempt at trying to post a link within one of my blog pieces and I guess I wont know if it has truly been successful until after I have published this piece. With that being said, here is the link to the currently controversial video created by New York City's "It's Never Just Hiv" ad campaign - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0ANiu3YdJg. I suggest that everyone views this video as well as reads the article attached to it before reading my take on the entire issue. If for some reason this link does not come through in this piece please feel free to go to YouTube.com to view the video or simply Google "It's Never Just Hiv" and it should take you to the direct link of the video. If my attempt at posting the link here has indeed been successful, then hot damn, I just moved up 10 to 12 notches on the "Computer-Savvy" charts!! Okay, onward with the piece....
Late last night before I went to bed, I happened to view the video created/sponsored by New York City's "It's Never Just Hiv" ad campaign, accompanied by a well-written, indepth article written by Poz magazine founder Sean Strub, which was co-posted at both Poz.com and HuffingtonPost.com. This particular video has come under a considerable amount of public scrutiny, both by Hiv'ers and non-Hiv'ers alike due to its graphic content and it's scare-tactics approach regarding Hiv education and prevention. Personally, I've viewed the video several times and most likely will view it again should I need to do so for reference purposes. Yes, it is indeed extremely graphic in one of its segments and yes, it does indeed use scare-tactics to get it's key points across but I will ask the same question I have asked since the early 1980's when the first cases of Hiv/AIDS surfaced here in America - scare tactics or not, if such methods are effective, what is the big deal? We are talking about saving people's lives here - does it really get anymore simplified than that? I think not.
Medical facts, statistics and/or projections aside, I did indeed find this 31 second-long video quite intense and right-in-your-face. The bottom line is more or less what it's always been - it's a known fact that if you do indeed contract the Hiv virus, you are indeed setting yourself up and increasing your chances of coming down with other diseases, regardless of what medications and/or treatments you are on. This is a basic fact folks, there is no reason to candycoat it or downplay it in regards to educating the general public out there. Granted, this is true of many other diseases out there too, such as various forms of cancer, osteoperosis, diabetes - you name it, 9 times outta 10 there are always "side-effect diseases" that can and do form as a result from having the "main" or "central" disease. Yes, it's downright frightening and there is no guarantee that you will or will not come down with any of the other diseases mentioned in the video; but, if there is a possibility, no matter how great or small, wouldnt you yourself want to know what you're up against so that you can educate yourself about it as well as have some type of treatment plans in place, just as a mere precaution? Prevention, that's what it's all about, plain and simple.
Graphic? Yes, extremely graphic, but only in one single regard - the issue of anal cancer. Sure, it's very mortifying to view that segment of the video but it's my impression that it was included in the video strictly to raise public awareness to one of the fairly remote possibilities that can indeed happen should you contract the Hiv virus. Do I think that kinda thing is appropriate for audiences of all ages to see? Hell no, I would make sure there is a "Parental Advisory" warning issued every single time that video is viewed by those under the age of 18. I've read more than several viewer's comments on the entire video, but especially that one particular segment of it and most reactions were folks being grossed out and stating how offensive it was to see that. Being offended is one thing, but if that one segment alone influences people to definitely slip on a condom rather than not doing so, exactly what is so damn offensive about that?
The general arguments against this video include not only the issues of stigmatization and using scare-tactics but also people - both Hiv'ers and non-Hiv'ers alike - are claiming stuff like "Well it's implying that Hiv+ people cant lead full, normal productive lives like everyone else" or "It can really scare people and really affect them in a very negative way, it robs them of their hope to live as normal a life as is possible considering the circumstances." In regards to all of that I think people need to get a hold of themselves and calm down. When you take a step or two back from this video, all it's really doing is attempting to give people a wake-up call to the possible realities of what can happen. Sure its frightening in certain regards and perhaps even ludicrous in other regards but you wanna know what I think the real problem is regarding all this? I think some, but not all, of those who so strongly object to the video do so because they want to continue to live in the denial that any reality outside of the glamourous Hiv/AIDS fundraising events and photos snapped with this-n-that self-acclaimed Hiv/AIDS guru is not what the Hiv/AIDS is all about. As a person who lost the love of his life from AIDS I can tell you that the real world of Hiv/AIDS is NOT about fancy fundraisers and publicity whores. It's exactly what has been depicted of it for the last 30 years via testimonials, movies, books, magazine articles, etc.,etc. It is about dealing with various illnesses and doing whatever you possibly have in your power to do to prevent yourself, if you even can at all, from going into full-blown AIDS. That is the factual harsh reality of it all and yeah, thinking or wondering about that can be downright dismal but damn, you pull yourself up by your bootstraps and you deal with it.
Anyone's best bet in life regarding the Hiv virus is this - don't get it. Avoid it with every ounce of common sense and strength that you have in yourself cause trust me, all it takes is that one single encounter and BAM! you're in trouble. If anyone from here on out does contract Hiv, even after viewing this video or any other videoes out there that are like it, then you do what you gotta do to survive - you take as best care of yourself as you possibly can, you make sure you have an excellent support system of medical professionals and loved ones around you and you fight the battle one day atta time, always always giving it your best shot each single day.
Without intentionally sounding cruel or incurring any personal offense towards anyone out there, I actually have laughed at some of the comments made against this video, especially those made from some of my fellow Hiv'ers. Their attitude comes across as "Well, that's preposterous, we shouldnt have to look at that, we shouldnt even have to deal with that." I gotta little newsflash for all my fellow Hiv'ers out there, especially those of you in the under 45+ age range. With all the medical advancements of the last 30 years, especially regarding medications and/or medical research, dont worry your little heads, you probaly wont even have to deal with the majority of the medical bullshit that my generation had to deal with. It was my generation that didnt have even one-quarter of the drugs that y'all have now to treat Hiv and therefore knew what the phrase "getting sick" really meant. It was my generation that watched thousands after thousands drop dead like flies. It was my generation that always heard that damn perennial hospital room proclamation "I'm sorry, there's nothing more we can do for him..." Real fighting in the dreadful trenches of the Hiv/AIDS battlefield is usually about feeling so sick that you actually wonder if you'll ever eat normal again, or wondering if that ambulance you're currently riding in will be your last final trip to the hospital or not. Its not about figuring out what to wear to that next big fundraiser or pondering on who or who not to have one's photo taken with. I hate to break it to some of you guys & gals out there who still dont have a clue, but being Hiv+ is anything but convenient, trust me. I'm very worried about alotta the others who are fighting this disease in our current time period. Some of you gotta great head on your shoulders about battling the disease and living your lives as best as you possibly can (which everyone should be doing in the first place anyways) while others of you have alotta maturing to do regarding your situation. I'm not intending to intimidate or judge any of you, I'm just trying to give you the reality wake-up call that video obviously failed at providing some of you with. However, this piece is not about my personal attempts in getting through to people in order to influence them in making the right decisions about something that may very well save their lives. Only they themselves can do that. I just hope they can do so before it's too late.
Sean Strub did indeed write a beyond fantastic article regarding the video and even included some of the reactions of various folks in his piece. Though everyone is most certainly entitled to their opinion on both the video and the article, I'm extremely pleased that he mentioned activist and ACT-UP founder Larry Kramer's reaction/response to the video because I must admit, I do agree with Kramer's assessment of the video. Totally. Some of the younger Hiv'ers out there are too young to even know who Kramer is (y'all need to Google him sometime, an extremely extraordinary individual to say the least) but most folks do know of him because of his reputation for transforming things like anger and get-in-your-face public demonstrations into great milestone accomplishments regarding the rights of both the Hiv/AIDS and GLBT communities. True, Kramer does have a reputation for being one very hard-assed tough bastard when it comes to Hiv/AIDS activism but it's his very own personal brand of resilience that has set such a profound example of what scare or fear-tactics are capable of producing - results. Yes, when it comes to jumping onto any bandwagons for Larry Kramer out there, I will be one of the first people onboard but not just because I believe in his scare tactics, but because his tactics do work. Yes, I do indeed think that if it hadnt been for Larry Kramer, Hiv/AIDS activism wouldnt be where it is today but that's my personal opinion.
Sean Strub is definitely entitled to disagree with Larry Kramer's brand of activism and though I do agree with both Strub's viewpoint on tactics as well as Larry Kramer's viewpoint, I still tend to lean more towards identifying with Larry Kramer's tactics and not just because they are effective but for yet another reason - personal history, personal experiences. I dont know how else to describe it but when ACT-UP was formed decades ago, it gave alot of us who were either Hiv- or newly infected at the time of its inception a tremendous sense of empowerment and a great fostering of hope. When it came to the Hiv/AIDS battlefront that organization sent out the message "We are fucken sick-n-tired of this horrible situation and we want some action on it NOW, not today, not tomorrow, not next month or next year but NOW!!" For those of you who werent even alive at that time, the feeling that gave to all of us who didnt think we had any other options but to go curl up somewhere with our infected partners and die, was totally life-altering. We found a champion, someone to look up to in a dire time of great need and even if he didn't have all the answers, he and his group busted their asses day-n-night to help find the answers. True, change is progress and there have been alotta good changes on the Hiv/AIDS activism front since the old days but one thing that hasnt changed is Larry Kramer's tireless devotion to making a change for the better in the lives of others. I dont mean to sound like I am endorsing him for some political office but I simply dont agree with the fashionable attitude that some people, perhaps even Sean Strub to a degree (I dont know him personally so I cannot say) have towards Larry Kramer's overly-aggressive temperament, as the press use to describe him back in the day. All of you out there please keep in mind that it was Larry Kramer's occassionally explosive temper and ferocious attitude that played a major role in helping alotta us Hiv'ers in the old days and in alotta cases, to this very day.
In addition to viewing the video several times now, I have actually reread the article that Sean Strub wrote about 4 times now and each time I read it I do find it more and more brilliant - I mean that, sincerely. In fact, I may continue to repost his article from time-to-time from here on out because he has indeed presented a realistic, viable approach on how we all can better improve certain tactics regarding Hiv/AIDS education and prevention. But by the same token I hope that he and the rest of the world realize that just because Larry Kramer's tactics are different from his it doesnt mean they are any less effective, it just means that there is more than one way to handle the situations at hand, that's all. Sean Strub is a pretty smart cookie to begin with so I think he already knows that but either way, I do have (and always will) a great deal of both respect and reverence for his keen awareness of the full picture on this subject as well as many others.
Regardless if NYC's "It's Never Just Hiv" latest video is pulled from public viewing or not, and whether or not anyone was offended by it or approved of it is not the issue. It obviously was a forthright attempt to promote Hiv prevention and as controversial as it was at least it is a clear demonstration that what is needed are even more effective Hiv-prevention campagins not just in the NYC area but both nationwide and worldwide. Exchanging ideas, kicking around new concepts, that's where some of the greatest new approaches come from and as long as we reach out and connect with each other in pursuing that goal, I do think there will be some new inroads on the horizon on this front. August, 2011 will mark my 22nd year of being Hiv+ and although I for one can truthfully attest that we definitely have come a long way since the early/mid 1980's when it comes to finding new ways of getting the extremely crucial message of Hiv prevention out there in the world, we still have much more work to do; but,I have alotta faith that we will succeed. After all, it's like I'm always telling people, if you got hope and a good attitude there really isnt much that you cant accomplish. Thank you for reading.
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