How To Survive A Plague beautifully captures the story of young gay women and men as they fight against AIDS. The movie follows two groups, ACT-UP (Aids Coalition To Unleash Power) and TAG (Treatment Action Group) as they fight to bring awareness and find a cure for AIDS.
Through interviews, home movies and footage of the protests, you meet multiple gay men and women who have contracted AIDS and are fighting for their lives. They organize and attend multiple protests to bring awareness to the AIDS epidemic while also trying to find a cure.
Without any scientific training or experience, they educate themselves on the dangers of AIDS, how the disease works and their treatment options. Many begin to sell, buy and use drugs not approved by the FDA in an effort to save their lives. While at the same time pushing the FDA and pharmaceutical industry to test and approve new drugs at record time.
Throughout the time this film covers, you get a true insight to the discrimination they faced, the fear they felt, and their struggle to stay alive. Many of those featured in the movie end up dying after contracting the disease, very accurately capturing what those in the homosexual community were facing. You can truly see the passion and effort these men and women put into finding treatment for AIDS.
However, the footage of the protests begins to become repetitive and boring. I also would have preferred if there was more of an explanation of how the medications work. The explanation you get is very brief and seems out of place in respect to the rest of the movie.
Overall, this movie does a wonderful job highlighting the work done by ACT-UP and TAG to advocate and find treatment for AIDS. It's a must see for anyone looking to educate themselves on the AIDS epidemic in America.
Through interviews, home movies and footage of the protests, you meet multiple gay men and women who have contracted AIDS and are fighting for their lives. They organize and attend multiple protests to bring awareness to the AIDS epidemic while also trying to find a cure.
Without any scientific training or experience, they educate themselves on the dangers of AIDS, how the disease works and their treatment options. Many begin to sell, buy and use drugs not approved by the FDA in an effort to save their lives. While at the same time pushing the FDA and pharmaceutical industry to test and approve new drugs at record time.
Throughout the time this film covers, you get a true insight to the discrimination they faced, the fear they felt, and their struggle to stay alive. Many of those featured in the movie end up dying after contracting the disease, very accurately capturing what those in the homosexual community were facing. You can truly see the passion and effort these men and women put into finding treatment for AIDS.
However, the footage of the protests begins to become repetitive and boring. I also would have preferred if there was more of an explanation of how the medications work. The explanation you get is very brief and seems out of place in respect to the rest of the movie.
Overall, this movie does a wonderful job highlighting the work done by ACT-UP and TAG to advocate and find treatment for AIDS. It's a must see for anyone looking to educate themselves on the AIDS epidemic in America.