The Gift (II) (2003) User Reviews

A true-life horror movie?

[Havan_IronOak · 7/10 · 1 June 2003]

Caution - May contain Spoilers

This film (somewhat ineptly) deals with a self-destructive trend among a certain segment of the gay population. Known as Bug-Chasers and Gift-Givers these are the men that knowingly attempt to spread the HIV virus. As warped as this may seem this is a real situation that needs to be acknowledged and addressed.

One bug chaser interviewed in the movie was a young man living in L.A. (identified as Kenboy) who had a sense of doom about getting the HIV virus. His logic (which I could not follow) was that if only he could get the virus, he could stop worrying about becoming infected. By the end of the film he has thrown a "conversion party" and achieved his objective. Now that he's tested positive he's not following any drug therapies and is still having unprotected sex with all comers. (I kept asking myself, why was he so scared of testing positive if he was going to do nothing differently afterwards? It's like a man being so afraid of the water that he's compelled to drown himself.)

Another young man interviewed describes how he made "the worst decision of my life" and decided to have unprotected sex with a man he knew to be positive so that he could stop worrying about using condoms and start having carefree sex. He describes how once he made his decision, how popular he became, how nice it was fit in for a time, and how worried he now is about the realities of the situation.

The film also interviews men who throw "bare backing" parties for sero-positive (HIV infected) men and describes their attitude. Most of these men discount the theories that there are actually different strains of the virus and one HIV positive man may well give his virus to another HIV positive man only to hasten (or cause) the man's death because his partner is more vulnerable to the new strain he receives.

There is also a group of older gay men who are all HIV positive, and who have formed a support group to discuss the many unhealthy side affects (particularly serious heart problems) that taking the current anti-HIV medications entail.

This group criticizes the advertisements for these medications and the current forms of safe sex ads as promoting the idea that HIV is not as serious as it truly is. They assert that the gay community, in an attempt to be "politically correct" and not offend those that are HIV positive, underplays the truly catastrophic seriousness of becoming HIV positive. They suggest that many young men who are practicing unsafe sex today are doing so because we have somehow put out the message that it's no big deal becoming positive.

Overall I found this film to be very important but I wish it could have been better crafted. It seemed very preachy and over-long and I heard several folks in the lobby discounting its all too important message on the pretext that it was a propaganda movie.

Everybody should see this at least once. We can all benefit from what Louise has to say.

[jiveguru35 · 8/10 · 8 December 2005]

I say that everyone should see this film at least once in their lifetime because it hits on a number of issues that deserve serious attention from everybody. We can all benefit from what Louise has to say.

People hear about gay men who want to have HIV and AIDS and they automatically assume that they're crazy and should be stayed away from. Or even worse, they think it's some kind of a joke. I approached this topic knowing next to nothing, and by the time the documentary was over, I had tears in my eyes. Louise captured their message and presents it to us loud and clear.

You don't have to be gay to be able to relate their stories to your own. We all feel the pressures that they felt, the fears that they felt, and the hopelessness, and instead of recognizing this, we decide to turn away. But everyone can stand to add a little compassion and understanding to their lives.

Great information presented.

[yalaurie · 9/10 · 5 November 2005]

Because this topic has a lot of urban legend surrounding it, the film was an excellent way to get information out. It not only educated people who were clueless about bug chasing but provided faces to phenomenon that was previously anonymous. I was impressed at the depth of information that was presented. Researching the topic myself, I knew the information on chasing was few and far between. There is a lot of speculation and stories but not a lot of concrete facts. This documentary takes the topic from urban legend and begins to ask the questions that need to be addressed. The film also presents all sides of the issue which was refreshing. It was not a single point of view but rather a montage of opinions. This leaves it open for interpretation and for the viewer to formulate his or her own opinions. I found I was connecting with the people in the documentary and could rationalize why they chose to seek out HIV. Before watching the documentary I thought the idea of bug chasing was completely insane but actually hearing people discuss the topic, made me realize that it wasn't that far fetched of an idea and hearing their reasonings made my heart go out to them.

A Letter to Louise Hogarth from Dani, Spokesmodel HIV Stops With Me

[louise-159 · 10/10 · 15 October 2005]

My name is Dani. I've been hearing about your documentary from my peers and the community of HIV prevention and education I work in. So I decided a couple of weeks ago to stay up until 3am and watch your film on the Sundance Channel. I am writing you first and foremost to congratulate you on a very powerful and moving film. I taped it and watched it probably five or six times, crying over this tragic problem in our community. As a health educator, it deeply saddens me and also awakened me to realize that I have to work harder because of this. As a health educator and a registered nurse myself, I firmly believe that this is a very effective and valuable tool we can show and disseminate to the community in general to decrease the incidence of HIV and AIDS not only in the Los Angeles county but everywhere it is needed. Thank you so much for making this film. This film delivers a powerful punch to awaken everybody's senses, to educate without ignorance and fear.

Scary

[Michael_Elliott · 29 February 2008]

Gift, The (2003)

*** (out of 4)

Here's an incredibly disturbing and shocking documentary from director Louise Hogarth. My girlfriend and I were talking on the phone and flipping through upcoming films when she read the description of this thing and I couldn't believe it so I recorded the film. The documentary is about a bunch of gay men who are out there hoping to get infected with the HIV virus. The "reasons" were what I was most interested in but some of them want AIDS so that they can have unprotected sex without having to worry about catching it. Some want AIDS because it's the cool thing to do within the gay community. Apparently these people feel AIDS will mean they are "really gay". This is without a doubt one of the most troubling documentaries that I've ever seen because it actually scared the hell out of me. As a straight male I enjoy going out with my friends and picking up women and while I know all about AIDS, this doc scared the living crap out of me because of what these people are talking about. Apparently positive and negative members attend "don't ask, don't tell" sex parties where no condoms are used so they leave these parties not knowing if they are infected or not. Countless other horror stories are covered in this thing, which is truly eye opening even to those who are pretty familiar with all the truths and lies around the disease.

probably made in earnest but comes off a bit cynical

[marymorrissey · 1/10 · 6 October 2007]

This film is promoted as being about so called "bug chasers" and "gift givers" alerting us to what we're expected to believe is some kind of fad sweeping the gay community. But the only "bugchaser" they could find is this guy who runs what would appear to be a brisk business organizing bareback parties and selling pornos he makes at them, starring himself. The one other guy they dwell on is a weepy young man who made an impulsive decision one lonely night to let some creepy HIV+ guy who knew the kid was negative to top him without a condom and without pulling out. Now the kid feels that was very stupid and hopes he can warn others away from the same fate.

It is true that some men, due to their own carelessness - often drugs are a factor - have reason to be very anxious and stressed about the spectre of AIDS. Presumably some number of them wonder whether it wouldn't be easier in many ways if they'd just catch the virus already. But it's a long way between having such thoughts and actively seeking out HIV infection.

As far as the legions of younger men who routinely screen their partners for HIV by simply asking "u neg?", no mention is made of these. It'd be a good thing if there were. Asking people if they are HIV+ before feeling all "safe" with them is no way to avoid contracting the virus.

Much of the film is centered around a rap session with these older guys. I'm not sure why we are supposed to be interested in what they have to say, but they're all HIV+. It's patently absurd to listen to them lamely rail against the younger generation for not taking precautions.

Naturally, in a film like this a discussion of more prevalent attitudes, eg, the apparently widespread belief that for a top bareback sex is relatively safe, is taboo.

Yes, this long winded, "party line" preachy film will seem very righteous to those that don't really need to hear the message. It would strike me as merely more or less pointless if it weren't for the decision on the part of the filmmakers to sensationalize the product by promoting the urban legend that scores of men out there are actively seeking to seroconvert. It's this which renders the movie execrable.

Of course it undoubtedly aided the film's entree into dozens of festivals and went a long way towards selling out screenings, and I'm sure lots of concerned folk will be putting the DVD on their rental queues. I can't help feeling that deep down this was the honest to goodness raison d'etre of the film.

The Most Important Documentary...

[jwmckinzie · 10/10 · 20 October 2005]

The Gift Documentary is one of the most important documentaries ever filmed. So very little has been done in the age of big medicine to prevent HIV infection. In the United States we do so much spending on end care and forget about prevention. The face of HIV and AIDS is distorted in the messages of pharmaceutical companies. I certainly do not want to preach, so I will just leave this debate to the numbers; The CDC and WHO provide statistics, alarming statistics that are, if flawed in any way, underestimates. This film, for many, could be the only source of HIV infection prevention available when no one is willing to talk about HIV. It provides REALITY.

YOU CANNOT TALK ABOUT THIS SUBJECT TOO MUCH. YOU CANNOT SEE HIS FILM TOO MANY TIMES. YOU CANNOT TELL TOO MANY PEOLE TO WATCH IT.

Knowledge is power and this film provides you with knowledge and something to think about, and talk about, and act upon in any way you know how. I take personal responsibility in doing what I can to talk about this film and its content. I encourage those who read this to view the film and do the same. The film is a responsible film that is about a situation that has an impact on the lives of many people.

See this film and let's get talking!

Inept film does nothing it needed/wanted to do

[Mort & Spunky the awesome cat · 4/10 · 16 June 2005]

I've never seen a documentary filled with so many annoying people, both those who did and didn't want to be HIV+. Haven't seen many that are this poorly filmed and edited. This could have been something constructive, something helpful. The subjects in this documentary are not only allowed to make fools of themselves, they're allowed to make false or exaggerated claims repeatedly, i.e. all gay men over 40 are HIV+ or virgins.

While the topic is dreadfully serious (why I've given a four rather than one or two) and begs for discussion and action, this documentary does little more to advance either than a thirty second PSA. If this goes to DVD, think twice before renting, let alone buying.

What if your life depended on it?

[polafota2000 · 10/10 · 29 October 2005]

Every once in a while a film crosses the dark chasm between the screen and viewer and forges a bridge of truth between the heart of the viewer and the heart of the matter. The Gift is a perfect example of that as it naturally facilitates personal responsibility. This film goes way beyond issues of sexual orientation. Its message is valuable to individuals of all orientations. This is a do or die documentary focusing on death affirming choices that some souls make and the life affirming choices that they renounce.

The most impactful and transformative qualities that this film delivers, frame by frame, are couched between the spoken words and moving images. Thie Gift is masterful and highly effective in leaving the viewer with a compelling message that only grows on you from the moment that the screening ends because of the movie behind the one projected on screen which really begins the moment the ending credits roll.

The Gift does not pull any punches. It comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable. It is not for the fearful or for those who cannot pierce their own veil of denial and illusion. It holds the mirror up for the audience to see the dark underbelly of sexual addiction, self abandonment, internalized homophobia, and a subconscious thanatological desire.

Many feel more comfortable with laying the blame at the feet of the government, pharmaceutical companies or some other external source than we do with taking ownership over our own actions as a first step in establishing dominion over this epidemic. The Gift exposes the immediate necessity for a complete overhaul of HIV prevention programs and the consciousness of those individuals who run them, run to them, and run from them.

I now understand the deeper meaning behind the film's title. It is called The Gift because this film is a gift that the wise man can keep. It is a gift that promotes life instead of death.

Louise Hogarth has courage beyond words and pictures and that is what this film encourages the viewer to have more of...courage to face the nature of the beast within and to emerge transformed.

See this film now. It could save your life or the life of someone you love. It's that simple.

Our organization utilizes this film to increase awareness and educate.

[julie-yu · 10/10 · 10 November 2005]

As a State Health Department HIV Prevention Program, we provide regular training opportunities for local health departments and community-based organizations. We offer a two-day workshop six times each year designed to improve the skills of individuals who provide HIV Counseling, Testing and Referral Services.

Integrated into the curriculum is a documentary called "The Gift" by filmmaker Louise Hogarth. The film presents varied points of view on the controversial practice called "bug chasing", a term used to describe the efforts of some individuals who are choosing to become infected with HIV. Although the film is primarily centered on this phenomenon, a number of other very relevant issues are introduced by the film.

Increasing others' awareness of the practice of "bug chasing" is just one outcome we have seen in the showing of the film. More importantly, by presenting the experiences of a few individuals in extreme situations, "The Gift" brings about a better understanding of the complex and common reasons why anyone might risk becoming infected with HIV, even the majority of people who are not "bug chasers".

We show the film over the course of two days followed by a facilitated discussion. We ask the group the following questions to help broaden the scope of the film and the situations to which the film's messages might apply: • Despite great risk, two characters openly sought "the bug" to be part of a group with which they identified. In what other ways might the desire to belong impact the individuals that you work with? • There was a sense of fatalism expressed by some of the characters—they seemed to believe that contracting HIV was inevitable. How does this type of fatalism manifest itself among the individuals that you work with? How might it impact their risk-taking behavior? • "Culture" encompasses many aspects of a person's identification including past experiences, background and group affiliation. In your setting, how might an individual's culture impact how prevention services are delivered?

The majority of workshop participants over the past two years have responded very positively to the film. Many reported that experiencing "The Gift" was the part of the workshop that they liked the most. Others continue to express that since viewing "The Gift", the effectiveness of their interactions with individuals at risk for HIV has improved.

The Gift New York Times CRITIC'S CHOICE

[akevin · 10/10 · 21 October 2005]

June 6, 2003 New York Times CRITIC'S CHOICE

Forsaking Health to Join the H.I.V. Club By STEPHEN HOLDEN

Doug Hitzel in Louise Hogarth's documentary, "The Gift," part of NewFest 2003: The New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Far and away the most important selection in NewFest 2003: The New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, celebrating its 15th anniversary, is Louise Hogarth's alarming documentary, "The Gift." This film, to be screened at the New York University Cantor Film Center tomorrow evening, examines the increasing ineffectiveness of safer-sex education in urban gay culture and the resulting rise in H.I.V.-infection rates among younger men. The title refers to a small, Internet-fed subculture that romanticizes H.I.V. infection in ritualized initiations known as conversion parties, at which the virus, known as "the gift," is passed to so-called bug-chasers. A subject that could easily have been sensationalized is treated evenhandedly in a film that suggests that in an effort not to offend those who are H.I.V.-positive, AIDS educators have sent out messages that are too vague and timid to register. The misleading ads for drugs that have kept AIDS patients alive show robust, sexy musclemen who seem carefree and asymptomatic. Several men who give and attend large, organized sex parties testify that revealing your H.I.V. status has become an unspoken taboo at such affairs, and that the use of condoms is now optional and in some cases even discouraged. Two young men who deliberately became infected are also interviewed. One is tearfully regretful about his decision, the other relieved because he figures that he has a few more years of good health and freedom from worry before he becomes ill. For the first man, an insecure outsider longing for acceptance, the allure of infection was a feeling of belonging to a club. For the second it was the more nihilistic decision to live for the moment. Reflecting on the shift in attitude is a support group of older AIDS patients, all suffering life-threatening cardiovascular side effects from the medications that are keeping them alive. The tone of their conversation mixes sadness with anger at the degree to which many urban gay men have blinded themselves to an unpleasant truth. The young men seeking "the gift' simply don't know what awaits them. Linda Goode Bryant's documentary "Flag Wars," showing tonight at the Cantor Film Center, takes a hardheaded look at urban gentrification and what happens when a working-class (largely African-American) neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, becomes a mecca for middle-class lesbian and gay homeowners. As the city declares the neighborhood a historic district, stringent new restrictions force many residents to abandon the neighborhood in which they grew up. This year's festival is more internationalist than ever. Last night's festival-opening film, "Mambo Italiano," has been described as a gay Italian-American "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." The closing-night film (on June 15), "Merci Dr. Rey," is a French farce starring Dianne Wiest as an American opera diva who returns to Paris, where her gay son lives. The protagonist of the Sri Lankan comedy "Flying With One Wing" is a mechanic (married to a woman) who has successfully passed as a man until a doctor, treating an injury, discovers her secret. "Gasoline" suggests an Italian lesbian "Thelma and Louise." "Yossi and Jagger" is the love story of two Israeli soldiers. "Kiki and Tiger," set in Germany on the eve of the war in Kosovo, explores the interplay of sex and politics in the friendship of a gay Serb who falls in love with a straight illegal immigrant from Albania. Whether the setting is Sri Lanka or Israel or Germany, the gay and lesbian characters face variations of the same social pressures, stereotyping and potential violence that they do in the United States.

A must-see for men exploring their sexuality

[bettycjung · 21 May 2018]

5/20/18. This was such a scary documentary to watch. That's because it deals with a very emotional issue among gay men - being HIV positive. When a lot of the gay men culture revolves around anonymous unprotected sex as the way to interact, it is incredible that gay men who have a hard time with this kind of lifestyle would resort to getting infected just so they could fit in. Even worse are those who are HIV positive and are more than willing to infect others. Getting infected is terrible and gay men should practice safe sex, not just for themselves but for their partners. One's own health should be a priority all the time. This is must-viewing for adolescents and young men who are exploring their sexuality.