DVD
Review | Absolutely Positive
Written by: Kage
Alan
AIDS is a very real threat, especially with 42
million people currently living with HIV and projections of the spread
of this virus leaving a very bleak outlook. Educating people is a
major, major step since prevention will be the key. Aside from that,
however, there are a huge number of misconceptions about those who are
HIV+. Are they all gay? No. Are they all the dregs of society?
No. They could be your next door neighbor. They could be
Republicans. They could be anybody. The point is that they’re still
people who deserve to be treated as human beings with compassion. As
a society, we sometimes don’t treat our friends and family with
compassion, so it’s going to be an uphill battle to first get past
ourselves.
When filmmaker Peter Adair found out that he was
HIV+, he refused to simply sit down and let the virus get the better of
him. Time was limited enough and when his time was up, he wanted to
have made some sort of difference in those around him or even a larger
audience. Peter’s way of doing this was to make a film. In doing so,
he met with over 100 individuals who tested as HIV+ and selected 11 of
them to interview and tell their stories on camera. Of those subjects,
one straight married couple became infected when the husband had a blood
transfusion in the 1970s, another from a past she had hoped she escaped
and ultimately passed on to her child and a young man who came out of
the closet, had sex one time and then tested positive.
One of the unmistakable realities that sinks in
while watching the stories unfold on the screen is that HIV and AIDS
doesn’t differentiate between the color of one’s skin, religion,
upbringing, ethnicity, political preference, sexual preference or
location. And the treatment all of these people receive? It’s
difficult enough having to live with the knowledge that they’re positive
and quite another with the attitudes of society stemming from
ignorance. Despite the sadness of their tales, there is humor present
as well as illumination of the misconceptions, irrational fears and
prejudices that they’ve encountered along their journey.
This film was released back in 1994, 10 years ago,
yet it’s just as poignant today as it was then and the stories just as
relevant. Knowing this ahead of time, though, I couldn’t help but
wonder who was still alive, who wasn’t and what happened to these
people. Some of these answers are available in the supplementary
section on the disc, yet it’s not nearly as comprehensive as I’d hoped.
We may never know. Perhaps more importantly, there are people out there
right now who need our support who can’t tell their stories. What about
them?
Docurama has released “Absolutely Positive” in what
I believe to be its original Full Screen ratio. Video quality is as
good as can be expected considering this is fairly no budget while audio
quality is as good as it needs to be. This isn’t a film that can be
measured on its effects. Rather, it’s going to be measured on the
effect it has on you, the viewer. As for extras, they include “Peter
Adair: Filmmaker, Artist, Storyteller” (13 ¼ min), a filmmaker interview
(15 min), participant updates (the most current information about those
featured in the film), crew biographies, resource guide, information
about Docurama and catalogue/trailer information.
This is a very difficult program to watch in many
places and it’s not because the participants are discussing sex or
anything that’s intimately private like that, but rather because they’re
baring their souls and their pain and I’m someone, no matter how
sarcastic or catty I may be, cannot stand to see others in pain. It’s
not in my nature and I’m hopeful that it’s not in many others’ nature
either. “Absolutely Positive” deserves to be seen and Docurama’s
release of the program during its 10th anniversary will
hopefully find a very wide audience. Where there’s sorrow, there’s the
hope of something better. It’s up to us to see that it happens.
Film Rating:
A
DVD Special Features: B
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