And the Band Played In chronicles the discovery and spread of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) with a special emphasis on government indifference and political infighting; specifically in the United States; to what was then perceived as a specifically gay disease.
This documentary is based on the 1987 book by San Francisco journalist Randy Shilts. This book is an extensive work of investigate journalism written in the form of a timeline. The documentary begins in the late 1970s when the then-first confirmed case of AIDS; that of Grethe Rask, a Danish doctor working in Africa. It ends with the announcement by actor Rock Hudson in 1985 that he was dying of AIDS, when international attention on the disease exploded.
The documentary focuses on several organizations and communities that were either hit hardest by AIDS and the landscape around begging the government for money to fund research and provide social services to people who were dying.
While watching this documentary, answer the following questions: Be sure to include each of the following 9 terms when answering the questions. Each term needs to be used at least once.
Epidemiology Virologist Blood Banks Kaposi s sarcoma Bathhouses Retrovirus AIDS Bureaucratic apathy Opportunistic infections
Be sure to include specific scenes in the documentary to support each of your answers.
- At the beginning of the movie, why did the CDC researchers wear respirator masks when researching the Ebola outbreak in Africa?
- Why did they burn the bodies?
- Recognition of the AIDS epidemic in the USA began in the late 1970s in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and NYC. What clues, symptoms, and opportunistic diseases were observed during that period that signaled the start of a new infectious disease?
- Why was Don Francis asked to join the epidemiology team?
- (The humanity buffs might notice the symbolism throughout the movie). What is the significance of the following symbolism: the rubrics cube? The gay Halloween parade? PAC Man? Arlington cemetery, lack of cell phones, black dressed man in modern dance scene?
- Keep track of the % of mortality (death) rate and the # of deaths vs. # of cases.
- Who is Gaeten Dugas and why was he labeled as patient O
- List some of the early names for the disease.
- Who do you think determines the CDC budget each year?
- Why was it so difficult to identify the disease?
During this movie, consider how the following person(s) contributed to the HIV/AIDS infectious disease crisis and place your thoughts on this paper.
Gay Community living in San Francisco
Director of the CDC
Don Francis, Epidemiologist from the CDC
Robert Gallo, Scientist from the NIH (National Institutes of Health)
Gaetan Dugas as Patient Zero
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