40 Years Ago, the First AIDS Movies Forced Americans to Confront a Disease They Didn't Want to See

Strategic Insights -

The first AIDS movies, which premiered 40 years ago in 1985, forced Americans to confront the disease they didn't want to see. The film "Buddies" and the television film "An Early Frost" were two of the first movies to explore the disease, which had been making headlines since the early 1980s. "Buddies," made for just $27,000, was an independent film that told the story of two gay men, David and Robert, who were struggling with AIDS. The film was inspired by the real-life buddies program at the Gay Men's Health Crisis, an organization co-founded by writer and activist Larry Kramer. The film features a remarkably frank and intimate approach to the epidemic, including a sex scene in which the characters engage in safer sex.

Key Takeaways:

  • The first AIDS movies, "Buddies" and "An Early Frost," premiered 40 years ago in 1985, forcing Americans to confront a disease they didn't want to see.
  • "Buddies" was made for just $27,000 and tells the story of two gay men, David and Robert, who struggle with AIDS.
  • The film was inspired by the real-life buddies program at the Gay Men's Health Crisis, an organization co-founded by writer and activist Larry Kramer.
  • The film features a sex scene in which the characters engage in safer sex, which was a rare depiction of sex in early AIDS films.
  • The television film "An Early Frost," which premiered on NBC in 1985, dealt with the real-life fears and misconceptions about how AIDS could and could not be transmitted.
  • The film was showered with Emmy nominations and drew 34 million viewers.
  • The two films begat two lanes of HIV storytelling: a mainstream approach geared towards quantifying the disease, and an indie approach that was more confrontational, irreverent, and angry at the injustice and indifference AIDS patients faced.

Statistics:

  • 40 years ago, the first AIDS movies forced Americans to confront a disease they didn't want to see.
  • The first off-Broadway plays about AIDS opened in 1985, including "As Is" by William Hoffman and "The Normal Heart" by Larry Kramer.
  • Rock Hudson became the first major celebrity to disclose that he had AIDS in 1985.
  • Actor Sean Penn's father, Leo Penn, played an AIDS patient in the 1978 film "Night Shift," but the scene was removed from the film before its release.
  • Out of 256 films released by major distributors in 2024, the number of HIV-positive characters amounted to zero.
  • A 2021 GLAAD survey found that one-third of respondents were unaware that medication is available to prevent the transmission of HIV.
  • More than half of respondents didn't know that HIV-positive people can reach undetectable status and not transmit the virus to others.
  • Only about half of nonqueer respondents had seen a TV show or film about someone with HIV.

Sources:

  • The Conversation -- USA (2) -- By Scott Malia, Associate Professor of Theatre, College of the Holy Cross
  • "40 years ago, the first AIDS movies forced Americans to confront a disease they didn't want to see" by Scott Malia for The Conversation
  • "Buddies" (1985) film
  • "An Early Frost" (1985) film
  • GLAAD survey, 2021
  • Vinegar Syndrome, a distribution company that focuses on restoring cult cinema, exploitation films, and other obscure titles.