The AIDS movie : representing a pandemic in film and television / Kylo-Patrick R. Hart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hart, Kylo-Patrick R.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

AIDS (Disease) in motion pictures.

Physical Description:

xiii, 120 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Haworth Press, [2000]

Summary:

Going beyond the current media research, The AIDS Movie extends the systematic study of media representations of AIDS to include American movies, discussing the ongoing social construction and reconstruction of the AIDS pandemic through film. This study proposes criteria for identifying an "AIDS movie" and analyzes the representation of AIDS in nearly three dozen such films, all made within the first two decades of the AIDS pandemic. Analysis focuses on social ramifications for gay men and all members of American society; the concept of otherness; and alternative ways of representing AIDS in movies, including AIDS-metaphor films and AIDS documentaries. This book will be suitable for students and academics in the fields of media, popular culture, gay/lesbian studies, and sociology, as well as anyone else interested in learning more about AIDS in movies.

Contents:

Chapter 1. Conceptualizing the AIDS Movie and Its Study 1

AIDS, Social Construction, and Media Representation 4

Defining and Analyzing the AIDS Movie 8

Significance of the Study 12

Chapter 2. The Cinematic Tradition of Otherness Meets AIDS 15

Otherness, Science Fiction, and AIDS 17

Otherness, Melodrama, and AIDS 23

Other Forms of Otherness and AIDS 32

Chapter 3. "Us" versus "Them": "Innocent Victims" and the Politics of Victim Blaming 33

"Villains" and "Innocent Victims" 34

The Process of Victim Blaming in AIDS Movies 39

Chapter 4. Gay Men As "The (Primary) Other" in the AIDS Movie 45

The Persistent Representational Link Between Gay Men and AIDS: Opportunities, Shortcomings, and Consequences for Gay Males 48

Consequences of the Persistent Representational Link Between Gay Men and AIDS for Members of Other Social Groups 58

Chapter 5. AIDS and the City (versus the Country) 67

The City As Gay Utopia and AIDS Dystopia 68

The Country As Balm to City-Dwelling "Deviants" 76

Chapter 6. Other Ways of Representing AIDS 81

The Form and Function of AIDS Characters in Non-AIDS Movies 81

AIDS Metaphor Movies 87

Self-Representation in AIDS Documentaries 91

The (Near) Future of Representing AIDS 97.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 103-108) and index.

ISBN:

0789011077

0789011085

OCLC:

43845647