When AIDS Was Funny explained
When AIDS Was Funny is a 2015 British short documentary film by Scott Calonico.[2]
Summary
The film plays controversial audio of the White House's acting press spokesman, Larry Speakes, responding to questions by making homophobic jokes[3] [4] on the escalating AIDS epidemic by journalist Lester Kinsolving.[5]
Background
The audio recordings are from several of the Reagan administration's press conferences in the 1980s. The audio is juxtaposed with images of AIDS patients at Seattle's Bailey-Boushay House in the 1990s.[6]
1982 exchange
The controversial dismissal of the growing AIDS epidemic is heard in the film through a series of press conferences in the 1980s, such as this 1982 exchange between Speakes and Kinsolving:[6] [7]
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Scott Calonico.
- https://mubi.com/en/us/films/when-aids-was-funny MUBI
- https://www.vox.com/2015/12/1/11621062/documentary-when-aids-was-funny-shows-reagan-administrations Documentary 'When AIDS Was Funny' Shows Reagan Administration's Indifference - Vox
- https://www.vice.com/en/article/yvx4zy/listen-to-the-reagan-administration-laughing-at-the-aids-epidemic-511 Listen to the Reagan Administration Laughing at the AIDS Epidemic - VICE
- https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2013/12/aids-white-house-larry-speakes-joke-press-briefing-1982.html AIDS Was Hilarious to the Reagan White House, Press Corps - New York Magazine
- News: Vanity Fair. The Reagan Administration's Unearthed Response to the AIDS Crisis Is Chilling. Richard. Lawson. December 1, 2015.
- Eilperin, Juliette (December 4, 2013) "How attitudes toward AIDS have changed, in the White House and beyond." Washington Post. (Retrieved 7-7-2014.)
