AIDS: A Pop Culture History

When AIDS was first revealed as a major health crisis in the early 1980s, Hollywood was just as fearful as the rest of America. Actors like Rock Hudson and singers like Liberace hid their afflictions. Hard rockers and rappers lashed out against homosexuals while other moralists and government officials said the disease was an appropriate consequence of promiscuity. But as the disease spread among celebrities, filmmakers, musicians, actors, and sports stars (just like it had across the rest of America), silence was slowly turned into action. In this documentary, VH1 News examines the history of AIDS as seen through the prism of media and culture. Reviewing how AIDS was reflected in entertainment reveals a greater understanding of how the virus affected the nation's psyche.

Trailer...here