The Normal Heart: An Essential Film to Understanding the AIDS Epidemic Jarret Heidebrecht HIST 228: History of Pandemics November 8th, 2021 The Normal Heart (HBO, 2014) is a heart wrenching f i lm based in 1980's New York at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. It depicts not only the disease but the social and political reaction to the epidemic from 1981 to 1984. Through the lens of a gayauthor,thefilmillustrateshowAIDSevolvedmedicallyandwithintheLGBTQ community. The author is an activist who creates an organization which focuses on AIDS. This organization depicts the struggle within the gay community of accepting the disease and more notably how to raise awareness and address core issues. The f i lm (2014) was adapted from a play also titled The Normal Heart (1985) which was written largely autobiographically by Larry Kramer. Through the autobiographical nature of the work, I believe greater depth and truth about the epidemic is revealed. Kramer showcases hardships that were overlooked during the crisis such as the early dismissal of the disease within the gay community. After experiencing the sexual liberation period of the 1970's, gay men rejected the notion of being told to practice abstinence out of fear it would undo the progress they were
beginning to see. From here Kramer depicts dif f erent reactions as the severity of the disease rapidly increases. Many were living in fear, unable to garner support due to homophobia as well as the fact that many men who could have supported the cause were still in the closet. Understanding that Kramer could not pose a completely accurate depiction of events, I believe that the recorded experiences do bring up hidden truths for unlike other creators, this piece was more than an opportunity for prof i t; it was a call for attention. I believe this is amplif i ed by the time at which the play first debuted, 1985. This was still at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and although progress had been made since 1981, the epidemic was being brushed under the rug and viewed with shame. To make a play which portrays the consequences of failing to respond to the AIDS epidemic in the hopes of prof i t and fame seems unlikely. With this background information, the already emotional events of the f i lm become substantially more heart wrenching. Due to its underlying theme, death is inevitably a large part of the f i lm and the author tactfully plays with the audience's exposure. Initially the audience is told of deaths and as the f i lm continues and viewers are exposed to more information, deaths begin to become increasingly closer to the main character. The f i lm gave viewers some insight on how the epidemic was viewed; we begin with not understanding its severity but were familiar with the events taking place even if they haven't af f ected us personally. Then the epidemic grows, and the ef f ects begin to reach closer and closer
to us until it's