The HIV plague The Depiction of the Gay Society

Heart also uses the story above which at that time has not been published to the community yet as one of the scene on the play. BRUCE. [calling from off] Where do I go? Where do I go? EMMA. Quickly put him on the table. What happened? BRUCE. He was coming out of the building and he started running to me and then he…then he collapsed to the ground. EMMA. What is going on inside your bodies [CRAIG starts to convulse. BRUCE, MICKEY, and NED restrain him. She takes a tongue depressor and holds CRAIGs tongue flat; she checks the pulse in his neck; she looks into his eyes for vital signs that he is coming around,- CRAIGS convulsions stop.] You the lover? Kramer, 1985:20 The quotation above has a similarity of action by the characters regarding with the actual event that occurred on November as written by Altman, whom is a New York Times journalist. Bruce Niles can be considered as Enno Poersch, the boyfriend of the victim who is Nick Rock or in this case, Craig. This is the beginning of the mysterious plague that is soon spread throughout the States. Craig is the first ever victim of HIVAIDS according to the play. In the first scene of act one, Craig was collapsed on the road and Bruce, Mickey and Ned is there with him. Although it is unclear how long and how do they bring Craig, in the end he ended in Emma‘s hospital. Emma‘s reaction to Craig‘s body indicates that Craig is not her first patient. Despite not her first, this disease is still a mysterious one. There is also another point of interest in the text below. EMMA. Long before we isolated the hepatitis viruses we knew about the diseases they caused and how they got around. I think Im right about this. I am seeing more cases each week than the week before. I figure that by the end of the year the number will be doubling every six months. Thats something over a thousand cases by next June. Half of them will be dead. Your two friends Ive just diagnosed? One of them will be dead. Maybe both of them. NED. And you want me to tell every gay man in New York to stop having sex? EMMA. Who said anything about just New York? NED. You want me to tell every gay man across the country - EMMA. Across the world Thats the only way this disease will stop spreading. NED. Dr. Brookner, isnt that just a tiny bit unrealistic? EMMA. Mr. Weeks, if having sex can kill you, doesnt anybody with half a brain stop fucking? But perhaps youve never lost anything. Good-bye. et al. The dialogue above take place in Emma‘s office after the death of Craig. In her office, Emma also examine Ned for any signs of the disease. After examining him, Emma propose a motion to Ned concerning gay men worldwide. In this scene, Larry Kramer also dictates the situation of this disease. Without any knowledge whatsoever, without any direction to solve and help the victims of HIV, the helplessness of the character in the story is seen through the character actions. Emma‘s first line above includes a brief comparison between AIDS and hepatitis. The first step in eradicate or containing a virus is to discover and learn how the virus spreads. Emma‘s only supposition regarding the disease is sexual transmission. If gay men do not stop having sex, the victim will be doubled by the second year. Through the looking glass of Ned, Dr. Emma ‘s suggestion is something that gay men have been strive for years and to immediately end it is an impossible task even with the current situation they are in. by the end of this scene, Emma get upset with Ned‘s reaction as he refers to die and have sex rather to live and have safe sex. FELIX. Arent you worried about contagion? I mean, I assume I am about to become a leper. EMMA. Well, Im still here. FELIX. Do you think theyll find a cure before I… How strange that sounds when you say it out loud for the first time. EMMA. Were trying. But were poor. Uncle Sam is the only place these days that can afford the kind of research thats needed, and so far weve not even had the courtesy of a reply from our numerous requests to him. You guys are still not making enough noise. FELIX. Thats Neds department in our family. Im not feeling too political at the moment. Kramer, 1985: 66 Scene 10 is the defining act that describe the whole situation regarding HIVAIDS. The dialogue above is between Felix, Ned Weeks boyfriend who is a New York Times journalist. Scene 10 is approximately around a year after Ned and Felix gets together one year after the first scene. At this point, it is still unclear whether or not Ned already has the disease. Felix secretly visited Emma in her office to check on his rapidly declining condition. Eventually they find out that Felix has HIVAIDS. It is stated by Emma that after one year, she still has no cure or any indication to find the cure of this disease. The scene above depicts how Emma is still clueless even after a year of handling HIVAIDS patients. The author has already stated about how dangerous this mysterious disease is especially with only a handful of people that is active and tries to stop this epidemic. This is only a matter of time that the world is about to start to count more and more bodies by the minute. to summarize, the HIVAIDS epidemic is not clearly stated as what we call today. There‘s no hard proof that it is AIDS except the fact that it attacks the human immune system. In the first scene of the play, Emma stated few facts only known symptoms of AIDS.

4. Denial from the Society

MICKEY. Well, Ill certainly write about it in the Native, but Im afraid to put it in the stuff I write at work. NED. What are you afraid of? MICKEY. The city doesnt exactly show a burning interest in gay health. But at least Ive still got my job: The Health Department has had a lot of cutbacks. Kramer, 1985:15 Another depiction of society according to the play is about the social acceptance of Homosexual especially homosexual men. The term homosexual is often categorized as a form of psychological disease, instead of gay are more to the lifestyle. From Mickey‘s final line above, he stated that the city is not interested in gay health, although 16 people are dead. The city means New York City and Mickey works for the Health Department in there. Instead of helping, the Health Department chooses to neglect the health issue because of the people that affected are ‗merely‘ homosexual. Another point to be taken is how Mickey realize how he and his friends are neglected, instead of fight the system, Mickey chooses to bolster his job and even give credit to The Health Department. In this scene, Mickey is talking to Ned and to tell the reader about his characteristics. The evidence from the statement above can be seen in scene 7 of the play. NED. Why are you yelling at me for what Im not doing? What The fuck is your side doing? Wheres The goddamned AMA in all of this? The government has not started one single test tube of research. Wheres the board of directors of your very own hospital? You have so many patients you havent got rooms for them, and youve got to make Felix well . . . So what am I yelling at you for? Kramer, 1985: 53 The scene above is taken from page 53, scene 7. At this latter stage of the play, the government should have noticed about the epidemic regarding gay all over the state. Ned clearly states that the government does not do any single action that help homosexual. Whilst the government does not take any action and passively waits. From the forward script of the play by Joseph Papp Papp, 1985: 8, the scene above is approximately around one year from the first scene. This means that the labeling theory in homosexual can be seen as a deviant role in the society even at this crucial stage of the epidemic spread. This is the phase whereas the government notices about the AIDS spreading throughout New York City state. Instead of intervene, the government chooses to neglect the fact that there are already 238 cases for a single doctor. EMMA. Dont be on my side I dont need, you on my side. Make your side shape up. Ive seen 238 cases me: one doctor. You make it sound like theres nothing worse going around than measles. et al. The dialogue above is taken from Scene 6 of the play. Taken place in Ben‘s office, Ned‘s older brother who works as a successful lawyer for years. Both of them have a good relationship, but not as good as it seems. In this scene, Larry Kramer wanted to introduce another point of interest in this play. The definition of Gay often scare people, not only by the majority of people, but also Gay men family can be the victim of this.