The Song Lives On

Last night I watched the HBO debut of Life Support, the movie with Queen Latifah in which she stars as Anna, a woman living with HIV, and her subsequent community activisim and dealing with her personal demons as a result of said illness (and the events that led up to it).It was a pretty good flick, even if it was only one hour. The movie was produced by Jamie Foxx, and I was glad to see his name behind the scenes for once. I think he even sang on the soundtrack.

There was a lot of quality star power in the movie besides Queen Latifah: Wendell Pierce (Anna's husband, Slick), Anna Deavere Smith (who played Anna's mother. If you don't know who she is, then go outside and kill yo'self...after you Google her), Gloria Reuben (a fellow Life Support group leader and staff member). Evan Ross did a very credible job as Amare, a gay crackhead with full-blown AIDS. Tracee Ellis Ross, as his sister Tonya, did an unconvincing job as a reformed hood rat who still lived in the projects. Even when she was speaking Ebonics, she still sounded like she was delivering a speech to an audience of professors. And she was supposed to be in/from the Brooklyn projects? Nah, son.

However...I kinda understood her point of view. It's hard watching someone die, especially when you were close to that person and knew that their behavior got them to this point...they didn't have to die.Wendell Pierce was very poignant. I mean...to watch someone have to dose up on 12 horse pills a day because of something you did or did not do...that is some serious karma for you.

Anywho...the movie addressed the complexities of living with HIV from a woman's perspective, and the impact the virus has on relationships (and/or lack thereof) within a woman's life. The movie also brought back some memories, particularly when I heard some of the commentary of the folks who were watching the movie with me.

My aunt died of complications due to AIDS in 1995; she was diagnosed in January 1994 and dead by August 1995. Her ex-husband was a heroin addict. She left him due to his addiction but contracted the disease when she decided to reconcile. My cousin, their daughter, was and remains HIV-negative (she is 23 now). She was one of my favorite aunts and it was difficult to watch her die.She struggled with many of the things that the women in the Life Support group spoke of: anger; depression; simply wanting to be touched without fear; dating.

In the movie, Queen Latifah's character Anna said that when her husband Slick called her from prison and suggested that she be tested for HIV, she knew that not only did he have it, but she probably did too. My aunt once said that when she got a call telling her that her ex-husband was in the hospital and he was dying due to AIDS, she knew that she may have been infected as well. I suspect that she knew long before that, but I digress. Anywho...her decision to go back to her husband may have been deemed stupid on her part, especially since she paid the ultimate price for her decision.

She did not adhere to her HIV treatment. Her behavior and mindset was much like that of Amare, who pretty much gave up on himself and his life when a series of bad choices led to people giving him tough love and letting him sink or swim on his own. He chose to sink, but he tried to enjoy himself as much as possible as he drowned.

We did not give my aunt tough love, but rather unconditional love. Still, she got sick and tired of being sick and tired. And while we tried our best to shield her, the world is very cruel to that which it does not understand. Because she willingly went back to her HIV-infected husband (even if she didn't know), she was seen as being at fault for her illness; however, she would have been seen as blameless had she contracted HIV via a blood transfusion, or something like that.

Gotta love the skewed view of the world.

Anywho, the movie brought back the complicated emotions present when dealing with a loved one who has HIV/AIDS. I hope people watch the movie and take what they need from it, especially black women: we are now the demographic with the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS infection in the United States.

Ladies, use your head as well as your heart. Let's protect ourselves. Let's protect each other. And while love is not enough, it is certainly important.Thanks for stopping by.