Diagnosed with HIV and given only 30 days to live, Ron Woodroof’s fight to survive paints a disturbing picture of the stark social divides in the Deep South during the height of the United States’ HIV/AIDS crisis in the mid-1980s – a dark period in American history that remains relatively ignored today.
Directed by Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallee and inspired by true events, “Dallas Buyers Club” is a trenchant and eye-opening commentary centered on the protagonist Woodroof, a rodeo cowboy and oilfield electrician, who struggles with, and later comes to terms with his HIV diagnosis.
He is a stereotypical Texas redneck in 1980s Dallas. He smokes, drinks, uses drugs, has lots of casual, unprotected sex and is overtly homophobic. Matthew McConaughey, who lost 50 pounds to play the role of Woodroof, delivers an emotional and fearless performance in the film, which many have called a serious contender for Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.
The movie intertwines multiple plot conflicts that depict the full crisis. Other than Woodroof’s internal conflict between his former self and his infected self, a battle between the government and AIDS community takes a prominent role in the movie. The movie portrays the FDA as bullies who refuse to legalize AIDS treatment that is proven to work – and it is the FDA who Woodroof crusades against.
Jared Leto plays a charismatic, transgender named Rayon and gives an impressive and touching performance. Rayon also has AIDS and helps Woodroof create a “club,” which helps provide treatment, not available or legal in the United States, to those infected with the virus. Woodroof’s treatment of Rayon marks his transformation in the movie from an insulting and intolerant homophobe to a compassionate and inclusive member of the HIV positive community. The line that stands outside his office, which grows longer and longer as the movie progresses, also symbolizes his increasing connection with the people whom he once despised. He even gets into a fist fight with a former friend who refused to shake hands with Rayon.
Dallas Buyers Club is far from a feel good story, but it accurately depicts the multitude of obstacles that members of the HIV/AIDS community had to overcome in the 1980s. Some of the film’s plot points have been challenged as fiction or an embellishment of the truth, but the overall story and characters still correctly illustrate the conflicts of the era.
So while many high school students do not know the true gravity of the HIV/AIDS crisis and how it affected millions of people – the topic is often overlooked in schools and textbooks– “Dallas Buyers Club” does it justice.
