Don Francis felt more passionately about the HIV disease research and helping patients than any of his coworkers.. It came as no surprise that the outburst at the blood bank industry came from Francis. At first I did not think his words would have an impact on the blood bank. However, as soon as he brought up the financial consequences of rejecting hepatitis testing for HIV, such as getting sued, the entire mood in the room changed. I felt myself secretly cheering him on throughout the entire movie and this scene was no different.
I was upset at the governments stand on the disease because they kept putting it off financially. There was never “enough money” to screen all the blood because it was never a pressing issue until it was too late when several had gotten infected and /or died. The government was too busy thinking about politics to be thinking about the publics’ health.
At the time, having HIV suggested that you were probably a promiscuous homosexual. People treated HIV as something that “gay men get” and tried to ignore it until they realized HIV was something that was sexually transmittable to everyone. People treated “GRID” (Gay related immune deficiency) as if it was God’s punishment for their sexuality.
If heterosexuals were just as hard initially, there would have been immediate attention on the issue. The blood banks definitely wouldn’t have infected as many people because the press would be all over it. The public would demand it.
One character that stood out to me the most was Don Francis. He was also so sincere and genuine in his fight to help patients with HIV. He did not try to get credit for the retrovirus. He just wanted to make sure the public was getting the resources and testing they needed. Don Francis stood up for research when no one believed there was a reason to care.
Jim Curran was always using the government as a crutch to say