Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Gone Too Soon
I picked the song Gone Too Soon by Michael Jackson, a song dedicated to those lost in the AIDs crisis, because I was curious about such a big epidemic that swept through our nation just 20-30 years ago. Looking back now, most of the opinions the general public had at the time about HIV and AIDs seem almost archaic. I never fully studied or understood the AIDs epidemic and social movement that followed, so I knew I wanted to pick a song about this movement that would also help me to better understand culture in the United States at this time. What makes Gone Too Soon so special is the video. The video is dedicated to Ryan White, a young boy who came in contact with AIDs through a medical needle, not through sexual intercourse. Ryan White was then banned from his public middle school because AIDs was such a taboo and castigated infection at the time in America. More than 5 years after the court cases and media scrutiny that followed Ryan White at the time, he passed away due to his infection. Michael Jackson befriended Ryan White after he was banned from public school and knew him personally, which is evident in the emotional reflection of the video. Instead of allowing Ryan White's tragic story to be passed along in the ever-changing news cycle, Michael Jackson created this tribute to remind America that AIDs can happen to anyone, and that it is nothing to take lightly.
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I actually read Ryan White's book when I was younger. It was an interesting story because he talked about how he had to watch videos of his classes because he couldn't go to school. Everyone thought he was contagious but AIDS isn't contagious unless it's spread through body fluids. So, my question is why Ryan White? How could the hospitals have prevented this case? What I mean by that is the hospital is supposed to check for STDs in blood before allowing it to be transfused... So what happened at the hospital?
ReplyDeleteI have limited knowledge on the AIDs and HIV crisis and you gave a great synopsis of Ryan White's life. "Gone Too Soon" was Michael Jackson's tribute to Ryan White and was his way of promoting education on the topic of AIDs/HIV. The general public made assumptions and stereotyped those with the disease because the lack of knowledge and information about it. How did Jackson's song directly affect the public? Did it successfully bring about a social change in AIDs/HIV awareness?
ReplyDeleteIt was rad to see someone talk about this. I had very slim knowledge of this problem/movement and it seems that you did too before you started the paper. I like how you chased your interests. It is also interesting the Michael Jackson sang about this topic. Do you think him as a host made it an efficient movement itself? How big of a crowd was the AIDs crisis protesters? Do you think that the amount of people involved in the movement effected its power throughout the movement?
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