Frontdesk by David Waggoner
Today’s reality is sometimes yesteryear’s as well. “Who gets HIV” today is a whole new group of people, isn’t it? After all, in the early eighties it was mostly gay men; in the nineties, the largest increase was among people of color; and now one-quarter of all new infections in the U.S. are among those who cannot even legally drink in most states.
As Andrea Bowen, in this month’s cover story tells us: “Teenagers are going to have sex; it’s just part of growing up and it’s the way it is.” Wise words from the mouths of babes, you say. But maybe it’s our youth who have known the truth all along. Ms. Bowen, costar of television’s mega-hit Desperate Housewives, stars in one of the summer’s most important films. You can’t see it at the multiplex, though. Premiering Monday, June 25 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Lifetime Television, Girl, Positive in many ways takes us back to another story, one that scared so many young men and women (and their parents) fifteen years ago. Girl, Positive reminds me of a real-life young woman, Alison Gertz, who died from AIDS in 1992. Here was a young Park Avenue woman who was infected—similar to Bowen’s character—after only a single sexual encounter (in Gertz’s case it was from her first sexual encounter, with a bisexual bartender). Times change, but the stories often remain the same. Gertz was a major AIDS activist in the late 1980s and early 1990s, who later died from the disease. During her brief illness (only four years), Gertz’s accomplishments were many, including being voted Woman of the Year by Esquire magazine. Later a film starring Molly Ringwald was well-received and brought further attention to the AIDS epidemic.
But unfortunately it didn’t bring enough attention, as AIDS education and sex ed classes have failed us—as so eloquently dramatized in Girl, Positive. The made-for-TV movie is as realistically scripted as it is subtly crafted. As Chael Needle, A&U’s Managing Editor, states, Andrea Bowen’s television character is your average girl-next-door type: “Rachel Sandler, a high school senior who plays soccer, drives her best friend to school.…can probably text her friend without looking at her cellphone key pad but cannot tell her mother that she is sexually active, or on the pill, or even that she has a tattoo.” That, in a nutshell, is the dilemma facing all too many teens in the era of MySpace: poor communication skills when it comes to one-on-one. And communication is the key to preventing HIV transmission. From high schools (and junior high schools) that downplay safe sex messages, to parents who aren’t involved in their children’s sexual health, to a culture that promotes sexual promiscuity but is afraid to advertise condoms, mixed messages like these become poor models for our youth.
One thing we don’t want to do is be confusing. Kids want guidelines. They want to know that their parents are not just a channel on TV that they can turn off. On the other hand, we should show, not tell. If you are an HIV-negative parent, go for an HIV test before your kids do and lead the way. And promoting something as ethereal and impractical a concept as sexual abstinence-only is not a good idea. If abstinence is your only choice then it is not really a choice and can become instead a deadly reality.
As much as Girl, Positive suggests that kids need guidance, the film also suggests that kids need choices. And that can happen if we create an environment that supports communication rather than suppresses it. Prevention messages need to be on the lips of peers, parents, teachers, and principals; they need to be in film, on TV, and an integrated part of the Internet. And they need to be based on celebration rather than fear. Now there’s a life-saving lesson plan that shouldn’t be deleted from our inboxes.
June 2007 |
