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The documentary 5B is an extremely powerful piece of media. I have watched the film How to Survive a Plague, which is also about the epidemic, specifically AIDS activist groups, but I did not find it as impactful as 5B. I believe having the same nurses who worked on ward 5B speak to their experience, while also showing raw footage of their efforts during the outbreak, provides an element of reality to the film and forces viewers to recognize just how devastating the epidemic truly was.
One piece of information I found upsetting and had not considered prior to watching was how insurance providers responded to AIDS and the stigmas surrounding the disease. The film briefly mentions how insurance companies could not ask policy holders to disclose their sexuality, but providers instead sent out questionnaires to people, specifically men, who applied for coverage during the epidemic. These surveys asked questions such as “have you worked as a florist, hairdresser, etc.” in an attempt to judge masculinity and avoid providing coverage to homosexual men. Insurance companies added another layer of discrimination to an already marginalized group and perpetuated patient suffering by inducing the stress of an economic burden. It was stated in the film that it “is important for human beings to be there for one another,” and this truth extends beyond our immediate community and applies to corporations like insurance providers who are huge actors in an individual’s ability to manage sickness and disease.
In our current outbreak, Krispy Kreme has decided to provide healthcare workers with free doughnuts every Monday until the middle of May. Although doughnuts cannot cure COVID-19 or help with the main issues at hand, the company’s gesture sets an example and highlights how we all should be appreciating healthcare workers and doing what we can to help them help others. In Professor Thrailkill’s lecture, she explained how in the absence of a cure, care is an essential task. Care can take many forms, whether it is through pastries, in a hospital, or over Zoom, but no matter how we experience care, it is central to share during these uncertain times.
Hi Joyanne, great response to Poe’s piece! I found this reading so interesting and full of symbolism, such as the colors of the room, the clock, etc. I also saw a connection between the Red Death and the AIDS epidemic in how it was publicly viewed. In addition to certain/more-privileged groups feeling like the could avoid contracting AIDS, they also feared the disease and those it infected first, the homosexual population. This fear translated into hate and discrimination of gay men. People did not want to touch or be near homosexuals, regardless or not if they had AIDS, due to stigmas surrounding the disease. In the film 5B, we see how misconceptions regarding how AIDS spread influenced how AIDS patients were treated in most hospitals. Staff and nurses did not want to clean patient’s beds, remove their trash, take their breakfast trays, etc. because they believed it placed themselves at risk. This caused AIDS patients to be completely neglected and their personhood ignored during their time of suffering.
In Poe’s piece, the party attendees feared entering the black room with red windows because it reminded them of the Red Death. Once the figure in the blood mask and costume became apparent, people did not want to get close to it either, similar to how people did not want to get close to AIDS patients. As the fear of people in the castle grew, they attacked the masked figure, which reminds me of how homosexuals were physically attacked and ridiculed during the AIDS epidemic, and how AIDS patients were attacked mentally and emotionally out of fear of contraction. Both scenarios highlight how disease outbreaks and their narratives heavily influence our treatment towards one another and how fear shapes our response to the outbreak, whether that be responding with sadness, hatred, isolation, etc. However, Pricilla Wald emphasizes the need for these responses to maintain compassion and fairness to avoid discriminating against a certain group, such as homosexuals, since we are all socially and globally connected. One group should not be discriminated against for disease outbreaks because we all play a unique role in the interconnected system in which we exist.
The introduction to Pricilla Wald’s Contagious: Cultures, Carriers, and the Outbreak Narrative highlights the characteristics and societal response to disease emergence. Outbreak narratives shape attitudes towards disease and can have serious consequences in how a disease is understood (3). Friday’s lecture on the HIV/AIDS epidemic brought Wald’s ideas to life as we discussed how homosexual men were ridiculed and discriminated against during the spread of AIDS. The outbreak narrative of the AIDS epidemic disseminated information that promoted the stigmatization of homosexual men and misconstrued the nature of the disease in the public eye. The disease itself became stigmatized for being related to gay men, but in reality, other groups were at risk as well.
Similar discriminatory mindsets still exist and are revealing themselves amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. Referring to this pandemic as the “Chinese virus” inherently places blame on the Chinese population and encourages racist perceptions of disease outbreaks. Media discusses how people are avoiding Asian restaurants, Asian populated-areas (ex: Chinatown in New York), and Asian-owned businesses essentially due to the outbreak narrative of COVID-19, which emphasizes a baseless Chinese role in disease diffusion. Wald explains how there is a need for more effective, just, and compassionate responses to disease emergence in our world, and I could not agree more seeing current reactions to the coronavirus (3). Not only have we placed blame on the Chinese population for a worldwide outbreak, but many individuals, especially in my generation, are ignorant to the disease and the threat it poses. Younger people believe they are “safe” from the virus, and therefore choose to not socially distance or self-quarantine upon return from a populated spring break vacation. This reaction lacks compassion and consideration because although COVID-19 may be less severe and non-fatal for young adults, they can spread the virus to others who may not have the health, age, or resources to survive the infection. It is imperative we all do our part in both shaping an accurate outbreak narrative and responding to an outbreak in a way that fully considers the consequences of our actions.
