ESPN Film's The Announcement aired tonight, detailing the events leading up to and following Magic Johnson's announcement that he had contracted the HIV virus. A fairly decent documentary overall, and it definitely brought back memories in many different ways for me as a sport fan and as someone who knows about the HIV/AIDS virus on a personal level.

My cousin, Keith, died of AIDS 15 years ago. He lived in California most of his adult life so I didn't have the chance to know him as well as I could have due to our difference in age and distance, but I still remember how family members basically turned against him over time once we learned of his diagnosis. Keith was also gay, so he had that whole "social blaming/stigma" aspect to deal with on top of now being sick. As we all know, watching family members change the way they feel about a loved one is never easy to witness.

It was a very weird time because people simply didn't know anything about the disease in the early 90's, as the documentary captured well. Everyone basically attributed the disease to the homosexual community or drug dealers; in other words, AIDS seemed much more like a punishment for wrongdoing. Even family members didn't know how to act around my cousin out of fear and confusion.

But Magic Johnson definitely helped change all of that. It certainly wasn't easy for him - as the film showed - and I can still remember the things people around me would say or assume about Magic following his announcement. Was he actually gay? Did he do drugs? Just a bunch of ignorant assumptions because people were exactly that: ignorant to the facts of the infection.

Anyway, it was a well-done film that I highly recommend catching when it is replayed.

see this is one of those things that makes me reinforce the "30 for 30" thing taking itself far more serious and important than it actually is. magic's announcement didn't change anything in the perception of the disease except that people were stunned that it happened to someone who wasn't gay. that didn't change the perception that AIDS was the "gay disease" overall.

i think the best representation of the bias and prejudice was demme's 1993 "philadelphia". not only does it show a gay man discriminated against, but it shows a gay man who comes to grip with his own problem, against a system that still had prejudice against him. HBO's "and the band played on" brought more things to light at the time, as well, than magic's announcement.

30 for 30 to me is overhyped and overdramatized. it oversells events that hopefully will bring illumination to situations we didn't really think about when we were growing up but it has the consistent urgency of ken burns who really wants you to believe this stuff had cultural significance at the time, and it really didn't overall. if it did, it wouldn't take 10-15 years to suddenly have a tell-all about the events. while some of the 30 for 30's like the story about the escobars and len bias have immediate impact; many of them, including reggie miller, the day of OJ, and the bartman game wind up being self indulgent filmmaking exercises rather than really eye-opening documentaries.

I'll agree that many of the stories covered on the 30 for 30 series do seem rather self-indulgent, however the Magic Johnson story was quite socially significant. It kind of showed people that they now "knew someone with the disease" from the perspective of being a fan of an athlete. You just don't always get that same individual personal connection with figures outside of a sport arena.

i kind of got on my soap box there--i just don't really recall much changing after he made that announcement, except that it made ripples in the sports world. AIDS still seemed to be considered a "gay disease"...and still in this country, i think it's regarded as such for the most part.

i can relate to your personal story, i have a friend who suffers from the disease and will most likely succumb to it someday, and i've known him for 16 years.

AIDS definitely is still seen as the "gay disease" most of the time, however possibly not to the extent it once was, IMO. People have at least had the opportunity to learn more about the infection over the years. One almost has to try to not know more about AIDS, or purposely choose to remain ignorant.

i forgot who made it, but i am fairly certain there's a california underground rap song called "magic johnson aids" which is probably worth your time.

_________________

It's overdramatized but there is nothing else out there even close to as good as it. If it was on HBO everyone would be acting like HBO has once again outclassed everyone.

Aren't all documentaries overdramatized though?

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

HBO has done classy enough stuff. i always thought their "america undercover" series was very low-key but eye-opening and usually outstanding.

30 for 30 on ESPN probably comes off as more self-serving, though, since ESPN force feeds everyone sports news nonstop.

Most documentaries come off as self-serving, whether it is glorifying Reggie Miller almost winning NBA titles or a guy eating nothing but bad food for 30 days and chronicling it or some guy no one has heard of from Michigan thinking he's owed an interview with the President of GM.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

that's a horrible analogy, since the latter 2 documentaries actually shed some light on things that many people didn't consider, and in the case of "super size me", actually changed the way mcdonald's did business (and changed legislation in school lunches and vending machines). but i don't think they're true documentaries, either. they're muckracking exposes. they're classified as documentaries but they're biased, which isn't what a true documentary is.

a good example would be the first "paradise lost" film. only the first. the next two are incredibly biased.

I'm only a casual viewer of documentaries but they seem to fall into a few categories.

1) Ones where the director is the star like mentioned above.
2) Ones about animals
3) Ones about pop stars
4) Everything else

The ESPN ones can be hit and miss but I'll put the Allen Iverson, Marcus Dupree, and some of the other ones up against just about any of the documentaries I know about. A sports documentary isn't going to be as hard hitting as something about unfair legal activity or people getting sick because of drilling.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

and i don't mean to sound like they need to always be about those things; it just strikes me as unnecessary with all the hooplah in some of the 30 for 30's. some of the stories warrant it, but in some cases...we are just talking about sports here. that's where my problem lies. they make a documentary with the same fervor someone would make one about the fires of kuwait or coups in south america. just strikes me as a little silly.

I agree with that. Some of them are more entertainment pieces than anything. I loved Reggie Miller and still do but I do have to laugh that they were celebrating a bunch of Pacers/Knicks battles that resulted in 0 NBA titles combined.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!