Queen Latifah plays AIDS activist
By Edmund L. Sicam
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:22:00 11/21/2008
Filed Under: Entertainment (general), Cinema, Television
MANILA, Philippines—One of the harsh realities of life in the United States is the increasing number of Americans who contract AIDS, for which there’s no known cure yet. Many movies have tackled this issue and have concentrated on the suffering of dying HIV-positive patients. “Life Support,” which airs on Nov. 25 at 11 p.m. on HBO, looks at the problem from a different viewpoint.
In the words of director Nelson George, who also wrote the script, “It’s a story about the community of people in America who are dealing with HIV—not those dying from the virus, but those living with it. The true strength of the movie is that it’s about how difficult it is to forgive.”
Commitment
Queen Latifah plays Ana, who gets infected by sharing drugs with her husband. Realizing her mistake, she breaks away from her addiction and gets involved with Life Support, an AIDS outreach group. However, Ana’s commitment to her job jeopardizes her health and her shaky relationship with her daughter.
The actress sees Ana’s character as someone who is relentless. “Before, her passion might have been drugs, but with that being removed, that passion went to being an activist. She removed the drugs from her life and tried to repair her relationship with her daughter—and that’s what people in similar situations have to do, but it’s not as easy as it seems.”
Nelson is all praises for Latifah, a comedienne who was able to portray a very serious character. “In conversation, she would rather tell a joke than be serious,” observes Nelson. But, when the camera rolls, she brings an incredible level of emotion! We did an improv with some women, and Latifah began crying in the middle of it—which was unexpected—and it was quite powerful!”
Queen Latifah’s performance earned her Best Actress awards from the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild. Her character was based on a real person—Nelson’s sister, Andrea, who got the virus in 1992.
Recently, HBO invited some entertainment journalists to interview Nelson by phone. He said that one development that spurred him to do the movie was the increasing number of African-American women who gets infected with the disease—either through sexual contact or sharing infected needles through drug use. He stresses that it’s not about race—it’s more about economics. Even whites who live in poor areas get infected, because they have no access to treatment.
Prejudice
The director regrets that there’s still a lot of prejudice toward HIV patients. “It hasn’t gotten away. I did the movie to renew the discussion about AIDS, particularly among working-class women,” he shared.
“Life Support” is Nelson’s first feature film. He’s better known as an award-winning author. His writing credits include nine nonfiction books and five novels. He first got involved in the movie industry in the 1980s via Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It.”
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