''When AIDS Was Funny'' is a 2015

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

short documentary film by Scott Calonico.

Summary

The film plays controversial audio of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

's acting press spokesman,

Larry Speakes Larry Melvin Speakes (September 13, 1939 – January 10, 2014) was an American journalist and spokesperson who acted as White House Press Secretary under President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1987. He assumed the role after Press Secretary Jame ...

, responding to questions by making

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

jokes on the escalating AIDS epidemic by journalist

Lester Kinsolving __NOTOC__ Charles Lester Kinsolving, known as Les Kinsolving (December 18, 1927 – December 4, 2018), was an American political talk radio host, previously heard on WCBM in Baltimore, Maryland. He is known for being the first White House ...

Background

The audio recordings are from several of the Reagan administration's press conferences in the 1980s. The audio is juxtaposed with images of AIDS patients at Seattle's

Bailey-Boushay House Bailey-Boushay House, founded June 24, 1992, is an inpatient long-term care facility and outpatient day health program for people with HIV/AIDS in Seattle, Washington, USA. It is an affiliate of Virginia Mason Medical Center. History Bailey-Bous ...

in the 1990s.

1982 exchange

The controversial dismissal of the growing AIDS epidemic is heard in the film through a series of press conferences in the 1980s, such as this 1982 exchange between Speakes and Kinsolving:Eilperin, Juliette (December 4, 2013
"How attitudes toward AIDS have changed, in the White House and beyond."
''Washington Post.'' (Retrieved 7-7-2014.)

References

{{Reflist

External links

''When AIDS Was Funny'' on IMDbThe entire film on Vanity Fair's official YouTube channel
2015 short documentary films HIV/AIDS Collage film 2015 films British short documentary films Films set in the 1980s