Did you just watch "A Normal Heart"...

[Agschmid]

Tough to watch, even tougher to live through it. Everyone should watch it and here is why.

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/television/2014/05/ryan_murphy_s_hbo_version_of_the_normal_heart_reviewed.html

[sheshe2]

1. I did, yes.

I agree, it was tough to watch. I feel kind of shell shocked right now.

[Agschmid]

2. Me too.

I'm too you I wasn't even born until 1985 but I watched with family who lived through the crisis in the 1980's and they shared their experiences with me.

[madfloridian]

3. Reagan was a real...

sob about it. That interview Ruffalo's character had at the WH was a real sick thing to watch.

AND did you catch their comment about about the first lady....she gave the best blow jobs in Hollywood.

But I had tears from the middle to the end. Hard to see Matt Bomer's role, he looked so terribly sick.

[Agschmid]

4. The WH scene was terrible, but you know it happened.

Yes I was a wreck for a good portion of the movie.

[madfloridian]

5. I remember the criticism of Reagan at the time.

Yes, that scene did happen.

Do you remember The Band Played On. That was so eye-opening to me. So sad and tragic that it was ignored. France had some answers for us and our leaders refused to listen or cooperate.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106273/

[Agschmid]

6. Haven't seen it.

I need to watch that as well as the Dallas Buyers Club. Both are on my list now.

[DesertFlower]

13. the dallas buyer's club was great too.

[Agschmid]

15. It's on itunes I just have to rent it.

I'll have to read up on the story behind the film first.

Really there is so much I don't know about the history of the LGBTQIA community.

[murielm99]

7. I read the book

The Band Played On. Excellent book!

[DesertFlower]

10. yes. i saw it when it first came out and rented

it about a year ago to watch it again.

[Major Nikon]

19. Saint Ronnie's 2nd marriage was out of necessity

Nancy managed to get on the black list and as president of SAG, Saint Ronnie was the man to see about such things. A little quid pro quo later and Nancy got knocked up. Had they not gotten married, the scandal would have destroyed both of their careers.

It wouldn't suprise me if Frank Sinatra had to find out for himself if the rumors were true.

[madfloridian]

20. Was he already divorced from Jane Wyman at that time?

I can't remember. I do remember Bedtime for Bonzo...Ronnie's great masterpiece.

[Major Nikon]

21. Supposedly

The official version says Nancy started dating Saint Ronnie AFTER his divorce was finalized, but it's not as if they were going to tell anyone if the quid pro quo started before then.

[DesertFlower]

8. i just watched it. can't stop crying.

i'm 72 years old and lost more people to AIDS than to normal causes.

in '90-'91 i did volunteer work at phoenix "shanti" -- advocates for people with HIV and AIDS. the training to become a volunteer was intense -- 2 weekends. we weren't allowed to leave the premises for lunch -- had to bring our own. had facilitators around us all the time during breaks.

i came home one day after the training and couldn't even speak to my husband.

unfortunately my own health wasn't good and i had to stop the volunteer work.

[Agschmid]

12. Thank you for the work you did.

[DesertFlower]

17. i was assigned a "buddy" to work with.

got to know his family. his mom was so grateful. it wasn't something she could talk about at work. i also did some part time work in the office -- they had a small "hospice". i updated charts, gave out soap, shampoo, etc to the patients, answered phones.

the worst part was when my "buddy" was admitted to maricopa county hospital. that place was awful. i cooked chicken soup and brought it to him in a thermos.

[madfloridian]

14. I was a teacher in the 80s.

While that fool Reagan twiddled his fingers and played political games with a whole population of our country.....we as teachers were dealing with confused and fearful parents. Many did not even let their kids go to PE as they might get injured. Very little info to use to inform them....that's why I so resent Reagan.

[pinto]

16. Thank you.

[yeoman6987]

22. I did not watch it

I don't have HBO, but also was born in 1969 so I did not really know much about it. I may rent it on Amazon when it is released.

[madfloridian]

9. Great posts, many by cast, at Twitter #TheNormalHeart hashtag.

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23thenormalheart&src=typd

As someone said there, so many of us learned about the shameful way our country acted on this issue from The Band Played On.

And they said this generation will have The Normal Heart to inform them.

[madfloridian]

18. More great posts coming up at the twitter feed. Well worth reading.

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23thenormalheart&src=typd

[octoberlib]

11. I'm watching it right now.

[newfie11]

23. I worked in a level 1 trama center in the 70s when AIDS first showed up

We saw mostly men with it. I have never in my life felt so very sorry for a patient. Just walking 3 feet away from the stretcher you could feel the heat radiating off them. Ive seen some very ill people but NO ONE deserves this horrendous disease.

These young men, and there were 3 or 4 that summer, were all far from home and vacationing. They knew no one or each other and were all alone.

I'm not sure if they all lived, transferred back to their home, or passed away.

My work with them was in radiology.

[Are_grits_groceries]

24. I lived near DC in the '80s.

It was a scary and horrible time. Lost so many friends.

I read "The Band Played On" when it first came out. Saint Ronnie? Bah!