Rose Nylund vs. the Stigma of AIDS
Added 2022-01-20 20:11:14 +0000 UTC“72 Hours” (February 17, 1990)
We figured the only proper way to start this season would be to say goodbye to Betty White — and a great way to do that would be to discuss a Golden Girls episode where Rose takes an HIV test. Not only does it showcase a wider range of Betty’s acting chops, but it’s also a great kickoff to a new sort of episode we’ll be covering on GEE in the future: very special episodes about HIV and AIDS. Even if there are no LGBT characters in this episode, the subject matter hit home for the community — and the fact that so many AIDS/HIV episodes revolved around the heterosexual experience of the disease is itself very telling.
Goodbye, Betty. You will be missed.
Read NPR’s piece “What The Golden Girls Taught Us About AIDS”
“Why Was HIV/AIDS Never Discussed on Will & Grace?”
The episode of Date With the Angels we discuss is “Brown Derby” — worthwhile watching for Betty White completionists
The pilot to the Alfred Molina series Ladies Man, with a stacked female cast that included Betty, is also on YouTube
Listen to our previous AIDS episode, “Julia Sugarbaker Plans a Gay Funeral”
Purchase the first issue of Drew and Glen’s new comic anthology, Beyond Sunset.
Go shop at our TeePublic store!
Follow: GEE on Facebook • GEE’s Facebook Group • GEE on Twitter • GEE on Instagram • Drew on Twitter • Glen on Twitter
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And yes, we do have an official website! We even have episode transcripts courtesy of Sarah Neal. Our logo was designed by Rob Wilson. This episode’s art was designed by Ian O’Phelan.
This is a TableCakes podcast.
Comments
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Garrett Sander
2022-03-14 17:23:41 +0000 UTCI really enjoyed this episode. Y'all! Also, this really hit home in some ways, especially the discussion other comments have referenced. I know I still carry 'weight' with me today and feel many of these same feelings around sex.
Benjamin Rippel
2022-02-01 19:11:01 +0000 UTCYeah, having grown up Catholic our messaging wasn't much better. Yipes.
Drew Mackie
2022-01-27 04:42:33 +0000 UTCIt's fine.
Drew Mackie
2022-01-26 07:27:34 +0000 UTCThis episode gave me some new thoughts about the ways evangelical Christian youth leaders and public school sex educators in the 90s intentionally weaponized HIV/AIDS to create the association of pre-marital sex with death in their teen audiences. The fear they created is much less powerful than what gay boys of the era experienced and still carry, and less important to discuss - not trying to pull focus - but it’s a connection I never made before. Listening to this podcast episode made me even more angry at those people.
Erin Fletcher
2022-01-24 21:41:38 +0000 UTCI would love a St. Olaf play in the style of Our Town!
Erin Fletcher
2022-01-24 21:34:07 +0000 UTCI highly recommend TVtropes.com as a resource. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed They offered the following eps featuring HIV/AIDS plotlines: Unlike many other sitcoms, The Hogan Family also unashamedly addressed AIDS in one of the last episodes of the series, where David's best buddy Rich contracts AIDS. The episode shared Rich's last days and ends with his death. A season 4 episode of The Golden Girls has Sophia volunteering at the hospital. One of her favorite people to visit with is a young boy who is a patient. She encourages him by telling him, "One day, they'll find a cure." Considering that it's 1988, it could have been AIDS, or it could have been cancer, with a comment about his blood getting messed up by a bad transfusion heavily implies the former (the story took place right at the same time as the Ryan White story.) PS- You covered an ep of Fraggle Rock that was a thinly veiled AIDS-related ep. LOVE the pod! xoxo @spacedaisie
Jamie Aitchison @spacedaisie
2022-01-22 22:00:31 +0000 UTCI'm a queer male in my late 20s and I just learned about PrEP a few months ago when I had to take a specialized course for my medical-field job and chose a HIV medicine course. I also checked with a friend group (mostly gay guys in their 20s, wide geophraphic distribution) and knowledge about it was very hit and miss.
Blandon
2022-01-22 18:13:19 +0000 UTCRussel T Davies recently did an entire series about AIDS, entitled <i>It's a Sin</i>. I've heard very good things.
Seth Aaron Hershman has they she pronouns
2022-01-22 15:14:46 +0000 UTCWe shall do this!
Drew Mackie
2022-01-20 23:06:01 +0000 UTCIf you're interested in someone who has a background in AIDS art as you mentioned in the episode, my friend Taylor Nelson (he's also a patron) has written his thesis on AIDS art and studies the topic as a scholar.
Kacey Spadafora
2022-01-20 21:39:29 +0000 UTC
