by Kal Petkov
To add a little context, Leto’s character in the movie is a transsexual man with AIDS in mid 1980’s Texas. McConaughey’s character, Ron, who also has AIDS but is not gay, smuggles and sells illegal drugs (unapproved by the FDA) from Mexico which help alleviate symptoms and increase the overall health of people with AIDS.
I believe the movie relates to well to, and has many similar topics as our last novel: Queer Latino Testimonio, which spoke a lot about the stigma surrounding gays with regards to AIDS in the mid-late 80’s and early 90’s. The main connection between this movie and Queer Latino Testimonio is the subject of AIDS and how the gay male community was singled-out or scapegoated for the spread of the disease. A good example of this in the movie was when McConaughey’s character first discovered he had AIDS. His friends immediately cast him out of their circle and accused him of being a “faggot”. Similarly, there was a negative image surrounding the famous artist Keith Haring with regards to his sexuality and why he had
contracted the disease.