Worth: $15.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Stephen Bennett, Melissa Rivers, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Alison Arngrim, Elizabeth Taylor
Intro:
… emotionally affecting …
The ‘80s has been a source of nostalgia for a while, but this documentary may make you wonder why people are getting so dewy-eyed – Commitment to Life makes that decade look like the Dark Ages, with Ronald Reagan in the White House and homophobia rife.
“It was discrimination that killed a lot of us because we weren’t given credibility that we were important enough to the research and the treatment,” says Stephen Bennett, the Former Executive Director of the AIDS Project Los Angeles. Bennett is one of many talking heads in this documentary, who provides a historical record of how HIV/AIDS played out in the Los Angeles area as well as the effect that celebrities had in destigmatising people living with the diagnosis.
The extensive archival footage makes this feel like a time capsule. It takes its name from an annual HIV/AIDS fundraising event and includes snippets of a swag of celebrities – from gay icon Barbra Streisand to Elton John hilariously camping it up as he sings ‘I Feel Pretty’.
The shiniest star is Hollywood doyen Elizabeth Taylor. When her friend and co-star – one-time Hollywood heartthrob Rock Hudson – revealed his battle with AIDS, Taylor took charge of bringing compassion and common sense into the debate. She was a trailblazer. She successfully lobbied another Hollywood alumni, Ronald Reagan, and co-founded the Foundation for AIDS Research. She made a substantial difference, both in terms of raising dollars and changing hearts and minds. There are plenty of ‘hooray for Hollywood’ moments, but it’s Taylor and her sincerity that leaves the deepest impression.
Produced and directed by Emmy-winner Jeffrey Schwarz (I Am Divine, Tab Hunter Confidential), this is no-frills, straightforward storytelling, yet it’s also emotionally affecting, particularly the first half as we watch the Republican government not even acknowledging the existence of HIV/AIDS, let alone doing anything about it. By the end of 1990, 100,000 Americans had died of AIDS-related illnesses; almost double the American lives lost fighting in Vietnam.
It’s sad viewing that gives way to hope and inspiration – hope via new treatments, and inspiration via fearless activists. Thanks to Taylor and other gutsy celebs (like Little House on the Prairie’s Alison Arngrim), Hollywood embraced the cause yet, ironically, many people that were HIV positive and working in Hollywood kept their diagnosis in the closet for fear of losing their jobs.
The theme of discrimination is at the core of this film and now with transphobia being the prejudice du jour, Commitment to Life makes you wonder if society has progressed since the 1980s. But it’s also a reminder about the power that film, television and celebrity to open people’s minds and help to combat discrimination.
