Dallas Buyers Club is based on a true story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1985. The movie opens with him enjoying a threesome with two women at a rodeo. He’s a carefree individual, spending time at the rodeo and working as an electrician. While at work one day, he is involved in an accident that sends him to the hospital. He is informed that he has AIDS and only has 30 days left to live.
After spending a day or two in denial, he decides he’s going to fight his disease. He attempts to enter an AZT drug trial, but can’t get into the program. As this was the only approved drug at the time, he bribes his way into getting the drug. The hospital eventually discovers that someone is stealing AZT pills so security is tightened. He finds his way to Mexico where a doctor convinces him about the value of other drugs and the negative side effects of AZT. As Ron mentions in the movie, his goal becomes not to suppress HIV, but to find a way to boost his body’s ability to fight back against AIDS. Since none of the drugs in Mexico are approved by the FDA, he smuggles the drugs into Dallas. He soon sets up a buyers club to help others suffering from HIV/AIDS.
When watching “inspired by true events” movies, I like to do a little research to determine just how much truth versus fiction is in the movie. I read two articles about this. The biggest composite character is Rayon (Jared Leto), a transgender woman, who becomes Ron’s business partner. Rayon does represent the connection that was made with the homosexual community when Ron started up the Dallas Buyers Club. There is a question on rather or not Ron was as homophobic as the movie portrays him. The two articles disagree about Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner) who becomes a supporter of Ron’s efforts; one article considers the character fictional while another states that Dr. Saks was a male doctor. There are a handful of other discrepancies, but none in my opinion – including the ones above – are egregious.
What I found interesting about the movie was the tensions between the Dallas Buyers Club, the local hospital doing the AZT drug trial and the FDA. Ron insisted that AZT was a drug that did more harm than good. There was an interesting confrontation that took place when it was pointed out that Ron had taken a drug that had given him a heart attack. He argued that at least he tested the drug on himself before giving it to others versus the AZT trials. Admittedly, the drugs he was taking were approved by other countries, just not the FDA. At the same time, AZT was bypassing animal testing and going straight to human testing. On the other hand, at the time, there was no expectation that an individual could live a long life with HIV. Those in the drug trials were doing exactly what Ron was doing, voluntarily taking a drug that might help. In fact, those in the AZT trials were at least providing statistical data that could determine the usefulness of the drug while Ron was just testing on himself without even knowing if there were any real benefits. And since he was actually providing drugs to those in the AZT trials, he was creating bad data for the hospital. In the end notes of the movie, it states that it was eventually found out that AZT was a useful component of the cocktail drugs, but at lower doses than were initially being provided. The one entity the movie provides little cover for is the FDA, which stood in the way of Ron at every turn. There is a question in the movie that everyone must ask themselves: is the FDA an institution that should try to protect patients from unapproved drugs or should they be more lenient especially in cases of a new and deadly diseases such as AIDS?
Of course, this movie is much more than a political triangle and I am probably focusing way too much on that topic. It is just one topic brought up in the movie, but it is the one that intrigued me. I love how the movie brings up the idea that many of our racist, sexist, homophobic, etc etc tendencies are driven by our lack of interaction with those different from us. Though I’m not sure Ron (the character, not the actual individual) ever felt fully comfortable around homosexuals, he clearly developed empathy. And what makes Ron such a compelling character isn’t just his wild ways, but his fight to live. He doesn’t give up when told he has 30 days left to live. Here’s a cornered guy who decides to find a way out of the corner.
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