NOT A SIMPLE STORY/OUT IN SILENCE (TV)
Summary
This documentary, which is split into two separate
shorts, profiles the struggles of two Asian Pacific
Americans who are HIV positive. The first segment,
which runs for approximately eight minutes, follows
Robyn Tirrell, a young HIV-positive widow in Hawaii who
tours the state speaking about her disease. The woman
discusses the death of her husband from AIDS and the
fact that their young daughter continues to test
negative for the disease. The second segment, which
runs for roughly forty minutes, profiles Vince
Crisostomo, a resident of San Francisco who caught HIV
from a dishonest lover. The young man begins by talking
with a friend about the devastation AIDS has inflicted
on their community. One of the men states that he has
heard that "Asia is the next Africa in terms of AIDS,"
and the two reflect on what that possibility might mean
to them. Crisostomo's parents are then interviewed at
length about their son. The father claims that he was
not terribly perturbed at learning of his son's
homosexuality, but the mother expresses her prejudice
against it. "I was heartsick," she sighs. "It's
against our religion." Crisostomo then reveals that he
had always thought that Asians could not contract AIDS.
Still, he notes, he always used protection until he
entered into a long-term relationship with a lover who,
he explains, "insisted on unsafe sex." Later, he
recalls, as he sat with his boyfriend on the latter's
deathbed, the boyfriend revealed that he had known all
along that he had AIDS.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 2001/2002.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: April 30, 1997
- RUNNING TIME: 0:49:14
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:69316
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: AIDS (Disease)
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV, 1997
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jonathan Lee … Producer
- Christine Choy … Co-Producer, Director
- David Byrne … Music by
- Edward Choi … Music by
- Vince Crisostomo
- Robyn Tirrell