Film Dallas Buyers Club

A son of Texas, Ron Woodroof is an electrician and rodeo cowboy. In 1985, he is well into an unexamined existence with a devil-may-care lifestyle. Suddenly, Ron is blindsided by being diagnosed as H.I.V.-positive and given 30 days to live. Yet he will not, and does not, accept a death sentence. His crash course of research reveals a lack of approved treatments and medications in the U.S., so Ron crosses the border into Mexico. There, he learns about alternative treatments and begins smuggling them into the U.S., challenging the medical and scientific community including his concerned physician, Dr. Eve Saks. An outsider to the gay community, Ron finds an unlikely ally in fellow AIDS patient Rayon, a transsexual who shares Ron's lust for life. Rayon also shares Ron's entrepreneurial spirit: seeking to avoid government sanctions against selling non-approved medicines and supplements, they establish a "buyers club," where H.I.V.-positive people pay monthly dues for access to the newly acquired supplies. Deep in the heart of Texas, Ron's pioneering underground collective beats loud and strong. With a growing community of friends and clients, Ron fights for dignity, education, and acceptance. In the years following his diagnosis, the embattled Lone Star loner lives life to the fullest like never before.

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Let me first say that I think we all knew about the transformation that Matthew McConaughey had to go through for this role and he was outstanding in character. But for me, Jared Leto is the star in this movie. So much so that I actually forgot it was him playing Rayon. I would not say he stole scenes at all but he went a long way in supporting every scene he was in which epitomized how good he was in character. At first, you forget this movie is based in the mid 1980s so the acceptance of being gay, especially in Texas, is nowhere near how it is today. Rayon showed that even a partying cowboy like Ron Woodruff can be made into a whole person when you have a common cause of which the greater good is at stake. Go see it!

How was Bradford Cox? (Jared Leto's lover?)

I'm super interested in seeing this movie, it looks badass.

Saw this two nights ago. Hats off to McConaughey and especially Jared Leto. I usually hate Matt McConaughey but he was great in this film. What amazing dedication. Bradford Cox was an interesting addition to the film (was not expecting him to show up!) but his role was minor and he really didn't do much acting at all. I don't recall him saying anything actually, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, one of the most powerful and most important films of the year. I knew all about the FDA controversy and the protests surrounding their policies before seeing the film, but I actually had no idea about the buyers clubs popping up all over the country. Fascinating

Transcendence said:

Anyway, one of the most powerful and most important films of the year. I knew all about the FDA controversy and the protests surrounding their policies before seeing the film, but I actually had no idea about the buyers clubs popping up all over the country. Fascinating

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I know the FDA is a safeguard for us but when someone is diagnosed with an incurable disease/illness all they have left is hope. Hope comes in the form of any kind of treatment that may help and that is where the FDA is a hindrance rather than a good watch dog. If I were to get some new deadly virus and told I had 30 days to live, I would want to get my hands on anything that seemed reasonable to treat it. And that to me is reasonable, yes? I think if I were to sign a waiver and not hold the government accountable then I should be able to take any medicine I deem okay for said treatment. This problem and this film really give another perspective of how big Pharma's influence has reached into our government over the past 30 years (and probably much longer).

Wyld 4 X said:

I know the FDA is a safeguard for us but when someone is diagnosed with an incurable disease/illness all they have left is hope. Hope comes in the form of any kind of treatment that may help and that is where the FDA is a hindrance rather than a good watch dog. If I were to get some new deadly virus and told I had 30 days to live, I would want to get my hands on anything that seemed reasonable to treat it. And that to me is reasonable, yes? I think if I were to sign a waiver and not hold the government accountable then I should be able to take any medicine I deem okay for said treatment. This problem and this film really give another perspective of how big Pharma's influence has reached into our government over the past 30 years (and probably much longer).

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Even though I've never been in the situation like that of a AIDs patient back then or a cancer patient, I still kind of know what that feels like. I've suffered from debilitating depression and anxiety that has clouded my entire life. And depression IS a deadly disease that affects millions. The current pharmocopia of anti-depressants sucks, let's face it. At best they numb the lows, but they don't make you happy or wipe the slate clean like we know ketamine/methoxetamine and other arylhexamines can do. There are drugs like GLYX-13 that have gone through phase II trials, and shown to be safe and outrageously effective compared to our current drugs. Yet, people who are suicidally depressed will have to wait another half-decade AT BEST to see these come into to the market. Thousands who could have lived will be dead by then. Millions who could have turned around their lives will have sunk deeper into the shit.

As a scientist, I understand the need for clinical trials and why they take so long. But there needs to be a backdoor. I don't see why we can't have those most at risk just sign a fucking waiver and say "Hey, I understand this drug could have serious unknown long-term side effects. In the event of any harm I will not hold so and so responsible." There's no fucking reason at all I shouldn't have an ampoule of glyx-13 in my medicine cabinet right now. Instead I self medicate with tainted illegal drugs just so I can function at a basic level. So did my son. Maybe he'd still be alive if he didn't have to fucking eat opiates in order not to cry in the shower every morning. How many bullshit anti-depressants did he try? 20? And even that wasn't enough to get him into a clinical trial.

As for the whole AZT scandal (and vioxx and thalidomide and chantix and dozens of others) I can't really blame pharmaceutical companies or pharm reps. It's a business and they need the money to fund research into new drugs to begin with. But the doctors who are so educated yet take the word of a pharm rep who probably has a degree in film studies about the possible effects of a compound and what that compound is good for treating. It's absurd.