Angels in America question

[Silence = Death]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 9:48am

My roommate and I were watching the HBO version the other day and when Prior first shows Louis his lesion, she asked if they knew that he was sick before that point. I had always been under the impression that they knew he was sick, but this was the first sign of it getting worse. That always made sense to me until I thought about what she had asked and realized that it makes sense that this could be the first they know about it at all.

What is your take on this? First sign of him being sick or first sign of it getting worse?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 10:22am

I believe it was the first indication they got that he had AIDS. In 1985, the sudden appearance of an opportunistic infection was the way people found out they had AIDS.

[DrewBill]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:25am

The first HIV tests were not widely available until 1985-86, so it makes sense that Prior's lesions were probably the very first indication that he was ill.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 11:25am

I think now the lesion, which I assume is Kaposi's sarcoma, might be a sign of it getting worse, but then it probably was one of the first indications that he had AIDS. healthy young men don't just get Kaposi's sarcoma.

[Lumen2]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 12:26pm

I had this same question when I first saw it; Louis's reaction is not really one that would be expected if he hadn't known something was up ("That's just a burst blood vessel.") So I always assumed they both were aware Prior was HIV+.

But, on another tack, Louis says to Joe later that "I f*cked around a whole lot more than he did." so, we might consider they both were having a lot of "fun", and when they saw their friends dying (by 1983 AIDS was a recognized disease) perhaps they cooled off from their "fun" and waited to see if either of them were sick. Just a theory.

Although Kushner would probably say this is all inconsequential.