Am I missing something here? No one in the film ever mentions AIDS or HIV; it's always referred to by some euphemism or just a knowing look. But at the same time, these appear to be candid, frank characters who wouldn't be shy to say exactly what "plague" they talking about. I found this pretty odd.
shareAt the depicted point in time, nobody really knew what it was. The only thing people really knew was that it was predominant among the gay community. There were a lot of misconceptions of infections too, hence Steve Buscemi's character saying "Robert is afraid to come over here because he thinks he'll catch it." At that point, there were scientists who were working on medicines to cure it, because they knew it attacked the immune system. You should read the play "The Normal Heart" by Larry Kramer, it delves into the fear and confusion of the beginning of the outbreak in New York City.
shareI guess that's true. I figured by the time of the film's release people knew well enough, but I guess I'm mistaken. Or perhaps the film is set a few years back when people were still calling it things like "gay cancer". Thanks for the reply!
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Steve's character does say AIDS when he is expressing that he would like to give money to poor people with the disease.
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