MovieChat Forums > Dope Sick Love (2005) Discussion > Sebastian

Sebastian

posted 19 years ago by vrumfelt
13 replies | jump to latest

In case no one is aware.... Sebastian is HIV positive and after all the sharing of needles with Michelle I am sure she is probably positive as well by now. I was on another message board and there was someone there that knew Sebastian and said he and Michelle were broken up and no longer see each other and that he had pretty much stopped scamming and now just holds a sign that says "Positive and Homeless, Please help." You can see the obvious decline in Sebastian during the movie. In the beginning he seems coherent and towards the end he becomes bone thin, weak-eyed, frail and also seems to acquire a couple Kaposi's Sarcomas on his face (the black spots on his face which he doesnt seem to have at the beginning but gets 2 or 3 at the end of the film). This condition is very common with AIDS. If you read the update on the producers page it states that after the film he went to jail and gained 100lbs and then started using again and got arrested again. I just don't understand how a person gets to this point but it's still sad and such a human waste.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] karrieelkins 19 years ago

I would like to read the Producers page to which you refer. Where sis you find it? I tried to find an update on this story on HBO.com, but not much there. Thanks for your help.

[–] vrumfelt 19 years ago

This is the link to the producers update page which i think is very out-of-date. Basically there's not much out there about this. I just happened to be on IRC one evening and there was someone on there that knew Sebastian and said he saw him frequently on the street begging. He even had a picture of him with the sign.

http://www.dctvny.org/productions/dope_sick/update.html

[–] julyqueen9-1 19 years ago

About two weeks ago while riding the train, I could've sworn I saw Michelle. She came on the train with a friend, she appeared to have put on a little weight, was wearing nice clothes, had a cell phone, etc. I heard "Michelle " talking to her friend, and it sounded exactly like her. Unless she's got a twin somewhere, I'm pretty sure it was her. And it looks like she cleaned herself up very well.

[–] wickidwaters 19 years ago

That would be great news if it were true. Usually, hard-core drug addicts like that have an almost zero percent of cleaning up. I think if anyone deserves a break in life, it is her.

I guess there's just two kinds of people... my kind of people, and @ssholes! ~~ Connie Marble

[–] dathaler 18 years ago

Maybe wickid, but I personally think her son is better off without her.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] mysticstarrzaftig 18 years ago

Who made you God? How do you get to decide who is human waste and who is not? So you hate AIDS when it is contracted by people in monogamous relationships and blood transfusions, but when it is contracted by dope fiend crack heads it is a-okay with you? AIDS should be eradicated. No one absolutely no one deserves this or any disease. Pick up the latest Newsweek where they have a very good article on the 25 years the World has been dealing with HIV. Educate yourself, please. Your attitude is one of the reasons why this disease is so widespread and rampant. Many people with the disease thought they were in a monogamous relationship.

[–] dr85 18 years ago

"AIDS should be eradicated." You're definitely right about this but there is no cure. I would advocate that all diseases especially AIDS/HIV be eradicated.

"No one absolutely no one deserves this or any disease." I still agree with you on this part. No one deserves the disease, but what can you say to someone who donated blood multiple times and contracted it by error? This person doesn't deserve it. What about a drug addict? Sure, by impulse they don't deserve it.. but you cannot sit there and tell me they won't get it after what they've done. It's like murdering innocent people in Texas and expecting to not get the death penalty? Cause and effect. Actions take AND require responsibility. I've donated blood multiple times(B+), have you?

"Pick up the latest Newsweek where they have a very good article on the 25 years the World has been dealing with HIV. Educate yourself, please. Your attitude is one of the reasons why this disease is so widespread and rampant."
Okay so you think an article in Newsweek is going to inform me about the accuracy of AIDS/HIV? Have you heard of the saying, 'There are lies. Damn Lies. And then comes statistics.' Also enlighten yourself about the pandemic of AIDS in South Africa. Show me that my attitude has a direct correlation to the widespread disease. I didn't know I was the reason why people shared needles with each other and had sex with them after.

"Many people with the disease thought they were in a monogamous relationship."
Okay so you're saying they thought they were, but they weren't in a monogomous relationship. What about those that ARE IN AN actual monogomous relationship and don't have AIDS/HIV? My attitude led to the contraction of the disease by these naive people who slept around? Stop flaming me and start arguing with me.

"Who made you God? How do I get to decide..." No one made me God. I don't get to decide who gets AIDS or doesn't get it. I don't deem anyone to get it either. However, I do 'expect' those that do drugs, to get AIDS. That in itself is a waste of life. Let me ask you something. "No one deserves AIDS." What do you say to those drug addicts who know of AIDS and how its contracted(they've been told this since the day they were born)? Oh and they did it anyway. Most common reason why people get AIDS: 'by injecting drugs using a needle or syringe which has already been used by someone who is infected.'

Time to go educate myself on a small article dedicated to AIDS and it's 25 year affliction on contemporary society. Let me tell you something if you're going to argue back. Instead of beating around the bush with general ideas, refute my argument with specific evidence. Convince me you're right and I'm in the wrong, because your previous flame didn't do sh*t. I also like how you read my post and had to create an account JUST to flame me.

Cause and effect. Actions take AND require responsibility. The end.

[–] vbabe108 18 years ago

I don't think their argument was "people who do drugs won't get AIDS." Clearly, people who share needles the way the couple were in the movie are bound to be in trouble, but no one deserves the disease, I don't care who they are or what they have done. "It's like murdering innocent people in Texas and expecting to not get the death penalty?" you seem to think that these people are in the right state of mind. Yes they might be educated about how AIDS is contracted, yes they certainly realize that doing those drugs is killing them, but why do you think they haven't stopped? Because they are ADDICTED, because they are SICK and NOT in the right state of mind. That serial killer in Texas isn't thinking about his punishment while murdering countless people. That junkie isn't thinking about contracting AIDS, he is thinking about how to get his next high. That is not healthy, that is not the right state of mind. Does that make them innocent? Certainly not. Does that mean they deserve to get AIDS? Absolutely not. They need help, they need a cure. Maybe they never will get the help they need and maybe they will never clean up, but AIDS is not the cure to this issue, AIDS will never be a cure for anything. Also, I have donated blood numerous times, what is your point?

Your Attitude is plain ignorance and THAT is one of the reasons AIDS is so widespread...IGNORANCE. In any form, ignorance is dangerous, whether you are ignorant of ways to prevent the disease or ignorant of the lives of those who go through the disease, no matter how they contracted it. No, you are not the reason that people do not practice safe sex or share needles, but your attitude certainly does not promote the sharing of this knowledge. Instead of calling AIDS a way to clean up the "human waste" in our society, let's talk about preventing AIDS through vigorous, pro-active prevention and education programs. Maybe that is too idealistic, but I think it comes far closer to a solution than anything you are proposing (if you are even proposing anything, which is not very evident.)

I certainly understand that you are advocating for personal responsibility, but we are members of communities, large and small, in this country. We are members of a world community as well. AIDS awareness and education is needed in all of these communities and should be promoted by all. Communities should support each other and share this knowledge, instead of shaking their fingers at those who are dying of the disease and saying, "I told you so." What does that accomplish? Perhaps you'll soon realize that all your bitching about these "naive people" who "sleep around" gets you nowhere and does not promote any solution. I see you arguing that AIDS is the cure for these naive people, but not promoting any education about it. You seem to think that everyone in this world is as knowledgeable as you in this subject, that "they've been told this [how to get AIDS] since the day they were born." I will acknowledge that there are many who are probably well aware of how to get AIDS and continue their habit anyway (but as I mentioned above, while they are not fully innocent you should stop speaking of them as human beings in a healthy state of mind,) But you should keep in mind that knowledge and the spread of AIDS is fairly new, with only a minimal amount of discussion beginning in the 1980s...so who are these people being told "since the day they were born?" People born and raised during the 70s and 80s when there was very little knowledge or public discussion of the virus?

"However, I do 'expect' those that do drugs to get AIDS and that in itself is a waste of life"
I'm going to wait for your to rephrase this sentence before I even address it, because there is no way that "those that do drugs to get AIDS" is not a typo.

You keep talking about specific evidence, well what is your argument and what specific evidence do you have to support it? From what I gather, you are arguing that AIDS is the cure to "human waste" and that those who contract it, especially junkies, are well aware of the repercussions and deserve it. You can present facts (Most common reason why people get AIDS: 'by injecting drugs using a needle or syringe which has already been used by someone who is infected') but that fact does not help your argument, because that is not what we are arguing. Can you prove that most junkies are educated regarding AIDS? Can you prove that AIDS is the cure to eradicating the "human waste" of society? Can you prove that they deserve it? There is no argument here, just an ignorant opinion.

[–] arhakes 18 years ago

Are you kidding? This is the most absurd statement ever. You know the Johns that picked up Michell? I would be willing to bet any amount of money they have a wife and child at home. Most men that pick up women in that state are those that have the most to lose. See Devine Brown.
Junkies can't go to the police if you beat the *beep* out of them, they won't have the strength or energy to find you if you drive off before paying them.
So while you feel liek the likes of sebastian all deserve to die off you have to consider that no human being lives in a bubble..well except the bubble boy. AIDS effects everyone.
I dated a medic for a while and they would get forced into these abandoned buildings to save a junkie and being high they would freak out, get paranoid and try to stab the rescue workers with their needles..so again the illness of these individuals overflows into the society you feel is above it.
Saying any one person deserves a disease is absurd. Cervical Cancer is a lifestyle disease, abotu 5,000 people die from it each year...should we thank god for making more promiscious women and their families suffer in because they could have controled the outcome? Meh..

[–] lovelikeair 17 years ago

the men shouldn't pick up any prostitutes, i don't know why you're villifying promiscuous women and not saying anything about the wives that these men go home to after being with a hooker.

[–] Ma5656 18 years ago

I used to see her over by 14th and 3rd. She was very familiar to the neighborhood