Ron, meet reality.
And “in reality” everything we once thought had constituted our lives can be yanked the fuck out from under us. And that includes life itself. And when reality suddenly changes in a big, big way a whole bunch of the way we once thought about it can start to slip and to slide out from under us too. And in ways that we never saw coming at all.
Adapt or die. Or adapt and die anyway.
In other words, Ron gets AIDS. And this is back in 1985. In Texas. It was a time [especially there…and around these folks] when if you had AIDS everyone assumed you were gay – and everyone assumed you were contagious. It scared the shit out of people. So you became…taboo.
Ron though is pretty much a loathsome scumbag. And not just because he is a white heterosexual male from Texas. Instead, it revolves more around the manner in which he conducts his entire life from the perspective of one or another sub-mental prejudice. Everyone is put in a box and it makes absolutely no difference what they think, feel or do: They are in Ron’s box and that’s that. And down South these dumb bastards are everywhere.
Only Ron bumps into contingency chance and change and his point of view starts to…evolve.
Bottom line: Ron suddenly finds himself facing a very hostile world; and he soon realizes that if he is going to survive longer than they predict he will [30 days tops] he’s got to…improvise. And you can’t say he doesn’t have a strong will to live.
Here it is all over again: The fucking politics of AIDS. The fucking politics of capitalism. The rest as they say is history. I mean, talk about exposing how “the system” works! Crony capitalism at it’s most cynical depths.
In part, Ron is the hero because he bucks “the system” and actually succeeds in prolonging the lives of folks with AIDS. At the same time he is still a piece of shit though. He just mimics the system in that all he really cares about is coming up with a new one. It’s all about him. If someone is sick and dying but can’t afford to join the “buyers club”, well, fuck him. But that changes too.
IMDb
[b]The budget was so low for this film that only two-hundred and fifty dollars ($250) was allotted to the Makeup department. Amazingly, the film’s artists were able to work within that figure, and the film’s Makeup and Hairstyling won an Oscar.
Matthew McConaughey lost 47 pounds in assuming his role as an AIDS patient. Newspapers reported his new looks as “terribly gaunt” and “wasting away to skin and bones”. Jared Leto lost 30 pounds for his role.[/b]
And we’re talking in the vicinity of Christian Bale from The Machinist here.
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Buyers_Club
trailer: youtu.be/cC6mv0KhOBY
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB [2013]
Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée
[b]Ron: Did ya hear Rock Hudson was a cock sucker?
Rog: Whered ya hear that shit?!
Ron: It’s called a newspaper. Right there. It’s a shame, ain’t it? All that fine Hollywood pussy, just all being wasted.
Rog: Who the hell’s Rock Hudson anyway?
Ron: He’s an actor, dumbass. Haven’t you ever seen North By Northwest?
…
Doctor Sevard: We saw something which… which concerned us. In your initial blood work. So, we ran some additional tests.
Dr. Saks: It’s your blood tests.
Ron: What kinda blood tests. Cause I don’t use drugs.
Doctor: We didn’t test your blood for drugs.
Ron: Cause, that ain’t none of yer business anyway.
Doctor: You’ve tested positive for HIV…which is the virus that causes AIDS.
Ron: Are you fucking kidding me? Isn’t that that fucking Rock cocksucking Hudson bullshit?!
…
Doctor Sevard: Have you ever engaged in homosexual conduct?
Ron: Homo? Did you say, Homo?
Doctor: Yes.
Ron: Are you fucking kidding me? I aint no faggot, motherfucker. I don’t even know no fucking faggots. Look at me. What do you see…huh? A goddamn rodeo is what you see!
…
Doctor Sevard: Mr. Woodroof, If you could listen to me for a moment. I know this can be a very scary thing. And, you’re probably feeling alone right now. But, what we’d like to do is to impress upon you the gravity of your situation. Based on your health. Based on your condition, based on all the evidence we have, we estimate that you have about thirty days left. To put your affairs in order.
Ron: Thirty days?
Doctor: I’m sorry.
Ron: Fuck this! What is this shit?! Fucking thirty days. Motherfukers! Let me give y’all a little news flash. There ain’t nothin’ out there can kill fuckin’ Ron Woodroof in 30 days.
…
Big Pharma rep: Sadly, the AIDS crisis will only get worse before it gets better. And, I know I speak for everyone at Avonex when I say, this is a unique opportunity. A chance to be on the forefront in finding a cure.[/b]
And to make a small fortune doing it!
[b]Dr. Saks: Does it not drive you just a little bit crazy to see these guys talking about curing the sick while they’re flashing gold Rolexes? What do they know about sick patients?
Dr. Sevard: They’re Big Pharma reps, not doctors. And like it or not, this is a business.
…
Ron: Can you get me AZT? I know the Avonex industries just released it for testing, right? I wanna buy some, now.
Dr. Saks: That isn’t how it works. For about a year, a group of patients will either get the drug or a placebo. It’s totally left up to chance, not even the doctors are allowed to know.
Ron: You give dyin people sugar pills?
Dr. Saks: It’s the only way to know if a drug works.
…
Ron: How about this stuffs, overseas…huh? In Germany, they got this…Dextran Sulfate. They got this DDC in France…It’s suppose to keep the healthy cells you got from getting the HIV. They got AL 721 over in Israel…How can I get some of this?
Dr. Saks: None of those drugs have been approved by the FDA.
Ron: Screw the FDA, I’m gonna be DOA.
…
Dr. Saks: You’re in the hospital. You almost died.
Ron: I bet that didn’t surprise anybody.
…
Rayon: I’m Rayon.
Ron: Congratulations. Now fuck off and go back to your bed.
Rayon: Relax, I don’t bite. I guess you’re handsome, in a Texas, hick, white trash, dumb kind of way.
Ron: Get the fuck out of here, whatever you are, before I kick you in the fucking face.
…
Dr. Saks: Mr. Woodroof! Where are you going?
Ron: I signed myself out.
Dr. Saks: You’re too sick to leave here.
Ron: The worst-case scenario bein’ what?
Dr. Saks: We can keep you comfortable.
Ron: What? Hook me up to the morphine drip. Let me fade in and out? Nah, sorry lady, but I prefer to die with my boots on.
…
Painted on Ron’s trailer: FAGGOT BLOOD
…
Ron: I thought AZT’s supposed to help me.
Dr. Vass: The only people AZT helps are the people who sell it. It kills every cell it comes in contact with.
…
Ron: I still got HIV?
Dr. Vass: You will always test positive for HIV. And now you’ve got AIDS from all the toxic shit you’ve put in your body. You’ve shut your immune system and now you’ve got chronic pneumonia, among other things. It could cause memory loss, mood swings, aching joints.
Ron: So if it sucks, I got it.
…
Dr. Vass: This is DDC, it acts as an anti viral similar to AZT but less toxic. And this is Peptide T, it’s a protein – totally non-toxic. Early studies have shown it these can help with all of that. This is what I had you on since you got here.
Ron: And you can’t buy them back in the U.S.A?
Dr. Vass: No, not approved.
…
Doctor Sevard: Well, test results are overwhelmingly positive. AZT works.
Dr. Saks: We don’t know, what the long term effects are. It’s irresponsible.
Doctor Sevard: These people are dying, Eve. There are no long-term effects.
…
Rayon [to Ron]: You know what? You don’t deserve our money, you homophobic asshole.
…
Ron: Well, I ain’t selling drugs no more, Counselor. I’m giving ‘em away. For free. By selling memberships. Four hundred dollars a month in dues and you get, all the meds you want.
David: You son of a bitch!
Ron: Bitches. Plural. There’s a bunch of faggots up in New York. Runnin’ a hell of a racket. Just like this. That’s where I got the idea. Welcome to the Dallas Buyers Club!
…
Reporter on TV: AZT has been approved as the first drug to treat AIDS. At a cost of $10,000 per year per patient, AZT is the most expensive drug ever marketed. Avonex stock jumped a whopping 12%.
…
Ron [to two new members of the “club”]: Meds and the Treatments are free, but the membership is $400 a month. Alright, you’re gonna have to sign a waiver. We are not responsibility for the drugs that we give you. You croak, you croak. Thats not our problem. It’s yours.
…
Ron [in the grocery store examining the ingredients on a food package]: Now, that’s the shit that’ll rot your insides. What a surprise, FDA approved.
…
Ron: I don’t trust the white coat who’s trying to sell me the drugs. I fed-ex it to Seattle to my lab there and they test if for me. Then, I test it all on myself before I give it to anyone.
Dr. Saks: I respect that you’re learning about your illness but some of these people need to be in the hospital.
Ron: Why? All they want is to serve up AZT.
Dr. Saks: AZT helps eradicate the virus.
Ron: Fuck the virus, Dr.Saks. You know this. Once you got that, you’re married to it. AZT or not. We’re talking about symptoms and survival.
…
Ron: People can live with this thing for longer than they’re saying. Ninety-six-percent of people in the U.S.A who have AIDS today, are gonna die within six months.
Dr. Saks: I know the statistics.
Ron: Then use them. You don’t give AZT somebody with broken immune system? It’s toxic!
Dr. Saks: If you’re abusing it, like you did, and you’re just taking it without medical surveillance, of course it is.
Ron: Yeah, I did abuse it. But I’m off it now, look at me. I’m here, feeling great. And I’m not the only one.
…
Dr. Sevard: Where the hell are my trial patients?
…
Ron: I swear it, Ray, God sure was dressin’ the wrong doll when he blessed you with a set of balls.
…
Reporter on TV: Things returned to normal today at FDA headquaters outside Washington. A day after the arrest of 175 demonstrators. The protestors, some of whom are dying from AIDS, brought their interests to the FDA complex. They were demanding faster action on new drugs to fight the deadly virus.
…
Ron: For the hundredth time, just take a fuckin’ look at my research.
Richard Barkley: Mr.Woodroof, I wouldnt want you to spend your last days in jail. If you have a product you’d like tested, fill out an application and go through the process.
Ron: Don’t threaten me, motherfucker! The “process”? That’s FDA bullshit for pay up!
…
Ron: These fuckers are coming at me, man, from all angles. I wanna file a restraining order.
David: Against who?
Ron: Against the government and the fucking FDA, that’s who!
…
Ron [to a group of potential club members]: We got a club. Just down the street, where you can get the meds that I’m talking about. We treat more than five times the amount of patients as the large AIDS clinics. And get this…We got one tenth the death ratio.
…
Rayon [in despair]: I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die!
…
Dr. Vass: Check this out. It’s The Lancet medical review. And they published a study conducted in France. It proves AZT alone is too toxic for most to tolerate and had no lasting effect on HIV blood levels. Of course, Avonex industries and the NIH didn’t include the study in their press release.
Ron: No of course they didn’t.
Dr. Vass: Now, these are early trial results for Fluconazole.
Ron: The anti-fungal? I read about this.
Dr. Vass: You want to take some home?
Ron: As much as I can carry.
…
Ron: Anemia, Cancer, Bone Marrow depletion. Seizures, Fever, Hearing loss, Impotence, Neuropathy…Sound like AIDS to you? Nah, that there comes in a box of AZT, a list of side effects. No wonder, Rayon is dead.
Dr. Saks: Rayon was a drug addict! He didn’t die for one day on AZT. He died from the disease as a whole!
…
Richard Barkley: Mr.Woodroof, would you kindly, tell us what you are doing?
Ron: Just giving people information, Richard. About this trial I’m in. And, make sure they know what’s going on.
Richard Barkley: And, what is going on?
Ron: Why did you cut off, Peptide T, Richard? Non toxic drug, that I got proof works. Not only that but the national institute of mental health, your own people, says it’s completely safe.
Richard Barkley: Mr Woodroof, I’m afraid that you’re nothing more than a common drug dealer, so if you’ll excuse us…
Ron: Oh, I’m the drug dealer? No, you’re the fuckin’ drug dealer. I mean, goddamn, people are dyin’. And y’all are up there afraid that we’re gonna find an alternative without you. See, the Big Pharma companies pay the FDA to push their product. Fuck no, they don’t wanna see my research. I don’t have enough cash in my pocket to make it worth their while.
…
Ron: Do you ever miss your regular life?
Dr. Saks: Regular life? What is that? It doesn’t exist.
Ron: Yeah, I guess. No, I know, I just… I just wanna…
Dr. Saks: What?
Ron: Ice-cold beer, a little riding in. Well, take my woman dancing. You know? I want kids. I mean, I got one…one life, right? Mine. But sh…Fuck, I want somebody else’s sometimes. Sometimes I just feel like I’m fighting for a life I just ain’t got time to live. I want it to mean something.
Dr. Saks: It does.
…
Judge: The ninth amendment, does not state that you have the right to be mentally healthy or physically healthy. It does state that you have a right to chose your own medical care; but that is interpreted as medical care that is approved… by the Food and Drug Administration. Regarding the FDA, the court is highly disturbed by its bullying tactics and direct interference with a drug whose own agency has found to be non-toxic. The FDA was formed to protect people, not prevent them from getting help. The law does not seem to make much common sense, sometimes. If a person has been found to be terminally ill… they ought to be able to take just about anything they feel will help…but that is not the law. Mr. Woodroof, I’m moved to compassion by your plight, But, what is lacking here is the legal authority to intervene. I’m sorry. This case is hereby dismissed.
…
Title card: Following the trial, the FDA in Washington allowed Ron to get Peptide T for his own personal use.
Day 2,557.
Ronald Woodroof died of AIDS on September 12, 1992, seven years after he was diagnosed with HIV. A lower dose of AZT became widely used in later drug combinations that saved millions of lives.[/b]