Aids Virus From Andrew example essay topic

This movie begins by depicting a bright articulate young lawyer named Andrew Beckett at work. Then the scene rapidly changes to Andrew at an AIDS clinic. You know at this point that Andrew Beckett has AIDS and a horrifying future as you see scenes of men with hollow expressions, open sores and skeleton-like features. It becomes obvious that Andrew was not telling his boss or coworkers that he has AIDS.

Later we discover that he concealed this disease because he was afraid of being fired and people's fear of him as a sick gay man. One night as he is working late, he is called to the Chief Executive's office. The Chief bestows his confidence and trust in him by giving him the responsibility over a crucial case and announces his promotion as Senior Associate. After the announcement has been made one of the senior executives notices an AIDS lesion on Andrew's forehead. He asks Andrew about it.

Andrew was momentarily disturbed by the question then quickly explains that he had bumped his head. We find out later that this senior executive had a previous secretary who had AIDS and was aware of what AIDS lesions looked like. The camera focuses on this executive staring at Andrew suspiciously. Nine days later Andrew's health conditions worsens and he is seen covered with lesions. He is feverish, vomiting, etc. He works hard at home to conceal the severity of his illness.

Even with his illness, he manages to pull the case documents together and is ready to go to court. His friends help him with make up to cover his visible sores. He goes in late at night to place the court documents in the center of his desk, but they mysteriously disappear from his desk the next morning and there is no trace of them on his computer. He almost misses the court filing deadline and, just at the last minute, a hardcopy is suddenly found. The next day Andrew is fired for the incident. Just before this court document fiasco, Andrew became very ill and was rushed to the Emergency Room for treatment.

His gay partner came into the ER worried. His partner was anxious and sharp with the doctor who threaten to throw him out of the hospital because he was not really a member of Andrew's family. This angers Andrew's partner, but Andrew quickly apologized and he is allowed to stay. It was at that moment that Andrew received a phone call from work informing him that the court documents were missing. He left the hospital against the Doctors advise to try and locate the documents. The camera focuses on a very physically depleted Andrew who is seeking legal counsel to sue the law firm that fired him because he believes that he was fired for having AIDS.

He believes that his boss deliberately sabotaged the documents to make him look bad so they could fire him for incompetence rather than his illness. Many lawyers turned down his case. He sought help from an African American man named Joseph Miller and Miller turned his request down because he was gay and he was afraid of getting the AIDS virus from Andrew. During the time Andrew was in Miller's office, Miller's face was visibly fearful as Andrew touched things on his desk. Miller told Andrew that he didn't want to take on Andrew's case for personal reasons. Later that evening, Joseph uses the words like fag, homo and disgusting to describe Andrew to his wife.

He also goes to the doctor for a check-up to see if he had contracted the disease from his brief visit with Andrew. His wife accuses Miller of being homophobic and tells him that she has a lot of friends and even relatives that are gay including her Aunt. Miller is notably surprised about the Aunt's sexual orientation, but dismisses it by stating that this issue is different for men than for women. His wife would have to be a guy to understand.

Joseph Miller has a change of heart about Andrew Beckett when he sees a librarian trying to escort Andrew from a public part of the library to a segregated room because he obviously had AIDS. It becomes clear to Miller that Andrew is experiencing discrimination which is something that Miller as an African American man can relate to. Miller finds compassion for Andrew's situation and agrees to take the court case. Miller overcomes his fears of homosexuality and AIDS as he successfully represents Andrew in the courts proving that the law firm fired Andrew because he was ill and not because he was an incompetent lawyer.

During the court hearing, the law firm executives expose their knowledge of Andrew's AIDS and their anger towards Andrew because he concealed his sexual orientation and illness. However, not all went perfectly for Andrew in court. It was brought out that Andrew had contracted AIDS at a gay movie theater through sexual contact with a stranger. This incident took place while he was with his current partner. Andrew's partner was visibly upset by learning about this incident.

Andrew died before the case was settled. Towards the end of the movie, the Chief Executive was clearly outraged because homosexuality was immoral and Andrew secretly brought a "deadly disease" into the workplace. Outside the court there were people carrying protest signs like, "AIDS cures homosexuality" and "Adam & Eve not Adam & Steve.".