"Fear of Disclosure" deals with an important issue that comes across some people's minds which is the inner conflict about to tell or not to tell a
potential boyfriend, girlfriend or sexual partner if you have a sexual transmitted disease. This pop-art short film is focused on a gay man at the
peak of the AIDS crisis so he shares his doubts, conflicts and personal experiences as a serum-positive guy trying to find a boyfriend,
have a relationship and be completely open about his life and HIV status.
We don't see the man, we only hear his conflicted voice narrating events such as the memorable and saddening phone exchange he has with a complete stranger who was actually phoning his roommate and somehow they got enrolled in a nice and exciting conversation, things were going well until our leading man (voice) asks about if the other guy would get involved with someone who was HIV positive and things went downhill. I can't tell exactly what people think about such scenario in our actual days since things evolved in drastic ways since the diseases was also changed from a deadly certainty to a controlled and manageable thing thanks to medicine advances; but back in the day when it was this horrible fourth horsemen of the Apocalypse obviously plenty of people were truly afraid to catch it and safe sex started to become the rule to many people. And that's exactly what the leading character advocates: he wants to disclose about his status but he also believes in safe sex, to use protection and deal a normal life for as long as he can get. He doesn't want to hide things anymore because the inner conflict is too much to bear and deal with, and if one thinks deeper it's hard enough to be gay, stay in closet for a long period and live a life where most of your intimacy is hidden and obscured - I'm taking that era context which is slightly far away from today's standards.
As I mentioned, we don't see the man and as for images all we have is two hunky musuclar go-go dancers performing their act in this dark set where some bright colors cast some light on their bodies while the voice-over tells about the man's conflict at the same time a strange robotic voice pops in time and again saying "HIV".
Artist David Wojnarowicz unites with Phil Zwickler in this piece and create an informative film that makes viewers question about that reality and makes us think of things just like the main character, the doubt is thrown at us and we have to form an opinion, think about what's more important if it is to have a relationship based on honesty or if we hide things and lie in order to have a relationship or score some hot action, or simply live alone knowing about our condition as carriers of a deadly disease. The possibilities and hypothesis are enourmous and it's up to us viewers to find a better resolution to such questionings. 8/10.
We don't see the man, we only hear his conflicted voice narrating events such as the memorable and saddening phone exchange he has with a complete stranger who was actually phoning his roommate and somehow they got enrolled in a nice and exciting conversation, things were going well until our leading man (voice) asks about if the other guy would get involved with someone who was HIV positive and things went downhill. I can't tell exactly what people think about such scenario in our actual days since things evolved in drastic ways since the diseases was also changed from a deadly certainty to a controlled and manageable thing thanks to medicine advances; but back in the day when it was this horrible fourth horsemen of the Apocalypse obviously plenty of people were truly afraid to catch it and safe sex started to become the rule to many people. And that's exactly what the leading character advocates: he wants to disclose about his status but he also believes in safe sex, to use protection and deal a normal life for as long as he can get. He doesn't want to hide things anymore because the inner conflict is too much to bear and deal with, and if one thinks deeper it's hard enough to be gay, stay in closet for a long period and live a life where most of your intimacy is hidden and obscured - I'm taking that era context which is slightly far away from today's standards.
As I mentioned, we don't see the man and as for images all we have is two hunky musuclar go-go dancers performing their act in this dark set where some bright colors cast some light on their bodies while the voice-over tells about the man's conflict at the same time a strange robotic voice pops in time and again saying "HIV".
Artist David Wojnarowicz unites with Phil Zwickler in this piece and create an informative film that makes viewers question about that reality and makes us think of things just like the main character, the doubt is thrown at us and we have to form an opinion, think about what's more important if it is to have a relationship based on honesty or if we hide things and lie in order to have a relationship or score some hot action, or simply live alone knowing about our condition as carriers of a deadly disease. The possibilities and hypothesis are enourmous and it's up to us viewers to find a better resolution to such questionings. 8/10.
