By Tim Teeman
Charlie Sheen has officially come
out as HIV positive. He was forced to do so in the wake of shrill
tabloid reporting that harkened back to the worst HIV-related ignorance
and bullying of the 1980s.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with Sheen’s admission he is HIV-positive.
Did a time machine come and whisk me away? Is it really 1985 again?
It sure feels like it, as I waited for Charlie Sheen’s “personal announcement” to reveal that he is HIV-positive to Matt Lauer on Tuesday morning’s Today.
It feels like the 1980s, because of the nature of the speculation,
which is purely prurient about Sheen basically being a man-slut, and how
many people he has infected with HIV—and how knowingly has he done so,
without disclosing his status to them. None of this is known—not Sheen’s
identity as the celebrity, nor his deeds and misdeeds. But the hysteria
is well underway.
Suddenly, in my mind, Sheen seems like the kind of hunted man Rock
Hudson became, as cameras followed him being shuttled on and off planes
as he became sicker and sicker.
The media likes nothing more than
an ailing star—even better if HIV and AIDS means the story gets
front-loaded with all kinds of judgment about their “lifestyle,” sexual
and otherwise.
Click here for the full article.
Source: The Daily Beast
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