The Ryan White Story

I had to watch The Ryan White Story in health class this week. It has movie of the week written all over it. The movie does not get into any medical or scientific discussion of AIDS and I don't expect it to. Its not a movie I would choose to show in health class, but as any student at Grant High School would know, ANYTHING is better than listening to a certain health teacher (I won't say his name) talk. The Ryan White Story is also not the worst movie Mr. Jacobs showed in his class (oops!).

Ryan White was an absolutely amazing boy. It's incredible that for such a young kid to be hit with everything he was, that he could so many wonderful things and touch the hearts of so many people. This movie tells the story of Ryan first contracting AIDS and what the city of Kokomo, Indiana put him through when he attempted to return to school. Thankfully he was able to escape most of the prejudice and live out the remainder of his life surrounded by people who loved him and cared about him. He was my hero. I named my son after him. If you don't know who he is, I highly recommend watching this movie.

This is the story of the late Ryan White & his family. After contracting AIDS from a blood transfusion, he's refused the chance to return to school (in his hometown of Kokomo, Indiana) after he becomes well from an opportunistic infection. Since it's the early 1980's not much is really known about HIV, so ignorance is rampant in this hick/redneck town & people make their lives miserable. Judith Light is excellent as Jeanne White, Ryan's mom. Fighting along with her son for his right to an education. The expression on her face as she watches the welcome reception he receives, at a new school after they move to a different town, conveys the happiness only a mom could feel for her child.

As a Hemophiliac who contracted HIV... Ryan White Story,The was important and made survival seem like an option. so here i am today a disease inside of me that has lived longer than my girlfriend and I'm 23. and that's how i told her. It's not at the caliber of "And the Band Played" on, but jeez it's better than most network movies... I was relatively lucky to be a little bit younger... I was only exploited and shunned by a few... but the fight of irish blood and a good survival-istic sense of humor. And Ryan White is in it...

The movie leaves out a few facts. The subdivision where Ryan lived was a very nice one. It was not depicted as such in the movie. Western High School is located in Russiaville, Indiana, not Kokomo. The meetings where parents voiced their concerns about exposing their children to the AIDS virus were orderly and civil. Other homes in the White's neighborhood were broken into at Christmas time. The workers at Delco Electronics donated money, that was given to Jeanne, so that she could replace the Christmas gifts that were stolen from her home. FYI...I worked at Delco. We built the circuit boards used in radios, not what looked like tire rims or whatever those were, in the movie. We actually had break rooms that contained vending machines for candy, food, pop, and coffee. (other hot drinks as well) I never saw any coffee pots sitting around. FYI.... Nor did I hear any dueling banjos. Kokomo was a booming factory town. Our wages at that time brought people from all over the country and from all walks of life. (That was before the passing of NAFTA, after which the blue collar jobs at Delco were sent to Mexico.) Most of the people in Kokomo were hard workers and known for being very charitable. Anyhow, square dancing may have been popular, somewhere, but not so much in Kokomo. I really took offense to the whole city being shown in such a negative light. Everyone that I knew had compassion for Ryan and only wanted the best for him. If some people didn't feel that way, I am sure they were in the minority. I wish the "based on a true story" movies were not slanted to further an agenda of some sorts. I am pretty sure that the facts about AIDS could have been addressed in a way as to not bring hatred toward an entire city. I have since moved to a different state and still hear from others how horrible Kokomo is. It definitely isn't LA, but to that I say, Thank God it is not!