The Ryan White Story

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.

The Ryan White Story

The only disease children had to worry about contracting in the early-1980s was Cabbage Patch Fever.

Unfortunately, as this biography shows, by the mid-1980s HIV/AIDS appeared.

In one fell swoop, 13-year-old Ryan White (Lukas Haas) contracted the virus through a blood transfusion and was given 30-days to live.

But it was not only the disease that weakened him, but his school banning him from attending, out of fear of infection.

Unwilling to accept the fate the doctor had prescribed and the principal has assigned her son, Ryan's mother (Judith Light) hires a hardnosed lawyer (George C. Scott) to take the school to task.

Based on the true story of one of the first non-homosexuals to get the disease, this heart wrenching made-for-television movie may be schmaltzy, but it helped bring sympathizers to the syndrome.

Mind you, the new poster child for the fight against HIV/AIDS is now Magic Johnson's robot.

Green Light

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Lukas Haas stars as Ryan White, the young boy who became the poster child for young AIDS victims.. the movie tells the story of his life and its ups and downs as he struggles with the disease and ignorance of the people around him. 8 of 10

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!).

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.