The Announcement

The Announcement (2012)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Anyone old enough to remember Magic Johnson's shocking news conference announcing that he was HIV positive and would have to retire from the NBA are going to remember all the controversy around the subject at the time it happened. Twenty years later Johnson tells his story and we get a lot of behind-the-scenes stories as to what was going through his mind leading up to being told the news, having to break it to his then pregnant wife, telling his teammates and of course telling the world. THE ANNOUNCEMENT takes a pretty hard look at the subject, although I think the first twenty-minutes are a bit too sweet for their own good. I was a little surprised at them adding some sugar to the "high life" of what would eventually get Johnson into this position. With that said, once the stuff with the announcement kicks in this turns into a truly dramatic experience even though you know the outcome. I'm not sure how much of this was already known but this was the first time that I had heard stories about what Johnson was doing when he found out, how his teammates found out and some of the other controversy that would happen after he announced it. This documentary really does remind people how far we've come in the past twenty years simply by the original reaction, which included him having to retire, people being afraid that they could get the virus through sweat and the fear he put into people. Those who aren't overly familiar with the event will see this as a great documentary because it covers pretty much every aspect of what happened. The tragedy of the events, as Johnson says, have pretty much been forgotten because of what he went on to do with his life. As he says in his own words, when people think of him today it's not because of the virus but for other things that he's done. This film really does a good job at warning people about the virus and the point that it can happen to anyone certainly drives home.

Watched this on espn tonight and it was great it is the story about magic Johnson when he was diagnosed with HIV and how he dealt with it I just got to say I have more respect for magic Johnson then any athlete in history how had to leave the laker's and even when he came back people were scared to play with him and how everybody judged him but magic Johnson kept on through and even after he left he became a great business man this was a very well done documentary by espn but after you watch this you will have such a great respect for magic Johnson and he he dealt with such criticism that he had to deal with while playing and after he left if you watch this you will get a great outlook on what HIV is like and how some people deal good with it and some don't this has very famous people in the documentary commenting on magic Johnson this was a very good documentary by espn and I applaud them on this I am definitely going to watch more of the espn 30 for 30 films after this cause it was such a great documentary and magi Johnson was such a good person to do this on

The Announcement was well-received in its World Premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival. In many ways, The Announcement follows the typical path of a sports documentary as it tells of the athlete's journey from tragedy to triumph. The difference is that the story of Magic Johnson is one that goes way beyond winning a sports championship. Magic was able to take his own personal tragedy and use it as a teachable moment to begin to challenge many of the societal myths around HIV/AIDS. While the film borders hagiography, it may be the rare case where an athlete deserves such uncritical praise. The film is personalized as somewhat autobiographical since Magic himself narrates his story. The film personalizes the struggle against both AIDS and the prejudices against the victims of AIDS. In some ways the most remarkable aspect of the story is how the film's topic which was once highly controversial has become relatively non-controversial. The film is a valuable one in that will provide an opportunity to educate Americans, and particularly young people, about the history and the realities of AIDS. The film is well-made and edited and should be praised for its positive social contributions. Magic Johnson should be praised for his activism which has made him a figure whose impact goes well beyond sports.