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C^Ljronidr the VOICE of the WEST / an C^ljronidr THE VOICE OF THE WEST Randy M. Shilts Notional Correspondent Septeiober 30, 1991 FROM; Randy Shilts RE: And The Band Played On. Revised Draft (8/22/91) On the whole, I'm very pleased with the revisions in the new draft. I think the screenplay flows much better in this version and offers far more context concerning the gay community. I love the Butcher's Bill blackboard. You might want to insert it more regularly, though. I'm particularly like the ending. I don't have any problem with the fact it's basically fictionalized. It really works and helps sum up what the whole movie has been about. By the way, has anybody asked Susan Sarandon about playing Mary Guignan? She's extremely committed to AIDS causes. I met her when I was on Good Morning America once and she said she loved the book. Also: Willem Defoe did the audio version of the book for Simon & Schuster. He'd be a good Don Francis and, from what I've heard, he's interested in the project. As I'm sure you already know, Tom Hulce, who was nominated for an Oscar for "Araadeus," is eager to play Bill Kraus. Back to the script: Though I think there are some problems that need to be ironed out with the chronologies, I don't have any sweeping critique to offer this version of the screenplay, like I did with the last. The only thing I found that conceptually doesn't work for me is that whole subplot with Elio and Elizabeth Sanchez. It felt very tacked on and says absolutely nothing about what this movie is about — that is the failure of institutions to respond to AIDS. I think there might be an attraction to do affirmative action with this script and make it about evervone who gets AIDS. I can understand that, but I think we've got so many people walking on and off the stage that to add people gratuitously might only confuse the viewer. There are a few things I'll raise below that are important. Most of the points I bring up below are minor, some even trivial. ~~ P* 1- I like the idea of having a Prologue. There's certainly wisdom in telling people what you're going to tell them. I felt ambivalent about using Ryan White, however, since that's already lapsing into the distant memory. There is one line that SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94 103 (4 15) 777-7220 2 ABSOLUTELY must go if you decide to keep the prologue...that's the line about White being "innocent of everything." There is probably no more offensive concept in the discussion of AIDS than that of the "innocent" victim. Separating "innocent" victims from others denotes there are people who we should feel sorry for, as opposed to those we don't need to, and, in a backhanded way, seems to separate those who don't deserve AIDS from those who do. Innocent victim implies there's guilty victims; gay men are not "guilty" of anything, except being in the wrong place at the wrong time. TAKE IT OUT. — p. 5: I believe the Thelma Houston song is "Don't Leave Me This Way." I love the scene, by the way. — p. 14: Wrong date. You've got "November 1981" on the script. That's probably a typo and you mean "November 1980," but that's not right either. Gottlieb saw his first patients in November 1980, but he didn't write up that article until, say, March 1980. That's the accurate date there. — p. 15: Wrong date. Make this scene "May 1981," not June. — p. 16: It wasn't Jim Curran who ordered the article buried. He's not that important to make these kinds of decisions, especially way back then. It was much higher mucky-mucks. This can be easily fixed. He should say, "They'll probably bury this some place on Page Two." It takes the onus off him (which is accurate) but still makes the same point. — p. 22: MAJOR FACTUAL ERROR. Scientists absolutely knew why gay men got hepatitis B. It wasn't just "a few speculations," like you have Don say. Don should say, "Anal intercourse. This is a blood-born virus, which means men can spread it in their semen. Get a fissure in the rectum and, bang, you got that semen right in the blood." Jim can respond by saying, "There's nothing new about men having anal intercourse. What's new. Did you notice any changes lately that might be relevant?" and continue with the page as it's written. This is important to get it right — because this also is how AIDS gets spread. It sets us up for AIDS transmission. The critics are going to love it if you talk about anal intercourse frankly. "Anal intercourse" were the two words the media was so skittish about using early on, so now anybody who utters those words gets extra points for candor. (Let's not be squeamish.) — p. 27: We've missed the chance at some badly-needed humor here when Mary buys all those poppers. You should have two guys behind the counter who might comment on her plans for a party or something. At least they could give each other a knowing look. 3 — p. 29: There were no bathhouses in the Castro District. They were in the warehouse district of San Francisco. — p. 30: Let's not call it an "oral-anal lobby," since oral-anal contact is really another issue altogether. Let's call it the "anal intercourse lobby." — p. 35: Jim should say back to Don's comments about "loony- toons" that, "Reagan promised to cut waste in government and we're first on the block." — p. 40: I love that parade. — p. 50: I like the Christopher Columbus-Coney Island line, but do you know that he actually said it? It didn't come from my book. At the end of the Gallo scene, put in the Butcher's Bill blackboard. — p. 50: This is a fictionalization that doesn't work, though it can be fixed. I don't think it works merging Bill's birthday with Conant talking about AIDS and arguing with Pat Norman. First of all. Bill hated and loathed Pat Norman (even before AIDS), so she wouldn't be at a birthday party and it just doesn't work to see Conant turn a birthday party into a lecture on AIDS. Instead, it should be at some political meeting, in some small conference room. Kico can still come in at the end and have that talk with Bill. — p. 54: Willy should say the "first six cases in France," so it doesn't confused people with the ones the CDC wrote up. — p. 56: ACCURACY ALERT. At this point in the epidemic, I don't think anyone realized that there were heterosexual cases in Africa. That awareness didn't come until 1984 or so. Guignan should say, "Have you seen the Haitian cases? It's pandemic among them already and completely heterosexual." Use the Haitians here. It raises the same point about semen depositors. I also don't think that Mary ever proposed getting people to jack off...or that anyone stopped her from doing that. You could fix it by just taking out the last two speeches of Jim's on p. 56 ...and Mary's line in between them... and pick it up with Harold's observation at the top of p. 57. — p. 59: This scene with the mother could be made stronger, since its hard to figure out in its current form. Bill wasn't getting disability insurance, he was getting Social Security. So Kraus should say, "I finally got him that Social Security allowance for being sick.." Woman should laugh sadly back, "Great. The bureaucracy finally kicked him to give him benefits he deserved two years 4 ago. Great. He'd be glad to hear it, except he died last week." Then she can slam the door shut. — p. 60: Supervisor Tennison. I don't believe any member of the board of supervisors in the last 15 years would ever have said anything about feeding soup "to a handful of faggots who fucked themselves to death." I'm not up in arms over this and can see the scene's dramatic purpose, but you should know. — p. 63: There is an absolutely weird line we have Bill Kraus saying that should go...or at least be rewritten. It's the comment to Dennis, "When I look back on how I spent the seventies, I don't care if I never have sex any more." I like the speech that leads up to it (pp. 62-3), but believe me. Bill Kraus never so much as even had a thought about never having sex any more. And besides, is this the message we're giving out? Nobody should have sex any more? It's just weird. I don't understand why it's there. I think the speech leading up to that is trying to get at how the free sex gradually shifted from being liberated to being dehumanized. And Bill regrets that. If that's the point we're trying to make...which is a good point...then that's what we should say, not that Bill never wanted to have sex again. To fix it, after Dennis asks, "What're you saying?" Bill should say, "It just all got out of hand. For me...for everybody.
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