NBC Crime Drama - 02/24/09 07:31 PM
NBC Crime drama finally gets HIV right.
The stories on Law & Order; Special Victims Unit are often "ripped from the headlines" so it's no surprise that the hit series often borrows from Fox News's play book: fear mongering and sensationalism.
Remember the down-low gay HIV superstrain plotlines?
But it's October 28th episode, "Retro" about an HIV positive mother and her AIDS denialist doctor on trial for murder because they refused to give her daughter antiretrovirals shocked us in a good way.
"Retro" shed light on issues often overlooked on television, such as the importance of starting treatment early when needed and the reality that HIV positive mothers can have HIV negative babies. It also debunked the myth that HIV does not cause AIDS. Granted the episode had its fair share of melodrama.
We get it: it can't come off as an hour long PSA.
While we're not giving the shows creator a pass for his depictions of HIV, story lines like this one make us feel less like special victims
The stories on Law & Order; Special Victims Unit are often "ripped from the headlines" so it's no surprise that the hit series often borrows from Fox News's play book: fear mongering and sensationalism.
Remember the down-low gay HIV superstrain plotlines?
But it's October 28th episode, "Retro" about an HIV positive mother and her AIDS denialist doctor on trial for murder because they refused to give her daughter antiretrovirals shocked us in a good way.
"Retro" shed light on issues often overlooked on television, such as the importance of starting treatment early when needed and the reality that HIV positive mothers can have HIV negative babies. It also debunked the myth that HIV does not cause AIDS. Granted the episode had its fair share of melodrama.
We get it: it can't come off as an hour long PSA.
While we're not giving the shows creator a pass for his depictions of HIV, story lines like this one make us feel less like special victims