Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story (1992)

I'm going to skip the rant about how hard it was being a WASP in the nineties. If you get it, you get it; if you don't, you never will.The writing is terrible. Oh, my God, the writing is anvilicious. "Don't have sex! But if you do, please misuse condoms!" Because no, I'm sorry, you don't double-bag it; condoms are not grocery sacks. They are more likely to break if you do that. The real Ms. Gertz was direly mistaken in this respect, as her People interview shows."Positive thinking makes it better! Don't give up!" I swear if I'd been down a long, painful road like Nancy the cancer patient and some pipsqueak rich kid tried to tell me to hang on, I'd slap her stupid. Sometimes the pain is too great and death is legitimately a release.What this film does address, what it could not have escaped addressing, was the hit-or-miss nature of early AIDS treatment. Pretty much every drug available had hideous side effects; Gertz's reaction to AZT in 1989 would've hit directly after ddI was made available by the FDA to patients with just that problem -- just patients with just that problem.The film also does a decent job of portraying AIDS as a horror show, not a mild inconvenience, thus rendering it unfashionable for its target audience. No, you certainly don't want to wind up in the ICU with your mother microwaving towels just to keep you warm. Mr. and Mrs. Gertz redeem the film somewhat with their boundless love for Alison. He walks her purse dog when she's sick; she... well, she microwaved freaking sweated-through towels in an ICU too scared to bother with proper care.All the same, thank goodness we no longer classify our AIDS stories according who's more deserving of the disease (!) -- no transmission method is better than another, given the result. It doesn't matter how AIDS happens. If you have it, then you live with it and will die with it. Who are any of us to judge how you got it?

I have just watched the film for the first time and I have been blown away. As a Gay man I have a huge love for the fight against HIV and AIDS. This film shows exactly what it is like even today with all the teachings about how HIV & AIDS are contracted. You will still find people afraid to shake the hands, use same toilet, drink from the same cup and even giving a hug because they are afraid they will contract the virus. If anyone reading this knows how I can get in touch with Alison Gertz please let me know. If anyone wants information on the HIV and AIDS virus please get in touch. An remember HIV and AIDS is not the gay persons disease which this film has been made to portray as well as the life of Alison.

Ever since I can remember I have had a massive crush on Molly Ringwald who in this film takes on the best role of her career as Alison Gertz a truly inspirational woman who died of aids in 1992. Molly and a great supporting cast show the true devastation that this disease causes on a person with (at the time of infection) no previous sexual experience, no drug taking past and no history of blood transfusion. The best line of the film is when Alison stands up and says "look at me, i am the face of aids" showing that despite some peoples misconceptions people with aids look no different to you and me. The film makes good use of its lead characters and makes what could have easily been a typically preachy TV-movie into a viewing experience that (whilst sometimes unpleasant) is educating and informative whilst not being boring.Molly received (quite rightly) an emmy award for her acting in this film and it is easy to see why as when you view this film you feel as if you are living the experience with her and a good performer should make you feel this way during any acting performance. This tele-film has affected me in a way that no other tele-film has done before or since. It has a stellar cast (Lee Grant and Martin Landau as the parents) its doesn't preach and doesn't pretend to be something that it isn't. If this had been a big Hollywood blockbuster then the story would not have been so well told and would have been padded out. This film should be shown in schools to educate young people of the dangers of aids.What makes the film really magnificent is how it challenges people's beliefs about aids and presents a true story in a well written non-preachy and non-patronising way. Well acted and a true masterpiece thats very rare in TV-movie land.If you would like to know more about Alison Gertz and pledge your support for aids victims then please visit www.loveheals.org thanks!For the benifit of those not in the know this movie is called Fatal Love here in the u.k and is available on Odyssey video

I actually taped this movie 8 years ago and watched it for the first time since I had originally seen it. I loved the movie and thought Molly did a great job doing Alison. Lee and Martin did a good job too. I think that the best line in the whole film is when Alison says that most people think that AIDS is some kind of punishment for either taking drugs and/or sleeping around. That to me could not be a better line. I would not say this is the best movie regarding AIDS but one of the first that really try to deal with it early on......