Director’s Note
by Pierre Walters, Posted on February 20, 2010
It started with a trip to South Africa. I was on assignment directing two broadcast segments for a show called Columbia Union Story. The segments each revolved around the reality of AIDS in different capacities. One dealt with the tragic rise of parentless children and a Christian (Seventh-day Adventist) clinic in a small village faced with the moral responsibility of providing one meal a day to the hundreds of orphan children in their community. The other was more joyous as it covered the ribbon-cutting of a new church in a community where hope is all some have left. I learned a lot while I was there, in many ways, I didn't want to leave.
Here's a statistic that stuck with me: conditions in many South African villages are so poor that countless fathers have purposely become HIV-postive in order to be eligible for the government's AIDS subsidy, a small stipend sent to help support their families as they die. Talk about sacrifice.
That got me thinking, what on earth is this AIDS thing anyway? I mean really, what actually is it? As I researched and learned more about the syndrome of anti-immune deficiency and the virus that causes it, a serious question began to surface. How do you effectively treat something with no cure? And by who's definition is "effective" anyway?
That's when I learned about AZT, at one-time a very controversial treatment cocktail for AIDS victims. A cocktail so toxic it couldn't be administered to cancer patients. A cocktail many accuse for the death of their stricken loved-ones. For the last 20 years there has been a vocal community regarding this subject, there are supporters and there are protestors. And then, there are pharmaceutical giants.
I am no scientist, nor am I a learned doctor, I am an American, someone who has access to a wealth of information, and therefore, a richness of awareness. A very good friend of mine posed the question of fundamental truths, that is to say, an idea or concept (or rhetoric even) that in itself supports the very foundation for entire industries. Without going into too much detail in this text, I quickly became aware of how marketing (read: propaganda) by our government and pharmaceutical industry over the last twenty years has virtually shaped the common understanding of what AIDS is and why. I found it mind-blowing to learn that there is more to the story than what I had learned and most people are exposed to.
We're talking about an industry that needs to survive, we're talking about shareholders, we're talking about profit. What we’re not talking about are people’s lives.
Greener by the Day seeks to explore this argument. As director, I don't intend to answer mammoth sized questions that are currently argued by our best and brightest, instead I intend to explore the argument practically and fully so that everyone can participate. Hopefully through exploring this industry, and why we've allowed it to grow the way it has, we can shed some light on solutions, or on consequences deeper and more ingrained in our society than we could have ever imagined. Hopefully we can grow and affect world change. Hopefully.
by Pierre Walters, Posted on February 20, 2010
Here's a statistic that stuck with me: conditions in many South African villages are so poor that countless fathers have purposely become HIV-postive in order to be eligible for the government's AIDS subsidy, a small stipend sent to help support their families as they die. Talk about sacrifice.
That got me thinking, what on earth is this AIDS thing anyway? I mean really, what actually is it? As I researched and learned more about the syndrome of anti-immune deficiency and the virus that causes it, a serious question began to surface. How do you effectively treat something with no cure? And by who's definition is "effective" anyway?
That's when I learned about AZT, at one-time a very controversial treatment cocktail for AIDS victims. A cocktail so toxic it couldn't be administered to cancer patients. A cocktail many accuse for the death of their stricken loved-ones. For the last 20 years there has been a vocal community regarding this subject, there are supporters and there are protestors. And then, there are pharmaceutical giants.
I am no scientist, nor am I a learned doctor, I am an American, someone who has access to a wealth of information, and therefore, a richness of awareness. A very good friend of mine posed the question of fundamental truths, that is to say, an idea or concept (or rhetoric even) that in itself supports the very foundation for entire industries. Without going into too much detail in this text, I quickly became aware of how marketing (read: propaganda) by our government and pharmaceutical industry over the last twenty years has virtually shaped the common understanding of what AIDS is and why. I found it mind-blowing to learn that there is more to the story than what I had learned and most people are exposed to.
We're talking about an industry that needs to survive, we're talking about shareholders, we're talking about profit. What we’re not talking about are people’s lives.
Greener by the Day seeks to explore this argument. As director, I don't intend to answer mammoth sized questions that are currently argued by our best and brightest, instead I intend to explore the argument practically and fully so that everyone can participate. Hopefully through exploring this industry, and why we've allowed it to grow the way it has, we can shed some light on solutions, or on consequences deeper and more ingrained in our society than we could have ever imagined. Hopefully we can grow and affect world change. Hopefully.