Dallas Buyers Club

What a powerful, emotional movie!  This one destroyed me!  I can’t stop thinking about it.  Matthew McConaughey plays Ron Woodroof, a straight man in 1985 that’s been diagnosed with HIV and told he has 30 days to live.  During this time, HIV and AIDS were still fairly new and scary and there were all kinds of stereotypes and prejudices against those that were sick, which Ron gets to experience firsthand.  Those wanting treatment were subjected to the FDA’s red tape and doctors & drug companies wanting to make money when the people are just trying to survive.  After improving by using experimental drug “cocktails” created with meds from outside the United States, Ron works to find ways to get these to the sick and dying – fighting with the system every step of the way.  Since it’s illegal to sell them, he creates the Dallas Buyers Club – where you buy a membership and then get the meds for free.  This helps countless people and makes what’s left of their lives more bearable instead of just waiting to die in the hospitals.  This movie made me sad and angry, and just really makes you think about what’s right and wrong and how our system works…  Sometimes, it’s such a hard thing to straddle that line of what’s legal and what’s RIGHT!