Dallas Buyers Club is a film based on the real life of Ron Woodroof (played by Matthew McConaughey), a straight male that was diagnosed with AIDS while living in Texas in the mid-1980s. This news thrusted Ron into a culture that he had not previously wanted anything to do with, but his views would slowly shift towards a greater understanding with time. Many of the fellow AIDS patients were gay, something that Ron was not comfortable with up to this point in his life. He clearly previously aligned with the notion that straight people were the “one”, while everyone else was an “other”. He did have a respect for this “other”, as this ideology had been ingrained in his mind for the entirety of his life thus far. He continued to deny that he was gay himself as he received accusations from his old friends; this form of mistreatment is eventually what would push him towards an empathetic view on his fellow AIDS patients. One thing that he and his old friends did not have an understanding for was the fact that not all AIDS patients had the same story. There was one idea of what this title meant in the eyes of many, and it took being a part of that group for Ron to see the other side. Striving for a possible method of treatment for this horrific illness, Ron would eventually be pushed towards alternative therapies and he actually ended up smuggling unapproved drugs into the United States. This leads him towards the unimaginable friendship between himself and Rayon, a transgender AIDS patient who was also seeking some form of treatment. This unlikely connection is the bond that drives the messaging of this film. Once a common ground was reached between these two an extremely close friendship developed. Their first meeting showed clear disgust in the eyes of Ron, but he would later on defend her in front of his old friends (a true turning point for Ron’s character development). They eventually founded the Dallas Buyers Club together, which focused on providing the treatments he was using for a monthly fee. The early goal of Ron’s actions seemed to be of the financial sense, but as time passed you could see his care for his patients. The furthering of Ron’s ability to understand and care throughout this film is intriguing and encouraging to watch. This is a fantastic representation of what exposing yourself to different types of people from yourself can do, even though Ron was forced into this situation himself. This is a crucial story to hear, and it does a lot to display the shortcoming of anyone who has a problem with someone else’s gender/sexual identity.
