How 'Philadelphia' Influenced American Society

      In December of 1993, the two-time Oscar-winning movie Philadelphia premiered in theaters and made over $200 million dollars in box office sales. However, this film had a much more profound effect on society than some give it credit for, as it completely changed the national conversation and stigma surrounding HIV-AIDS at the time.
      The leading character of Andrew Beckett, a young and successful lawyer, is played by Tom Hanks. However, Beckett is also gay and contracted HIV. For this reason, he is fired from his high-profile law firm and files a lawsuit for wrongful termination. Although he has trouble finding a lawyer, he eventually ends up with a young lawyer named Joe Miller, who is played by Denzel Washington. The movie goes on to follow Beckett's moving journey through his legal case, fighting the disease, and dealing with his own emotions. Sadly, Beckett wins the case but in the process loses his life.
      On and off the camera, the characters, cast, and crew were all exposed to the real tragedies of HIV-AIDS and translated this perfectly to their target audience that did not care much for the disease or had negative predispositions about its victims. In order to do so, the plot was designed to reflect reality for AIDS victims who battled unemployment and discrimination. Andrew Beckett's circumstances mirrored that of many high-profile individuals living in Philadelphia during the 1990s, such as Clarence Cain, a lawyer who died within two months of winning a case against his AIDS job discrimination and Scott Burr, whose jury's negative opinions towards HIV victims even transformed as a result of Philadelphia's release (also thanks to increased protections for HIV victims under the Americans with Disabilities Act put in place around the same time). By conveying messages and personal situations so close to the reality of many Americans, Philadelphia legitimized the need for HIV-AIDS activism by humanizing its victims, drawing away from the negativity associated with it being a "gay man's disease," and honing in on the need for hope and togetherness in order to make advances in treatments. Moreover, the film affirmed the power of defeating the stigma surrounding HIV-AIDS in combatting the disease itself.
        Additionally, in order to support victims of the disease in real life, about 50 HIV-positive extras were hired because the crew was well aware of the difficulty for these people to get and keep jobs just like Andrew Beckett. Although breakthroughs were being made to support these extras among other HIV-AIDS victims all over America, many of their lives were tragically cut short by the disease within only a couple years of the film's release. In fact, only one of the extras, Suellen Kehler, is still alive today and continues to fight for herself and her former cast members. As a result of the inclusion, this film was capable of changing attitudes towards HIV and AIDS for the better by emphasizing how the ostracization of victims is not the answer and defeating its negative stereotypes through characters like Andrew Beckett. 

Sources:
https://whyy.org/segments/20th-anniversary-of-philadelphia/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/looking-back-philadelphia-25-years-later-180971011/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107818/plotsummary