Educational Media Reviews Online

This film, originally produced for Minds Eye Production’s A Million Teardrop Series, dramatizes the devastating impact of an HIV diagnosis – and not just on the person tested, but all those around her. Edie and Jerry are planning to be married, when the results of Edie’s blood test reveal she is HIV positive. Jerry’s angry reaction and subsequent self-absorbed behavior almost tear their relationship apart. Jerry was clean going into their relationship, so Edie was the one who contracted HIV from a previous relationship with Gene. When she tells Gene, he too reacts angrily, and is in denial until tests reveal that he is indeed HIV positive.

Edie and Jerry battle through the emotional side of their diagnosis through therapy sessions, trying hard to understand each other. They go through some dark times, but in the end realize they love each other and with a positive outlook can create their own happiness for whatever time they have left together. Gene decides to take another route, and end his pain by committing suicide.

This is an intimate look at the emotions many people go through, the support systems necessary, and mechanisms for coping with an overwhelming diagnosis. The acting is good, somewhat stilted in places, but overall 1208 Sherwood succeeds in educating about the “other” side of an HIV diagnosis. Recommended for senior high through college audiences, this film is a good selection for library collections supporting health sciences, counseling and young adult HIV programming.