Boys on the Side (1995)
Whoopi Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker and Drew Barrymore star in the 1995 film BOYS ON THE SIDE, which features a screenplay by out gay writer Don Roos.
BOYS ON THE SIDE
1995. USA.
Director: Herbert Ross
Screenwriter: Don Roos
Starring: Whoopi Goldberg, Mary-Louise Parker, Drew Barrymore, Matthew McConaughey, Estelle Parsons, James Remar, Billy Wirth, Anita Gillette, Dennis Boutsikaris and Amy Aquino
Jane (Goldberg) is a musician looking to move to a new city after her relationship with her girlfriend ends and her band splits up. She answers an ad to accompany a woman named Robin (Parker) as she drives to LA. Along the way they stop to touch base with Jane’s friend Holly (Barrymore).
The three women hit the road together and soon it is revealed that Jane is a lesbian, Robin is HIV positive and struggling with pneumonia, Holly is pregnant …and they’ve accidentally killed her abusive boyfriend. They relocate to Arizona and start a life there together, but soon everything they were running from begins to catch up.
BOYS ON THE SIDE was unique for the 1990s in the way it depicted HIV/AIDS. Featuring a straight woman struggling with HIV, when much of the world still viewed it as a gay disease, was important. It showed that this was a virus that could be transmitted to anyone. The film also importantly emphasized through visuals that the virus was not transmittable through touch, sharing drinks, or kissing – and that sex was still safe with a condom.
Screenwriter Don Roos understood the need to feature characters LIVING with HIV, which is why so much of the script is peppered with elements to help remove some of the stigma associated with the virus. Unfortunately, the director wanted the typical tragic ending. In Roos’ original script, Robin lived. Due to the fact Roos didn’t want to change the ending he was banned from the set after selling his script and the ending was changed without his knowledge. The film’s current ending is beautiful and heart-breaking, but it would have been much more powerful if Robin’s character had lived like originally intended.
You can find BOYS ON THE SIDE streaming through Starz, Crave (Canada), Hulu (USA), Plex (USA/Canada/UK) – it’s also available for rent/purchase through Amazon (Canada/UK), YouTube, and AppleTV.
