GH: World AIDS Day

December 1st is World AIDS Day. It is a day to recall those who've been lost to this disease, those who are living with it and preventing its spread. General Hospital was the first to have a long-term core character become HIV positive, Robin Scorpio, over a decade ago.

Throughout the 80s and 90s, AIDS affected daytime. From the chilling effect as love scenes became less explicit, dealing with those who had the illness as at first people did not know how it was spread, losing people both in front of and behind the camera, to the stories told that had to do with the disease. Some attempts to bring awareness were kind of silly like having characters wear red ribbons on World AIDS Day without any real explanation. The episode that followed had the characters in the same costumes sans ribbons, which was really distracting. Award shows had actors, musicians and the like showing support by wearing these ribbons on dresses and suit lapels.

The talk shows of the time would have regular features on the disease, teaching awareness, and giving a face and a voice to those who were afflicted. A family member, a friend, a co-worker, a teacher, anyone could have this disease as it didn’t discriminate.

Robin's story and subsequent book told how she fell in love with a boy named Stone. They were intimate and it was revealed that he had full blown AIDS. Robin knew about AIDS awareness and was a responsible teen, but didn't always use a condom with her boyfriend. As an audience, we saw Robin deal with the death of her first love and the knowledge that she may be infected. She persevered and was revealed to be HIV Positive.

At the time, this was a daring choice, as people didn't live for many years with
the disease. There was no way of knowing that people could live a full and long life while being HIV Positive. Many viewers (myself included) were not happy with General Hospital for allowing Robin to be infected, as what would it do to this character that we saw first as a little girl. Would she die quickly like Stone or live for years battling this disease with no hope for a cure? Thankfully the answer to that was neither as a drug cocktail was developed that was successful in keeping someone who was HIV Positive from getting full blown AIDS.

We saw Robin, her friends and family deal with her fate. How she may never be able to finish college, get married, and have a family. Now all these years later, she has a daughter Emma, a license to practice medicine and found love again with a fellow doctor named Patrick. Due to a mixture of medicines, Robin is able to live her dream though she has never forgotten her first love Stone.

Of all the stories told on General Hospital, this is one that has affected many potentially changing behaviors and opinions about those with HIV/AIDS. Robin was seen as a child to some viewers, a peer to others (like me), and now to the younger viewers perhaps as an older sibling figure. Watching a character live with being HIV positive, and see her thrive gives one hope that some day there may be a cure for this disease.