ENGL 101

11/12/18

AIDS and Eddie Murphy’s Delirious

During the 1980’s AIDS became an epidemic that gripped the entire world with fear.

Little was known about AIDS and the virus (HIV) that caused AIDS and as a result there was

understandable fear of the disease. Early on there was evidence to support that the disease was

common amongst homosexual men and as a result there was discrimination and violence as this

group was singled out. homosexuals were singled out and in the United States, discrimination

and violence against homosexuals as a result of an illness caused by an unknown virus (HIV)

which was immediately tied to homosexual men. AIDS was a global epidemic and people did not

have a good understanding of what it was and how it could be acquired. The fear of AIDS was a

global conversation and at the same time, entertainers and comedians used the attention and fear

of AIDS to develop relatable films, books and jokes. Eddie Murphy developed AIDS and

homosexual related jokes as part of his Delirious stand-up routine and foolishly suggested that

simply kissing a gay man on the cheek would result in acquiring AIDS. While this content was

entertaining to his fans, Eddie Murphy ignorantly portrayed homosexuality as the lone cause of

contracting the infection that causes AIDS when in fact the disease can be acquired in numerous

ways. Murphy’s humor was light-hearted to some and offensive to others and based on available

information about AIDS at that time and the fear in society of the disease. This is not uncommon

as people always tends to be fearful of things that they do not completely understand.

A significant issue during the AIDS outbreak of the 1980’s was the discrimination and

bias toward homosexual men that had acquired this disease. Society and the media lacked good

information about AIDS and its origin and comedians took advantage of the visibility of the
disease and created a culture of finger-pointing, ridicule and misinformation and certain stand-up

comedians followed suit by creating material that was relevant to the discussion. The facts that

supported the origin of AIDS and ways in which it could be contracted were still in question, but

the public conversation created a stereotype that homosexual men were exclusively to blame for

the epidemic. Stand-up comedian and Hollywood actor Eddie Murphy made headlines in 1983

during his Delirious tour by performing five minutes of material focused on homosexual men.

Murphy shared that “faggots” were not allowed to look at him on stage and that he was

“petrified...and had nightmares about gay people.” He joked that having gays as friends “is scary

because of that new AIDS shit. AIDS is scary because it kills” people. Murphy implied that He

targeted homosexual men as the sole were the reason for the outbreak of AIDS in an ill-informed

fashion customized to entertain his fans. He suggested that women prefer “gay men” as friends

because there is no sexual pressure in the relationship. He further said that a woman might kiss

her gay friend on the cheek and will “go home with AIDS on her lips.” The story continues

when the same girl’s husband goes to the Doctor years later and finds out he has AIDS. Murphy

acting as the husband says “AIDS? But I’m not a homosexual.” Murphy, now portraying the

Doctor says “Sure you’re not a homosexual.” (Murphy 08:44) Murphy plays on the fear of his

fans, and perhaps his own fear of AIDS while making light of the situation based on the

information available at the time. Murphy further implies that mischaracterizes homosexual men

as the lone carrier of the AIDS virus and were responsible for all transmission to “straight

people.” It is important to note that Stand-up comedians will do whatever it takes to entertain

their audience and the facts never get in the way of a funny story. Sam Kinsion was another

comedian who capitalized on the fear of the misunderstood AIDS epidemic and made light of

homosexual men and animals in his routine about the disease. unfairly targeted homosexual men
as responsible for the AIDS outbreak. He made harsh statements pointing to Kinison said that

homosexual men for bringing brought the disease to the human race by stating, “the spread of

HIV from animals to humans on the propensity among homosexuals for “screwing monkeys”

(Goldstein 303) This There continued to be a lack of good information and research about AIDS

and Kinison, like Murphy, played on society’s fear of the disease. An unintended consequence

was how the homosexual community was portrayed in the conversation since there are was a

biased jab at the homosexual community as being responsible for this disease regardless of the

fact that there are numerous ways that people of any sexual orientation can acquire the disease.

These examples show that any comedian is focused on entertaining and not necessarily the facts.

On the other hand, it also exposed a fear of AIDS and in some cases homosexuality and in some

cases an insecurity about sexual preference and identity. The culture of the 1980’s during the

AIDS outbreak promoted this topic publicly and explains why comedians saw it as an

opportunity. Overall, these stand-up comedians held no remorse when it came to targeting the

gay community as responsible for AIDS.

Even though Eddie Murphy and other comedians, in their own words, created hilarious

material about a topic that was on every person’s mind during the 1980’s and certain

homophobic jokes and even the discussion of gay men was not taboo at that time. targeted

homosexual men unfairly as the only reason for the spread of AIDS, in reality the disease can be

contracted by any person and in many ways. In 1982 the CDC discovered that the result of all

cases of AIDS was death. The main hotspots for the disease were in San Francisco (large

homosexual male community), Los Angeles and New York City. The disease was referred to as

the “gay disease or gay plague” (Khan Academy) which was misinterpreted by the entire nation

and homosexual men themselves. They saw it as a danger to them while the rest of the country
singled assumed that homosexuals out for being solely responsible. It is clear to see that people

like Eddie Murphy would perform homophobic jokes with a focus on AIDS since comedians

always prefer to use recent news topics and events to attract a crowd and to bolster their routine

and their audience. Lost on many comedians at the time was that AIDS was also discovered to be

contracted in many other ways. It was stated that, “HIV may be contracted through blood,

semen, pre-ejaculate, vaginal fluids and breast milk. (It cannot be transmitted through saliva,

tears, sweat, or urine.)” (Khan Academy) As more information became available about AIDS it

became clear, contrary to Eddie Murphy’s routine, that unprotected sexual contact between

homosexual men where one was infected was not the only way to contract the AIDS virus. In

1982 and 1983, gay rights activists bravely took to the streets and protested the unfair treatment

by promoting safe sex education programs for everyone and successfully countered the

negativity with important action. There were many instances that stood out where people who

had AIDS were discriminated against. In 1985 one of the most prominent stories was about a

13-year-old boy named Ryan White who acquired the disease through a blood transfusion and

was expelled from his school soon thereafter. Upon learning of Ryan’s condition, parents and

students of the school spoke publicly that they feared he would pass AIDS onto classmates by

continuing to attend the school. It was already proven at this time that AIDS could not be

transmitted through casual contact. Ryan Gates died in 1990 at the age of 18. Other notable cases

included Hollywood actor Rock Hudson, a homosexual man, who passed away in 1985. Hall of

Fame Tennis star Arthur Ashe revealed in 1992 that he had acquired AIDS through a blood

transfusion. He passed away in 1993. Former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson suddenly

retired from basketball in 1991 after announcing that he had acquired HIV, the virus that causes

AIDS. Johnson lives a healthy and active life to this day thanks to advances in science and
medicine that have helped him to manage his illness. There are countless documented cases of

AIDS being acquired from the sharing of drug needles which has been a common practice of

intravenous drug users. In reality, there are many ways that AIDS can be contracted proving that

the success of Eddie Murphy and other comedians and their material about AIDS was all about

the information available at the time and their ability to make light of something that a majority

of Americans feared. Eddie Murphy and others developed a poorly informed bias of this disease,

who was responsible, and how it greatly impacted a nation.

It has been four decades and great strides have been made in education, science and

medicine for the treatment of HIV and AIDS. The silver lining to Eddie Murphy’s routine was

the visibility it created which raised the profile of AIDS and fueled research, treatment options,

advances in medicine, and education and awareness. While millions of Americans are living with

AIDS it is no longer an epidemic. Despite this fact HIV and AIDS are a major focus in society

and communities have come together to learn and educate each other on the disease instead of

fearing it and blaming others for its existence. During the AIDS crisis of the 1980’s President

Ronald Reagan played a critical role during his first term by allocating $12 million for AIDS

research and treatment. While this was a significant step, Reagan was also singled out and

“activists condemned President Ronald Reagan for his public silence on AIDS during his first

term.” (Khan Academy) American people were not happy and to Reagan’s credit he listened to

these voices. During his second term in office, Reagan and his executive staff allocated a

whopping $500 million towards AIDS research, treatment and education. In 1987 the FDA

approved the drug AZT to be sold which inhibits the HIV virus and delays the onset of AIDS in

in any infected patient. The approval of AZT was seen as a turning point in the battle against
AIDS. In the 1990’s even more effective antiretroviral drugs and drug treatments were

discovered which continue to support people infected with the HIV virus all over the world.

The AIDS epidemic of the 1980’s was a significant moment. Eddie Murphy took a

prominent social issue and developed unfairly biased and discriminating entertaining, funny and

homophobic jokes which implied that homosexual men as were the sole cause of AIDS during

his stand-up routine Delirious. While the jokes were designed to be entertaining to his audience,

they lacked facts based on the incomplete information that was available at the time. And These

were important details that caused many Americans to fear AIDS while never while not truly

understanding it. While homosexuals were in the AIDS conversation unfairly targeted, they came

together to develop a more important public conversation that created education, funding,

research and treatments. Today, we are still dealing with AIDS, but great progress has been made

which is a credit in part to the visibility created by the media and comedians like Eddie Murphy

and the homosexual community that took a leadership position for change during an important

moment in history.