Killing All The Right People Essays Examples

In this popular and award-winning episode of Designing Women, the controversial and often-talked about topic of the modern era on sexuality is the topic of the discussion as well as the extreme, opposing views on the matter are the subject of portrayal through the characters. Conservative people who believe in the strict notion of gender roles without admitting any exceptions to the rule still find great power in society. On the contrary, liberal and post-modern advocates of the new-age definition of socially-acceptable sexuality continue to struggle in order to gain acceptance and freedom from prejudice.
The very bold statement that comes from one of the key characters claiming that AIDS is a disease that “Kills all the right people” is the obvious center of the episode’s theme as it portrays the naïve and judgmental attitudes of people towards the dreaded disease – so much that AIDs becomes equivalent to homosexuality. Because of this portrayal, people can be quick in judging others like Kendall – who is a homosexual in the episode – basing only on limited information about their situation. In this episode, it was shown that some people can be overly confident and bold in declaring that the “straight people” suffer entirely because of the sins of the homosexuals; hence, the former put judgment in their hands and leave no room for an educated doubt as to why tragedies occur.
In relation to AIDS, one of the main characters, Mary Jo, defends her support towards birth control mechanisms by pointing the direct relationship between unsafe sex and death. This presents a different approach on the subject of birth control because most of the time, birth control is seen only to prevent unplanned parenthood. By relating the matter to death and fatal disease, Mary Jo’s argument becomes more convincing and strong as it focuses on a more important and heavier issue, which is untimely death.