Program Length: 1/2 hour
Produced: 1999

Killing Time is a 30-minute video that examines the attitudes and values of adolescents regarding HIV infection and HIV-infected people. Through interviews with youth workers, street youth and commentary from members of Moist (a Canadian music group), a number of issues are stated and discussed.
The video has a music video structure, jumping from shot-to-shot and speaker-to-speaker, often with no titles or transitions. There is much to discuss in the video which might help people consider why teens are acquiring HIV at a faster rate than the average and what can be done to change these statistics.
This study guide is intended to help viewers process their own conceptions, values and attitudes about the issues. Quotations from the video occur in 'single quotes,' are listed in chronological order and are followed by discussion questions or ideas that might further inform and personalize the statements. Possible responses to the questions are indicated in [squared brackets].
Not all discussions or activities need to be completed; choose those that fit the time and best match the needs and maturity of the viewers. Issues such as promiscuity, contraception, sexual activity and homelessness are all implicit in the discussions, so discussion leaders must be prepared to deal with them openly, honestly and especially non-judgmentally.

1. The Killing Time Pun

The title of the video can be interpreted in several ways and the interpretations can be useful when considering the video's messages. What is the most common interpretation of 'Killing Time?' [Wasting time in a pleasant manner.] What other interpretations come to mind when we consider issues around adolescents and HIV? [a) The time of unprotected sex might be the time you are infected by a fatal disease; b) People who contract HIV almost always die untimely deaths, so some of their lifetime has been killed.]

2. Testing Loyalty

'If your friends just abandon you because you have AIDS then you know they weren't really your friends.'
Why might even good friends stop calling when they learn someone has AIDS? Is it despicable to abandon a friend with AIDS? Why might maintaining a friendship with an AIDS victim be a very difficult task? Why might someone intentionally keep company with an AIDS victim? Could this be said of you: 'Friends don't let friends die alone?' Why? What expectations of your friends would you have if you contracted AIDS?

3. Music Video Style

This video contains rapid cuts, out-of-focus, out-of-frame shots, exaggerated colour, and background music from Moist. Does that make it a music video? Does it have many music video stylings? How does that style modify the messages? Does it make them seem more hip, less preachy? More entertaining? Can you suggest a better way to deliver the messages?
Watch other anti-AIDS videos and compare their forms and messages to those in Killing Time.

4. Polaroids

Frequently, we see speakers holding their own developing Polaroids up to the camera. In one case a young woman burns her image. What does this use of still images means to you? To the people holding the Polaroids? What would you do with your own Polaroid image? [One of the effects of AIDS is that it robs someone of their healthy looks -- their beautiful image. AIDS sufferers often look gaunt, weak and gray, a much different look than what is usual for teens. There may be a symbolic connection between the tragic consequences of contracting HIV and these teens' beautiful images.]

5. Testing Shame

One teen explains that when she went to a clinic for an HIV test she was indirectly accused of prostitution by clinic workers. The shame she felt discouraged her from further testing.
Why might the people in the clinic ask her if she were a prostitute? Why would they care? What would they do if she told them she WAS a prostitute? [Being a prostitute would suggest that she had had multiple partners whom might also be infected. Getting the names and contacting her partners might prevent others from becoming infected.] If she knew of the clinic's intentions, would she still feel the same resentment and shame?

6. HIV Facts

'There are as many people with HIV in the world as there are people in Canada. By 2,000 that number will have reached 40 million.'
Research: Where do most HIV-positive people live? Where is HIV growing most quickly? Why? Among which age group is HIV growing most quickly? Why? How does the infection rate in Canada compare to other countries? How can HIV infection occur without sex? Are any of these instances more common than sexual contact? What is being done in Canada to prevent or slow the rate of HIV infection? How effective will the Killing Time video be in reducing HIV infection among teens? Among homeless teens?

7. Low Self-esteem

Several comments are made about the connection between low self-esteem in teens and HIV infection. One speaker states that security guards' and police officers' disrespect for teens hanging out in parks and malls leads to low self-esteem. How might security guards' and police officers' disrespect for teens lower their self-esteem? How might a person's low self-esteem increase their risk of HIV infection?
'They don't feel good enough about themselves to realize that they can do better or that they can choose who their friends are.' 'I think a lot of people get it on with somebody because they don't feel too good about themselves. You should be with somebody because you want to be.' What does this mean? [People with low self-esteem do not respect their own bodies and might therefore place themselves at physical risk.]
'When I feel good about myself I think more clearly. I don't succumb to peer pressure at all.'
What does this statement suggest one solution to HIV risk might be? How might security guards' and police officers' behaviour towards teens be changed?

8. Bad Attitude

'People treat someone who is HIV positive very differently than they treat someone who has cancer.'
Do you agree with this statement? Why? Why do you think some people might treat people differently? What moral judgment is suggested when we treat cancer and HIV sufferers differently?

9. Elegy to HIV

A young street person reads his poem (included below) to the camera. The reading is punctuated by a series of interviews with him, his friend and others. Watch the sequence and discuss whether the poem might have been more effective if it had been read all at once. How do the punctuating interviews add meaning and significance to the poem?

One day you realize a mistake was made.
Just one mistake, but yet so great.
The thought of death is going through your head.
I really don't want to end up dead.
Already missing the ones you love.
The ones who love you.
Knowing you can't go back.
There is no answer. Just silence.
Darkness is taking over.
Physical solution is becoming a decay.
Fear is all you've got. Disease is taking over.
Don't worry, cause you'll not be forgotten.
Yet with God's help we shall all conquer this terrible affliction.
I shall see you at the gates of heaven.
Do the poet and his friend seem like they have low self-esteem? How can you tell?

10. A Gay Disease?

'Today, around the world, 75% of all HIV transmissions are between heterosexual people.' If you think HIV is a gay disease, you could be dead wrong.'
Do you think that AIDS is a gay disease? Do you think most people believe that? What might have caused people to believe AIDS is a gay disease? What might have changed their attitudes?
Did you know that HIV infection is highest among heterosexual teens? Does that shock you?

11. Repetition

As we listen to the video, we hear repetition of significant words ('dirty needle,' 'suicide,' 'safe sex'). What is the effect of repeating these words? Do you find the words more memorable because they were repeated?

12. Unrequited Guilt

'I went for confession at the Cathedral. And when he found out I had HIV he wouldn't give me my forgiveness.'
How did you feel when you heard her story? How do you think she felt when he denied her? Can you understand why the priest might not absolve her of her sins? Do you think he was right? Why? Are HIV-positive people to be pitied or despised? Why?

13. Dying with Dignity

'I just want to die with dignity. I want to die knowing that I helped somebody, whether it's 2 people or it's 200.'
What can this woman do to 'die with dignity?' How can she help others to avoid HIV infection?
What can you do to help yourself? What can you do to help others?

Written by: Neil Andersen
Neil Andersen is an award-winning Curriculum Consultant with the Toronto District School Board. He is also a speaker and consultant in media and communications technology. His most recent work includes the Between the Lines CDs, the teachers' study guide for the award-winning Scanning Television, and study guides for Space, Bravo! and MuchMusic's Cable in the Classroom broadcasts of original media literacy programming.