Viral representations: It’s a Sin

Abstract

Belonging to the retrovision genre, It’s a Sin (2021) dramatizes the early years of the pandemic. Audiences are shown what reality was like before and immediately after the outbreak of HIV/AIDS. It narrates the transition from a sex-positive era where non-heterosexual people were standing up for their freedom to love, have sex and enjoy life to an era of fear, illness and death that followed the outbreak of HIV. The argument of this article is that contrary to earlier representations of the initial years of the pandemic, It’s a Sin, not unlike Pose (2018–21), succeeds in addressing HIV/AIDS in an empowering rather than stigmatizing manner. In particular, It’s a Sin challenges previous representations of the early years of the pandemic by not contributing to the association of HIV/AIDS with a discourse of illness and death. What is different in this series to earlier representations was the fact that there is no blame towards people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), nor do we see them as passive victims of an unknown virus. Rather, by applying ‘analytics of mediation’, it is argued that the series presents the social suffering that emerged with HIV/AIDS and provides space for audiences to reflect on their contribution to the suffering of others.