Daryl Wein’s 2008 film Sex Positive follows the extraordinary and at times contentious life of Richard Berkowitz, a gay activist whose contributions during the initial AIDS crisis remain crucial yet largely overlooked. Blending personal interviews, period footage, and Berkowitz’s own candid commentary, the documentary crafts a lively, sympathetic picture of a man relentlessly devoted to safer sex practices.
Born in the late 1950s, Berkowitz spent his early years in a sleepy small town before arriving in Greenwich Village during New York’s electric late-1970s nightlife. The movie presents him inserting himself into the city’s bold S and M circles-an emancipatory world that would soon confront an epidemic of staggering loss. When HIV/AIDS surfaced in the early 1980s, he quickly grasped the need for clear sex education and harm-reduction plans, speaking up long before the wider public was ready to listen.
Amid widespread denial and stigma, Berkowitz teamed with writer-activist Michael Callen in 1983 to produce the groundbreaking pamphlet How to Have Sex in an Epidemic. Widely seen as an early, grassroots call for safer sex inside the gay community, the pocket guide offered simple, practical tips at a time when many men feared even touching one another. The film recounts the backlash they encountered-from moral conservatives, indifferent politicians, and portions of the gay scene that labeled safer sex talk as prissy or politically timed-out.
As the death toll climbed, Berkowitzs commitment sharpened; he organized public vigils, pushed clear safe-sex protocols, and sometimes caught city officials and reporters off guard with urgent, unsweetened questions about funding, testing, and compassion. Yet illness, the loss of dear friends, and mounting bills blurred the heroic outline. Director David Wein resolves that blur by intercutting early footage of Berkowitz the firebrand with present-day candor, where desire for overdue gratitude tussles with annoyance that the movement has written him half out of its own story.
The documentary thus frames Berkowitz as both cultural icon and reluctant outsider-a queer visionary born into a liberatory moment who had no option but to pivot that promise into lifesaving policy when AIDS struck. It concludes on a bittersweet note: his harm-reduction counsel probably spared millions, yet his name rarely appears in the credits-a quiet reminder to honor the history-makers who worked, literally, on the margins.
🎥 Style & Narrative Approach
Daryl Wein shoots in a bare-bones, vérité style: close interviews, sparse voice-over, and haunting 1980s footage that feels fresher and more heartfelt than slick docu-panache. The script dives into frank talk about sex, death, and selfhood, matching Berkowitzs own blunt prose. Critics call it a bracing, unsentimental essay that gives AIDS politics front stage without gilding the hurting truth.
In its brisk 75 minutes the film stretches from pre-epidemic freedom through the brutal arrival of sickness to the grit, protest, and care that came later. This rhythm links broad timeline to personal memory so the viewer walks away with a weight that lingers long after the credits.
🙋♂️ Cast & Crew
Richard Berkowitz-subject and narrator, his steady voice knits the film together as he moves from fervent advocate to weary onlooker.
Don Adler, Susan Brown, Demetre Daskalakis, Larry Kramer, and other peers-step forward to confirm, question, and sometimes argue with his legacy.
Director & Editor: Daryl Wein-gives the project its tender eye, letting Berkowitz shine while also framing the messy, unresolved parts of history.
Producer: David Oliver Cohen
Associate Producer: Zoe Lister-Jones
Cinematography: Alex Bregman
Music: Michael Tremante-subtle, mournful scores that hug each scene and let silence breathe.
🏆 Reception & Ratings
Critical Response
Critics responded warmly to the film, awarding it a generally favorable Metacritic score of 65 from seven reviews. The San Francisco Chronicle described it as a superb new documentary, while the Los Angeles Times praised its fresh look at bold campaigns for safer sex. The New York Times added that the film urgently reminds viewers how many AIDS stories have quietly disappeared from public memory.
Rotten Tomatoes underlined the documentaries impact, citing Berkowitz as activist and sexual outlaw-a dual identity that unsettles the cleaned-up versions of AIDS-era advocacy often seen elsewhere.
Awards
Grand Jury Award, Los Angeles Outfest, 2008
Official Selection, SXSW Film Festival
Cultural Impact
Praise from critics and scholars alike solidified the film as a much-needed corrective, offering a wider lens on early AIDS activism. Many reviewers referred to it as a vital fragment of painful sexual history that remains largely hidden from younger audiences.
💬 Themes and Significance
- Grassroots Activism
Richard Berkowitz refused to yield the microphone to more polished spokespeople. When others shied away from harsh truths, he stood up and spoke even at the risk of backlash. The film reminds viewers that real change can surge from urgent, untamed voices in the street.
- Freedom Meets Caution
Set against the afterglow of 1960s and 1970s sexual freedom, the story traces the jagged shift from joy to vigilant care. Berkowitzs call for consistent condom use rattled deep cultural scripts, and that clash echoes in todays still-divided public conversation.
- Memory Making
The documentary shows how a whole communities story can quietly fade from official record. Berkowitzs radical candor stands in stark relief to the tidied narratives that institutions usually prefer.
- The Human Toll
Loss, grief, and whispered shame sit at the films center. Wein carefully balances proud moments of advocacy with raw, intimate portraits of suffering and resilience.
Why It Still Matters
Historical Documentation: Because HIV/AIDS has faded from mainstream headlines, Sex Positive places Berkowitzs story back at the center of prevention instead of relegating it to the margins.
Relevant Echoes Today: Battles over sexual health politics-public messaging and lingering stigma-still ignite public debate, whether around PrEP access or cuts to school-based sex education.
Inspiring Advocacy: Audiences can take courage from the films frank embrace of peer-led honesty and use those lessons to fuel their own advocacy.
✍️ Critical Perspectives
The New York Times observes: “The film slaps you awake with the note that the AIDS crisis has slipped so low on todays news radar.”
Slant Magazine calls it “a coolly vivid, unsentimental trips through 1980s AIDS politics in America.”
👥 Audience Guidance
Who should watch it:
Scholars and students focused on LGBTQ history, HIV activism, and public-health politics
Anyone curious about key figures long faded from collective memory
Advocates and teachers seeking solid historical background for present-day sexual-health work
Content Warnings:
Forthright talk about sex, including the gay S&M scene of the era
Open reflection on mortality, stigma, and the systems that enforce both
🧾 Conclusion
Daryl Wein’s Sex Positive is more than a history lesson; it is a pressing meditation on visibility, activism, and the moral stakes of sexual health. Told through the bracing candor of Richard Berkowitz, the film rewrites the tidy AIDS narrative and dares viewers to face the unspectacular truths that literally kept people alive. With clear-eyed compassion and careful research, it stands as a must-see tribute and a blueprint for the kind of advocacy that matters-even when it annoys the powerful.
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