Go Toward the Light (1988)

One of my all time favorites.

It is a performances centric movie

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

I saw this movie many times as a child, my mom had recorded it on TV. It is about a family with 3 children, all boys with hemophilia. The oldest gets AIDS from the medicine he takes to help his blood clot. Back before 1985, the medicine was derived from pooled human blood, unscreened for diseases like HIV or HepC. Imagine my surprise to deliver my first child in 2002 and find him diagnosed with hemophilia, which wasn't inherited from my parents. This movie was all the information I had about hemophilia and it was so sad. Luckily, my son's life is nothing like that of the Ben in the movie. Yet, it is a good reminder of the pain the hemophilia community endured because of poor medical treatment. I'd like to find a way to get a copy of this movie.

I saw this movie back in high school at age 16 and there was not a dry eye in the classroom at the end of the movie when Ben died of AIDS complications, and if I remember correctly, it was a true story. The most touching scene to me was when their fourth child was born and Ben, who was the oldest of the four boys, including the newborn, got to see him before he died. The found out that their newest son did not have hemophilia, where the blood does not clot if someone with this gets a cut. He can bleed to death if it is not treated with platelet transfusions. Ben and the other two sons did have hemophilia, and it was from a platelet transfusion that Ben got AIDS.

Children dying ... Hollywood has produced tearjerkers, depressing and uplifting versions of the story, naive ones, and this movie contains a bit of all of that. But I'm not saying this in a negative way ... the movie tries to do its best to tell the story in 90 minutes, and there will be few who don't feel coming up a tear or two while watching. It's definitely a "Hollywood TV movie", and it does have the look and feel of one. It's also a movie from the 80's, and that starts showing. But the message remains a powerful one : kids die too, and saying goodbye is painful. Aids can kill, and still scares people away. Force can be found in the medical world, in religion, and most importantly in one's own family.

I saw this movie for the first time when I was about 11. I didn't really understand the effects of AIDS on a person or on their family. This very touching movie really opened my eyes to what was going on all around me. I have grown up and never forgotten this movie (I still cry when I see it on TV), and I wish other kids could see this movie and get the same message I did out of it. I also realized that people with AIDS shouldn't be stereotyped and are just like everyone else (I felt so sorry when the school wouldn't let Ben back into school because of people's ignorance). Richard Thomas' explanation of death/a soul is also very helpful for a child with questions. Sad yet necessary film. Beautifully acted by everyone in the cast. Especially the actor who played young Ben, who was confused but very brave in his fight.