The Secret Life of Magic Johnson:: New Documentary to Reveal his Untold Story
Soon, some of ex-basketball player, Earvin “Magic” Johnson‘s, secrets will be revealed via television. The 52-year-old, has released a documentary about what it was like to announce, to the world, that he is HIV Positive. The documentary, which is narrated by himself, will focus on the private struggles he faced when he revealed his HIV status 20 years ago, in 1991, moreso than the daily struggles he faces living with the disease. About this film, the director, Nelson George, explained:
“While he does a lot of speaking about this — and has done so persistently — to really sit down and do a lengthy interview about it and have his wife talk about it, that’s something they’ve avoided. We are very fortunate and quite honored that they agreed to do it at this time… It’s not so much what people said about him, it’s how he felt and what people did to him. Be it people dis-inviting him to their restaurant or dealing with how [the drug] AZT affected his body. It’s an inside-out view as opposed to the things you might have heard discussed on talk radio… One of the focuses for him is young people. The AIDS infection rate for young people, especially among black people, is really bad. He also talks a lot about the idea of drug research. I think there are a couple of agendas for him that are very, very powerful.”
“The Announcement” documentary is scheduled to air on ESPN this Sunday at 9pm. Magic Johnson also has another TV venture coming up, though. We recently reported that he would be launching his own television network, called Aspire, in July. The Comcast-run network will be an inspirational channel for African Americans, featuring shows, movies, and documentaries in various genres, including comedy and music. Magic said,
“I wanted a vehicle to show positive images and to have stories written, produced and directed by African Americans for our community. Aspire — that’s how I’ve been leading my life.”
[CNNMarqueeBlogs, TheInquisitr]