Understanding Hiv: Does Teen America Know the Facts?

 ((Sat. (29), noon-1 p.m. , KABC))

By TONY SCOTT

Taped by GGP. Exec producer, Robert C. Horowitz; senior producer, Ted Griggs; producer-director-writer, Richard Saiz.
 
Hosts: Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Tempestt Bledsoe, Chad Lowe.
 

Astrong statement about fighting AIDS is currently riding the syndie mart, with four youthful TV celebs hosting and acting as a binding force for the program. Real impact, however, stems from peers across the country who either carry the HIV virus or have developed AIDS; their presence gives the hour its real impact.

Producer-writer Richard Saiz holds little back as the docu informs teens about the dangers of sex (how to put a condom on is simulated, using fingers or anatomical models), of needles, oral sex and promiscuity. One young woman, emphasizing she prefers abstinence, notes that if anyone has sex, "Do it safe!"

Facts are handled through a Q&A device as young folks across the nation pipe in with their own questions. They're informative and on target.

Rap singer Choice gets across salient points and a Brooklyn teenage theater group, Faces, with the leading figure impersonating AIDS, drives home the hunger of the AIDS virus and how it will take every opportunity to infect those not taking safeguards.

Again, though, it's the voices of those already infected that ring out the most clearly. Fresh, courageous, sometimes amusing, they tell about when they became ill, what they feel, what their plans are. A number are involved in groups helping other HIV-positive people.

One woman tells how her boyfriend had given up using condoms when she went on the pill. It turned out he was HIV-positive. Touchingly, she reveals that she's found a man she loves and who loves her, as he testifies. They met through the HIV group and are happy.

Strong program, which reportedly has lost revenue because of its subject and reluctant sponsors (see accompanying story), should be shown in prime time. The subject is too hot to be left for youngsters (and their seniors) maybe to catch at noon in the summertime. It forcibly insists that everyone should learn to "protect yourself before you wreck yourself."

An 800 number for the National AIDS Hotline is given at the end of this interesting, well-edited package kept upbeat despite the grim subject.