The Humanity Behind the Homophobic Cowboy: Production Troubles and 'Dallas Buyers Club' Connor Cartledge College

Plagued with poverty in the rural Texas area, homophobic cowboy Ron Woodroof spends the majority of his time on his electrician practices and cheap sex. Through one of his sexual partners, Ron is infected with the AIDS virus, which at the time had a near perfect fatality rate. Woodroof was estimated to only have a few weeks to gather his affairs, when his denial of his diagnosis pushed Ron to survive for several years beyond that, helping thousands of others along the way. Ron’s incredible and unconventional story is beautifully portrayed in Dallas Buyers Club,where Matthew McConaughey captures the authenticity of Ron as a tragic hero flawlessly, even though the film's journey from concept to screen was by no means easy.

Dallas Buyers Club collided with screenwriter Craig Borten’s personal experiences, and was an under-budgeted, unhinged project attached to many names and many studios. Within 20 years of the making, the film found solace in a cast and crew who understood Ron’s story, and could relate to the films setting (the 1980’s), while also seeing the humanity behind him that most didn’t. “Be here tomorrow”, Ron Woodroof said to Craig Borten regarding their interview that was to take place in the summer of 92’. Craig...