Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses life with HIV/AIDS and the associated social and cultural stigmas and references racism, gun violence, child abuse, substance use, sexual violence and abuse, and death by suicide.

“The thing is, half these bitches are lying. More than half. They get diagnosed and all of a sudden they’re Mother Teresa.”

After Ava tests HIV positive, her sense of self changes. When she sees the television talk show at the airport, she’s skeptical of the interviewees' descriptions of living with HIV/AIDS. However, her response to the interviews foreshadows the ways that her diagnosis will transform her self-regard and outlook on life. Like the interviewees, she will not only give up her former sex life but will devote herself to new causes.

“This bitch got AIDS! This bitch got AIDS!”

The social context for Ava’s story influences the way she sees herself and her life after testing HIV positive. Indeed, she’s harassed and ostracized as soon as her Atlanta community learns about her diagnosis. In this scene, a former lover’s wife is verbally attacking her in her salon and thus publicizing her condition and compromising her business. The incident catalyzes the salon’s demise and closure and Ava’s subsequent return to Idlewild. The angry woman’s outburst also illustrates the 1990s societal regard for HIV/AIDS.

“That was typical. Anybody with trouble knew if they could get to Joyce, she’d take care of it. Her feeling was that all crises could be handled if someone would take responsibility and start moving.”

Joyce’s character is defined by her bigheartedness. Therefore, Ava isn’t surprised when she learns that Joyce can’t collect her from the airport because she’s helping a community member give birth. Joyce has devoted her life to helping those in need.