Ruby's gems sparkle with safe-sex message
Updated: 2008-01-04 10:39
When Ruby Yang spotted a Chinese restaurant near her Dallas hotel, she bought a large amount of takeout food.
She was going to meet Yao Ming later that day, and something was cooking in her mind.
The Houston Rockets center was to appear with basketball legend Magic Johnson in a public service announcement (PSA) on fighting discrimination.
During production, the power went off, and Yang, the director, floated an idea: Why not have Yao and HIV-positive Johnson share some Chinese food? That could dispel any stigma more effectively than anything.
The two stars readily agreed; and Yao even did some improvising with his line - to make it more natural.
The spot was aired for a whole year on buses and other public places all across China. It sent a clear message: There are a lot of things you can share with an HIV carrier or an AIDS patient without risk of contracting the disease.
That was three years before Yang won an Academy Award for The Blood of Yingzhou District, a 40-minute documentary about a group of AIDS orphans. Riding on her Oscar glory, she has recently made three more PSA spots for the Ministry of Health.
This time, the message is different. As surveys increasingly show that the risk of contracting the virus is primarily through sexual contact among young people, the ministry wants to focus on the taboo subject of sex.
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