Doin’ My Drugs

Today, Buttenschon is married with a child. Thanks to his medicine, he does not have AIDS, and his wife and child are not HIV-Positive. Not only that, no child in Denmark today is born HIV-Positive either; a reality that could be true for Zambia… heck, all of Africa for that matter.

The most emotional part of Doin’ My Drugs was a news story featuring Buttenschon’s parents. It was about parents with AIDS. His father talks about life with AIDS and the bleak future for his son. It’s heartbreaking knowing he would pass away soon after.

“…music is a way of expression and not a race to fame and fortune.”

Buttenschon’s most profound moment is explaining to an unknowing local that medicine can prevent the spread of HIV to his wife and children. He also adds the fact that the Zambian government has made this medication available for free to everyone. This film easily spotlights the importance of education and captures the realization that HIV is no longer a death sentence, and there is hope.

This is also a music documentary with street-performances from Buttenschon and other AIDS activists/performers. Overall, the music is good though it won’t make Top-40 radio anytime soon. But these artists know that music is a way of expression and not a race to fame and fortune. One interview states, “If you want to hide something from someone, put it in a book. If you want to give it, put it in a song.”

Doin’ My Drugs is an informative and inspiring documentary about a man and his guitar trying to change an entire nation, one person at a time. All without the aid of a social media account. We live in a country that believes the solutions to all our problems come from the people we elect into office. And so we sit back and troll the internet. Changing the world means we need to put down our cell phones, get our hands dirty, and actually do something meaningful.