View source for House of Numbers: Anatomy of an Epidemic

{{Infobox film
| name           = House of Numbers: Anatomy of an Epidemic
| image          = House of Numbers poster.jpg
| alt            = movie poster image
| caption        =
| director       = Brent Leung
| producer       = Brent Leung<br>Ursula Rowan
| writer         = Llewellyn Chapman
| screenplay     =
| story          =
| starring       = Brent Leung
| music          = Joel Diamond
| cinematography = Matt Coale<br>Pouria Montazeri
| editing        = Brent Leung<br>Ursula Rowan
| studio         =
| distributor    =
| released       = {{Film date|2009|6|21|df=y}}
| runtime        = 90 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         =
| gross          =
}}
'''''House of Numbers: Anatomy of an Epidemic''''' is a 2009 film directed, produced, and hosted by Brent Leung and described by him as an objective examination of the idea that HIV causes AIDS.<ref name=Baywindows /> The film argues that [[human immunodeficiency virus]] (HIV) is harmless and does not cause [[acquired immune deficiency syndrome]] (AIDS), a position known as [[HIV/AIDS denialism|AIDS denialism]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Specter|first1=Michael|authorlink=Michael Specter|title=Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Harms the Planet and Threatens Our Lives|date=Oct 29, 2009|publisher=Penguin|isbn=9780715639436|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-VMNrt3JyIC&q=%22house+of+numbers%22+AIDS+denialism&pg=PT111|accessdate=April 17, 2015}}</ref><ref name=Baywindows>{{cite news | url = http://baywindows.com/crazy-house-90259 | work = [[Bay Windows]] | first = Ethan | last = Jacobs | date = April 22, 2009 | accessdate = September 8, 2009 | title = Crazy 'House' | archive-date = July 29, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140729223047/http://baywindows.com/crazy-house-90259 | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name=pernicious/> The film's claims of impartiality have been widely rejected by scientists, and the film's claims about HIV and AIDS have been dismissed as pseudoscience and [[conspiracy theory]] masquerading as even-handed examination.<ref name="nyt" /><ref name="lancet">{{cite journal | journal = Lancet Infect Dis | title = House of Numbers | volume = 9 | issue = 12 | year = 2009 | pages = 735 | doi = 10.1016/S1473-3099(09)70316-0 | url = http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099%2809%2970316-0/fulltext | author = Burki T}}</ref><ref name="Aaronovitch">{{cite news|title=A Conspiracy-Theory Theory. How to fend off the people who insist they know the 'real story' behind everything|newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|author=David Aaronovitch|accessdate=2009-12-21|date=2009-12-19|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704238104574602042125998498}}</ref>
A group of scientists interviewed for the film later complained that their comments had been misrepresented and taken out of context, and that the film promotes [[pseudoscience]].<ref name="nyt"/><ref name="lancet"/> The film also interviews [[Christine Maggiore]], a prominent AIDS denialist who later died following AIDS-related conditions.<ref name="LACertificate">{{cite web | url = http://www.aidstruth.org/news/2009/christine-maggiore-died-aids | title = Christine Maggiore died of AIDS | accessdate = 2011-02-01 | date = 2009-03-09 | publisher = AIDStruth.org | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110821045350/http://www.aidstruth.org/news/2009/christine-maggiore-died-aids | archivedate = 2011-08-21 }} [http://www.aidstruth.org/new/sites/default/files/maggiore-death-certificate.pdf Death certificate] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103172503/http://www.aidstruth.org/new/sites/default/files/maggiore-death-certificate.pdf |date=2012-01-03 }}.</ref>
==Production and content ==
Leung has declined to discuss funding for the film except to state that funders came from "all over the world".<ref name=Baywindows /><ref name="Nville_Scene">{{cite news | first = Jim | last = Ridley | title = Controversy lingers after premiere of Nashville director's AIDS documentary | date = 2009-05-07 | url = http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/controversy-lingers-after-premiere-of-nashville-directors-aids-documentary/Content?oid=1200956 | work = [[Nashville Scene]] | accessdate = 2010-10-02}}</ref> In the film, Leung interviews a range of scientists and AIDS denialists, most notably [[Christine Maggiore]]. At the time of filming, Maggiore was HIV-positive and appeared healthy, despite her refusal to take [[anti-retroviral]] medication, which mainstream medicine uses to slow down the rate at which HIV destroys [[CD4+ T cells|CD4+ T-cells]]. As she said in the film, she refused to take the medication and did not have her daughter, [[Eliza Jane Scovill]], tested, or provide her with medication, because she believed HIV did not cause AIDS. Rather, she believed that the medication itself caused AIDS. Maggiore's relative health, despite years of infection, is used by the film to support the idea that anti-retrovirals are unnecessary to combat, and may themselves cause, AIDS. Maggiore died of complications of advanced untreated AIDS.
==Release and aftermath==
The film was screened at small film festivals, including the London [[Raindance film Festival]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2009/oct/24/hiv-aids-link-denialist-spectator-events|title = Bad science &#124; HIV and Aids: Debate or denial? &#124; Ben Goldacre|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 23 October 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.houseofnumbers.com/site2/screenings.html|title=The HIV/ AIDS Story is Being Rewritten}}</ref> A panel discussion of the film at a [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] film festival was disrupted by Leung and other AIDS denialists in the audience, who attempted to shout down members of the panel with whom they disagreed.<ref name="Baywindows"/>
Both Maggiore and her daughter died of AIDS-related complications before the film's release, although their deaths are mentioned only in small print during the closing credits along with a claim that Maggiore's death was "unrelated to HIV."<ref name="lancet"/> Maggiore's daughter died in September 2005 of AIDS-related [[opportunistic infection]]s, although Maggiore rejected the cause of death and argued that the coroner's report was politically motivated.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ornstein|first1=Charles|last2=Costello|first2=Daniel|title=A Mother's Denial, a Daughter's Death|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-sep-24-me-eliza24-story.html|access-date=April 17, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 24, 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Did HIV-Positive Mom's Beliefs Put Her Children at Risk?|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/print?id=1386737|accessdate=April 17, 2015|work=ABC News|date=December 8, 2008}}</ref> Maggiore herself died in December 2008 from [[AIDS-defining clinical condition|AIDS-related opportunistic infections]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Christine Maggiore died of AIDS|url=http://www.aidstruth.org/news/2009/christine-maggiore-died-aids|accessdate=April 17, 2015|work=AIDStruth.org|date=March 9, 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821045350/http://www.aidstruth.org/news/2009/christine-maggiore-died-aids|archivedate=August 21, 2011}}</ref>
Eighteen scientists interviewed in the film stated that their answers to Leung's questions were selectively [[Video editing|edited]] to convey a false sense that the scientific community disagrees on basic facts about HIV/AIDS.<ref name="lancet"/> Two interviewees, Neil Constantine and [[Robin Weiss]], cite examples supporting the allegation that Leung misrepresented their words in a "surely intentional" manner.<ref name="WeissConstantine">{{cite web | publisher = Aidstruth.org | title = Constantine and Weiss pinpoint misrepresentations | date = November 26, 2009 | accessdate = November 27, 2009 | url = http://www.aidstruth.org/features/2009/constantine-and-weiss}}</ref> Brent Leung denied taking quotes out of context.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-rivera/filmmaker-brent-leung-res_b_271521.html | work=Huffington Post | first=Jeff | last=Rivera | title=Filmmaker, Brent Leung Responds to Huffpo Blogger, Thomas DeLorenzo | date=August 28, 2009}}</ref>
== Reception ==
The film's promotion of AIDS denialism, a pseudoscientific movement implicated in thousands of deaths,<ref name="guardian-mbeki">{{cite news | work = [[The Guardian]] | title = Mbeki Aids denial 'caused 300,000 deaths' | url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/26/aids-south-africa | date = November 26, 2008 | first = Sarah | last = Boseley}}</ref> drew criticism and anger.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.nashvillescene.com/2009-04-30/film/for-the-nashville-film-festival-there-s-clearly-life-after-forty/ | work = [[Nashville Scene]] | first = Jim | last = Ridley | date = April 29, 2009 | accessdate = September 8, 2009 | title = For the Nashville Film Festival, there's clearly life after 40}}</ref> The ''[[New York Times]]'' characterized the film as "a weaselly support pamphlet for AIDS denialists", "willfully ignorant", and "a globe-trotting pseudo-investigation that should raise the hackles of anyone with even a glancing knowledge of the basic rules of reasoning."<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |first=Jeanette |last= Catsoulis |title=AIDS Seen From a Different Angle  |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/movies/04house.html |work = [[New York Times]]  |date=4 September 2009  |accessdate=3 September 2009}}</ref> ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' cited the film as part of "this season's fashion in conspiracy theories."<ref name="Aaronovitch"/> The ''[[Portland Oregonian]]'' criticized Leung for "not being entirely honest with viewers," and decried the film's reliance on "selective editing, anomalies and anecdotes, unsupported conclusions ...&nbsp;and suppression of inconvenient facts."<ref name="oregonian">{{cite news | work = [[Portland Oregonian]] | publisher = OregonLive.com | first = Stan | last = Hall | title = 'House of Numbers' blurs facts on HIV | url = http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/index.ssf/2010/01/review_house_of_numbers_blurs.html | date = January 21, 2010 | accessdate = May 10, 2010}}</ref>
Reaction from the [[scientific community]] was similarly negative. ''[[The Lancet|Lancet Infectious Diseases]]'' criticized the film's arguments, calling them a "toxic combination of misrepresentation and sophistry."<ref name="lancet"/> AIDSTruth.org, a website created by HIV researchers to address AIDS denialism,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Cohen J |title=HIV/AIDS. AIDSTruth.org Web site takes aim at 'denialists' |journal=Science |volume=316 |issue=5831 |page=1554 |year=2007 |pmid=17569834 |doi=10.1126/science.316.5831.1554|s2cid=30223809 |doi-access=free }}</ref> criticized the film for concealing its "agenda behind a false veneer of honest inquiry", and published a rebuttal to some of the film's claims.<ref name="aidstruth">{{cite web | publisher = Aidstruth.org | first = Jeanne | last = Bergman | title = Real Answers to the Fake Questions in "House of Numbers" | date = September 10, 2009 | accessdate = September 22, 2009 | url = http://www.aidstruth.org/features/2009/real-answers-fake-questions-%E2%80%9Chouse-numbers%E2%80%9D}}</ref> [[Ben Goldacre]], writing in ''[[The Guardian]]'', described ''House of Numbers'' as "a dreary and pernicious piece of Aids denialist propaganda."<ref name=pernicious>{{cite web | work = [[The Guardian]] | first = Ben | last = Goldacre | authorlink = Ben Goldacre | title = House of Numbers | date = September 26, 2009 | accessdate = September 27, 2009 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/sep/26/ben-goldacre-bad-science-aids/}}</ref>
In February 2014 several people involved with the film filed [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act|DMCA]] notices against a [[YouTube]] science blogger named Myles Power, who had made a video series debunking claims made in the film. Power argued that the film was [[fair use]] as criticism and education.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Palmer|first1=Ewan|title=YouTube to Terminate Account of Scientist who Debunked Aids Denialist Movie|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/youtube-terminate-account-scientist-who-debunked-aids-denialist-movie-1436802|accessdate=April 17, 2015|work=International Business Times|date=February 17, 2014}}</ref> Several commentators described the notices as attempted [[censorship by copyright]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Geigner|first1=Timothy|title=AIDS Denial Crazies Go All DMCA On Videos Educating People Of Their Craziness|url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140210/05172926163/aids-denial-crazies-go-all-dmca-videos-educating-people-their-craziness.shtml|accessdate=April 17, 2015|work=Techdirt|date=February 14, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=McSherry|first1=Corynne|title=New Entrants in the Takedown Hall of Shame: AIDS Deniers and Televangelists (Updated)|url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/02/new-entrants-takedown-hall-shame-aids-deniers-and-televangelists|publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation|accessdate=April 17, 2015|date=February 18, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Kobie|first1=Nicole|title=Censorship by copyright: Myles Powers and abuse of DMCA takedowns|url=http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2014/02/17/censorship-by-copyright-myles-powers-and-abuse-of-dmca-takedowns|accessdate=April 17, 2015|work=PC Pro|date=February 17, 2014}}</ref> The videos were restored several days later.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Palmer|first1=Ewan|title=Scientist's YouTube Account Remains Open Following Aids Denialist Censorship Claims|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/scientists-youtube-account-remains-open-following-aids-denialist-censorship-claims-1437094|accessdate=April 17, 2015|work=International Business Times|date=February 19, 2014}}</ref>
==See also==
{{portal|Viruses}}
* ''[[Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed]]''
* ''[[The Other Side of AIDS]]''
*[[Duesberg hypothesis]]
*[[Eliza Jane Scovill]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.houseofnumbers.com}}
* [http://www.houseofnumbers.org/ Inside House of Numbers], a website critical of the film, rebutting many of its claims
* {{IMDb title|1311710}}
[[Category:2009 films]]
[[Category:American documentary films]]
[[Category:HIV/AIDS denialism]]
[[Category:Documentary films about HIV/AIDS]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:2009 documentary films]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience documentary films]]
[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
[[Category:HIV/AIDS in American films]]
[[Category:2000s American films]]
[[Category:English-language documentary films]]