HOME VIDEO REVIEW : ‘Time Out’ Gives AIDS Facts to Teens

Even though the word AIDS is so often seen in print and heard in the electronic media, one of the highest at-risk groups doesn’t appear to be getting a preventive message. A recent poll taken by Sassy magazine showed that a majority of teen-agers wasn’t particularly concerned about sexually transmitted diseases.

An attention-grabbing new home video from Paramount, “Time Out: The Truth About HIV, AIDS and You,” due out today, can make a valuable difference.

Hosted by Magic Johnson and executive producer Arsenio Hall, the video is directed with mature finesse by ex-”Cosby” kid Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

It is straight-talking, fast-paced, unexpectedly funny and visually interesting. There’s a strong similarity to the recent television special “Understanding HIV: Does Teen America Know the Facts?,” but, where that show made an unsuccessful attempt at the prerequisite MTV-style graphics and shifting camera angles that are meant to keep youthful viewers engaged, this one succeeds.

Around segments of “casual” conversation about AIDS and HIV between Johnson and Hall on the basketball court, there are fast spots with such celebrities as Paula Abdul, Pauly Shore, Luke Perry and others.

Two of the funniest bits are courtesy of comedian Sinbad--as a talking condom--and Paul Rodriguez, who, while watching TV, harangues two actors on the tube (Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison) about not planning to use a condom in their imminent sex scene. Abstinence gets a strong boost through a couple of rap songs, “Temporary Passion” with Warner and Hall, and “Contents Under Pressure” by Jaleel White.

It’s not just fun, flash and sound bites, however. There is substantive discussion going on: Teens who are HIV-positive speak out, and peer counselors give frank advice. Johnson and Hall maintain the show’s comfortable, non-threatening tone throughout.

“Most people are scared to really talk about AIDS and that’s what’s keeping the ignorance alive,” Johnson says. This video, which will be sold at a low cost or loaned for free by such major video retailers as Tower Records/Video, Blockbuster and Wherehouse, can go a long way toward ending that fear.