Some of you might be a tad too young to remember, but back in 1994, MTV’s The Real World actually retained some element of real, and was actually a pretty engaging show (note: there were actually people with brains in the house). The San Francisco edition was one of its highest points, mainly due to the groundbreaking things that were going on on the show: 21 year old Cubano Pedro Zamora emerged as the first openly gay HIV-positive man to appear on American television, and in following Pedro’s life and death, U.S. TV viewers finally got to know someone living with HIV.

Alex Loynaz stars as earnest Real World cast-member Pedro Zamora in this intimate biopic tracing the HIV-positive immigrant’s rise from humble roots to becoming one of the most instantly recognizable HIV/AIDS activists in the United States as a result of his high profile role on MTV’s pioneering reality… television series. In 1992, The Real World made it’s debut on MTV, forever altering the definition of the term “celebrity,” and providing a sympathetic face to the growing AIDS crisis for the millions of Americans who had yet to meet someone suffering from the devastating autoimmune disorder.

While the show was great, what MTV has got up its sleeve now doesn’t look like it’s going to do it much justice. “Pedro: The Movie” actually looks pretty terrible if the trailers are to be believed (check them out here). MTV movies are infamously bad, so I guess you can’t expect much more, but I would have preferred Pedro’s story be told by a good filmmaker with…a budget. When you check out the trailer, you’ll know what I mean. But before that, check out the clip above of The Real World San Francisco to get a sense of who Pedro was.

Pedro: The Movie is set to air on MTV on April 1st.

Via / SF Citizen