To each their own. And in that own there is a connective line that pulls each person together into one. This group becomes one because their lives are no longer independent from each other and while there is no longer any independence, there is still uniqueness of situation amongst individuals. What makes Tony Kushner’s Angels in America so powerful and so queer is the uniqueness of each story line, but also the underlying connection that each character has with one another. Every relationship is queered by the impact of AIDS, in this case AIDS is viewed from the eyes of two queer men. Even the characters that do not directly interact with each other, feel each other’s impact and parallel each other.
Kushner manages to use this play to discuss a topic that during the 80’s was hardly ever discussed. The theme of miseducation about the victims of AIDS was common, in an interview CNN encounters a man, Edmund White, who recalls his AIDS/HIV activist work from the 80’s. He says that he and his friends wanted to,”urge prevention, but no one knew exactly what was causing the disease or how to control it”. The fear attached to AIDS was so powerful and well represented in the book. Louis leaves his lover Prior because he is simply too scared of the idea of Prior having AIDS. When Roy finds out about having AIDS, he changes his diagnosis to liver cancer because he is to afraid of the stigma attached to the idea of who got AIDS and what it meant about them.
When the AIDS start to take over Prior, Belize and Louis steal Roy’s stash of medicine to help prolong Prior’s life. This was the only option available to Prior at the time, as it was the only option for many. The medicine for AIDS/HIV now is barely available or fully developed, whereas in the era of Prior, I cannot imagine the panic of having a disease with virtually no information as to what it is and no treatments available. CNN is a prime example of this, when recalling the fight to help during the height of the crisis, “they [White and friends] wanted to back research but didn't have enough funds; they wanted to sustain people who had the disease, even though there weren't effective treatments at the time. Also, they believed that society at large didn't care”.
When concluding the story lines of the characters, Kushner uses endings that could be considered queer. There is no neat conclusion, or ideal conclusion, for the characters, instead there is a queer sense of justice and freedom. Harper and Joe, whom almost always parallel each other, come out in their own ways. Joe finally admits he’s gay and starts to come to terms with it and Harper finally leaves the house. Roy dies in a confused state in the arms of Ethel Rosenberg, the ghost of a woman he lobbied for the death penalty for, believing she is his mother and he has finally gotten her to sing.
Louis slightly redeems himself by helping Belize take care of Prior, and Prior’s ending is the most heartbreaking and queer of all. In the last scene, Prior speaks to his friends, the audience and the world when he says, “This disease will be the end of many of us, but not nearly all, and the dead will be commemorated and will struggle on with the living, and we are not going away. We won't die secret deaths anymore. The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come. Bye now”. These last words of Prior reflect the struggle to be seen as a person and not just the disease. A struggle that claimed many lives before it opened up the eyes of America. One of the reasons this play is so powerful is because it looks into the lives of non perfect individuals and makes them prophets of the fights against AIDS. Kushner used this book to challenge what AIDS looked like and who it affected while also giving AIDS victims a face and a story. A story with characters that are so interesting and dynamic on many different levels, that they had to turn and listen, at least for a little bit to what they were saying and in that Kushner uses his writing to create words that stick with people.
Thank you for your post!
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