"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce." Karl Marx explained in his essay, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon, that the first time a major catastrophe happens, it is tragic and devastating. Despite that, history tends to repeat itself when people don’t change their ways. For this reason, when a disaster happens again, it becomes less serious. The calamity becomes laughable because people cannot seem to avoid the same mistakes that their ancestors failed to do when the situation happened the first time. Tony Kushner 's A Bright Room Called Day premiered at the Eureka Theatre in California in 1985, provoking the audience by comparing past and present views on similar issues between the reign of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s …show more content…
The audience learns that Zillah is not happy with the current politics that have arisen in the United States. In her first interruption, she writes a letter to President Reagan, expressing all of her anger towards him. Nevertheless, she knows that her letter writing is futile because the president will never read her complaints. Instead, her hard work will be “...get sent to the FBI, analyzed, Xeroxed and burned”. Zillah connects President Reagan to the notion of evil. She feels that during the conservative 1980s too many people were content to bow out of the way and let the president do what he wanted. Ronald Reagan, who passed away in 2004, tried to avoid the AIDS crisis for most of his presidency. When the Reagans were silent about the issue, the LGBT community was terrified that they were not going to get the proper exposure that they needed to try to sustain this horrible disease. Kenneth Bunch, one of the founding members of Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, perfectly sums up the worries of many, “...but they [Ronald and Nancy Reagan] didn’t fight it [stigmatization of AIDS] … that brand of homophobia lasted because Ronald and Nancy Reagan enabled it.” It would be five years before he even utters the word “AIDS” and it would be an additional two years for him to say a speech about the disease that killed 650,000 Americans. She rants that because of Hitler, there is a standard of evil. “When Hitler came to power, nobody really knew what he was going to do. Nobody took it that seriously,” said Mary Beth Easley, artistic director of Brooklyn College’s theater department. “The whole thing [A Bright Room Called Day] is a call to action,” Though Zillah is paranoid and always on edge, she can have faith that at least she 's not in danger, she will always be ahead of the game and be able to find a way
In Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the film Girl, Interrupted directed by James Mangold authors both look at American psychiatric institutions of the 1960s and explore the idea that the hospitals act as microcosms for society. A microcosm is a small universe representative of a larger one thus suffers the same problems of conformity and rebellion, prejudice against minorities and authority figures ruling absolutely. Both authors use stylistic techniques to position the audience to respond to ideas common in both texts.
Tony Kushner, in his play Angels in America, explores a multitude of issues pertaining to modern American society including, but not limited to, race, religion, and sexual orientation. Through his diverse character selection, he is able to compare and contrast the many varied experiences that Americans might face today. Through it all, the characters’ lives are all linked together through a common thread: progress, both personal and public. Kushner offers insight on this topic by allowing his characters to discuss what it means to make progress and allowing them to change in their own ways. Careful observation of certain patterns reveals that, in the scope of the play, progress is cyclical in that it follows a sequential process of rootlessness, desire, and sacrifice, which repeats itself.
In doing so, she became relatable to the reader while still remaining professional and maintaining her credibility. She also included countless statistics and facts, showing the reader that the problem isn’t just an individual issue, but a real social problem. Next, Alexander triggered an emotional response in the reader, making them feel for the persecuted individuals, and driving the reader to promote change. She finished the article off with a call to action, inspiring all individuals to be a part of a “broad based social movement” (Alexander, 25), so we can someday “acknowledge the humanity and dignity of all humans.” (Alexander, 26) In doing so, she tied together an eye-opening article, and gave the audience a glimmer of hope for our nation’s
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey presents a situation which is a small scale and exaggerated model of modern society and its suppressive qualities. The story deals with the inmates of a psychiatric ward who are all under the control of Nurse Ratched, ‘Big Nurse’, whose name itself signifies the oppressive nature of her authority. She rules with an iron fist so that the ward can function smoothly in order to achieve the rehabilitation of patients with a variety of mental illnesses. Big Nurse is presented to the reader through the eyes of the Chief, the story’s narrator, and much of her control is represented through the Chief’s hallucinations. One of these most recurring elements is the fog, a metaphorical haze keeping the patients befuddled and controlled “The fog: then time doesn’t mean anything. It’s lost in the fog, like everyone else” (Kesey 69). Another element of her control is the wires, though the Chief only brings this u...
A man and woman, both soldiers, were killed in a helicopter accident in Fort Bragg, NC. The accident occurred due to an equipment malfunction that happened while the soldiers were doing maintenance work (“2 Soldiers Killed While Working on Helicopter” 7A). Meanwhile, in Texas, Karla Faye Tucker became the first woman to be executed in Texas in over 130 years. Tucker was accused of beating a man and woman to death. Although she pleaded for mercy, she was given no pity, for there was a 16-0 vote for her to be executed (Holmes 7A). In the medical world, there was a tremendous breakthrough in the treatment of AIDS. The number of patients with AIDS in the U.S. lowered 44%. This is largely due to the newest treatment of AIDS, which was benefiting all races and genders. Over 21,000 patients died of AIDS in 1996, but numbers plummeted to 12,000 by 1998 (Haney 7A). One of the most talked about happenings in the U.S. is the affair between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Monica refused to confess to the famous affair that was brought to federal courts. The judges believed that Clinton had told her to keep quiet, so the 24 year-old ex-White House intern diligently obeyed (Yost
The absolute power of aristocracies is a scourge on society that corrupts minds and imposes too much of an impact on the lives of the majority. At the time when Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, society was subject to McCarthyism, the unquestionable authoritative force that could and did ruin the lives of those suspected of communism. Yet, of these people who suffered the brunt of punishment from authority, a numerous percentage of them displayed hypocrisy in accusing others out of survival. In The Crucible, Miller reflects this idea of hypocrisy in an environment where unquestionable authority reigns. His work displays the essentiality in rising out of such an insincere state and acting upon what
In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey argued that this presumed model society was actually quite the opposite. Kesey argued this through the use of the characters in the novel. Nurse Ratched was a character who symbolized the communist rule in Russia, and she displayed absolute power over the patients in the ward. She was depicted as what was wrong with society, and the patients feared her as the Americans feared communists. Randle McMurphy retaliated against Nurse Ratched in order to challenge her control, just as the Americans fought against Communism in the Cold War. Although it seemed as though there were some positive aspects of domestic life in the 1950s, Ken Kesey argued that American society at the time was tainted due to the roles of fear, the rejection of those who were different, and t...
Different people define success in many different ways. What is considered success by one person may be viewed as failure by another person. Randy Shilts, a homosexual newspaper reporter / author, attempts to make fundamental changes in America’s opinion on AIDS. In Randy Shilts’s essay, "Talking AIDS to Death," he speaks of his experiences as an "AIDS celebrity." At the core of Shilts’s essay is the statement, "Never before have I succeeded so well; never before have I failed so miserably"(221). Shilts can see his accomplishments from two points of view- as a success and as a failure. Despite instant fame, Shilts is not satisfied with the effects his writings has on the general public. Shilts’s "success" and reasons for failure can both be considered when one decides whether or not his efforts were performed in vain.
The Movie “And the Band Played On” is the framework of the earliest years of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Also known as the Gay disease. The movie examines HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States in the earlier 1980’s and emphasizes on three crucial components. An immunologist with knowledge in eradicating smallpox and containing the Ebola virus, joins the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to attempt and recognize just what this disease is. The film also deals the administration and government side that does not seem to care. The homosexual community in San Francisco is separated on the nature of the disease but also want to know what should be done
...n Duberman, and Martha Vicinus, eds. Hidden From History: Reclaiming the Gay & Lesbian past. New York: Penguin Group, 1990.
The 1950s is an era remembered for the Cold War, communism, and June Cleaver. Most historians, if asked about this period, will mention the ‘Red Scare’ and the fight to stop the pervasive reach of communism in post-war America. Feminists will immediately talk about the idea of June Cleaver and the detrimental effect this perfect housewife had on the women’s movement after the massive employment of women during the Second World War. Often forgotten and missing from the pages of history are the millions of women who were ostracized and discriminated against based upon their sexuality. These women lost federal jobs, their military careers came to a halt, and, in some cases, blacklisted from applying for civilian jobs. Lesbians in this era were ostracized by society and endured unending discrimination from the government and police. In the face of this tremendous cultural pressure these women carved their own communities and lives out on the edges of the social order. The ‘Lavender Scare’ of the 1950s bred anti-gay legislation that led to horrific discrimination against lesbians and the development of a lesbian subculture. This period is currently referred to as the ‘Red Scare’ and known for the discrimination and harsh treatment of communists; It should be known as the ‘Lavender Scare’ and known for the immense persecution faced by female homosexuals in this period of history.
The acceptance of “abnormal” sexualities has been a prolonged, controversial battle. The segregation is excruciating and the prejudice remarks are so spiteful that some people never truly recover. Homosexuals have been left suffering for ages. Life, for most homosexuals during the first half of the twentieth century, was mostly one of hiding: having to constantly hide their true feelings and tastes. Instead of restaurants and movies, they had to sit quiet in the dark and meet each other in concealed places such as bars. Homosexuals were those with “mental and psychic abnormalities” and were the victim of medical prejudice, police harassment, and church condemnation (Jagose 24). The minuscule mention or assumption of one’s homosexuality could easily lead to the loss of family, livelihood, and sometimes even their lives. It was only after the Stonewall riots and the organization of gay/lesbian groups that times for homosexuals started to look brighter.
In Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, the interconnection of people and events, that might ordinarily be viewed as disconnected or unrelated, is implicitly presented in the characters section. Dual roles are implemented by a playwright that has one actor portraying the roles of two or more characters, with or without thematic intentions. The use of “dual roles” in several scenes of this play can be viewed as a demonstration of Kushner’s effort in maintaining the interconnectedness between characters, communities (i.e. queer, heterosexual, AIDS and political communities) and events to which they are relative. This essay will argue that Kushner’s use of dual role’s effectively interconnects characters, events and their communities that may be seen as usually unrelated. Analysis of four specific characters, Antarctica, Oceania, Australia and Europa, in Act Five, Scene Five of “Perestroika”, will demonstrate the connection of each Act Five, Scene Five character, to the actors main character based on the implicit evidence presented in the actors “primary” and “secondary” roles, the scenes dialogue and the character interactions. As one will see, by implementing dual roles, Kushner is able to expand or preserve the concept of a major character while the actor portrays another character, keeping the audience from having to completely renegotiate their knowledge between what they physically see of new characters and actually use the new context to view triumphs and struggles for a major character.
During the time when the general public believes the only way to contract HIV/AIDS is to be homosexual, an addict, or prostitute, Fisher being a white, heterosexual, married mother of two from an upper-class family who contracted the virus from her husband is herself the certifying ethos of this speech (1). She tactfully uses her own circumstances and diagnosis to embody the plight of all in the AIDS community and shows that no one is exempt from this deadly disease. She emphatically states that HIV does not care about race, age, gender, sexual orientation, or political affiliation; all that it asks is “Are you human?” (2). She ceases to be the exception and gains the attention and respect of the American people when she aligns herself with others with HIV/AIDS with her statement:
Throughout the sixties , America- involved in the Cold War at this time- suffered from extreme fear of communism. This caused numerous severe changes in society ranging from corrupt political oppression, to the twisted treatment of the minority. Published in 1962, Ken Kesey ’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest , manages to capture these changes in the variety of ways. Kesey’s novel incorporates some of the main issues that affected the United States during the early and mid 60s. The government had no limits and was cruel to those who did not fit into society, including the mentally ill. The wrongful treatment of the people caused an eruption of rebellion and protest- thus the Beatnik era was born. The novel, written during this movement, sheds light on Kesey’s personal opinion on this chaotic period in US history . The treatment of mentally ill patients, the oppressive government, and uprising in the 1960s inspired Kesey while writing his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.