Tom Kushner’s Angels in America critiques the stigma surrounding homosexuals during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and how it influences an association between homosexuals and AIDS in people’s minds. Through the use of dialogue and character development, Kushner is able to represent a wider demographic – people who still believe that HIV/AIDS is associated with gay men – through the character development of Roy. His character is established in the play as a typical Caucasian male who craves money and power. Kushner uses Roy to highlight this narrow mindset to draw attention to the difficulties that the community had to overcome in an attempt to be seen as equals to the public. As a strong believer that homosexuals have no clout -- influence or power, …show more content…
The passage begins in full sentences and by the end, Roy’s dialogue resembles commands, rather than lengthy advice that one would give to their friend. In his speech, Roy talks about the concept of the father-son relationship and assumes the role as the father in their friendship. His tone shifts to a much more commanding form of speech. Roy brings up the topic of love and responsibility and how “it’s a trap” (Kushner 61). This advice can be taken at face value, but it also has a deeper meaning. Not too long ago, Roy received a diagnosis that concluded to AIDS. It is interesting to note that Roy has claimed to have slept with men, and consequently that is also how his doctor thinks he contracted the disease. AIDS is a reality for many men (although, not only isolated to males, but it was the norm that many believed in) involved in homosexual relationships and no matter how much Roy denies that he is a homosexual, it does not change his fate due to the illness. As the play progresses, it becomes clear how Roy beliefs have changed – possibly in reaction to his diagnosis – about love and responsibility. His denial about the diagnosis stems from his rejection of the traditional definition of the ‘homosexual’ label and a much bigger part is that he contracted AIDS from an act of love. In his mind, the concept of love is now intertwined with negative experiences. The consequences of this act of love have …show more content…
When first diagnosed with AIDS, he instantly knew that the disease would lead to speculation of his sexuality. Roy redefines the traditional definition of a ‘homosexual’ and reclaims it as “[Men] who know nobody and who nobody knows. Who have zero clout” (51) and is unable to get important matters dealt with, which he believes he can, even though according to the traditional definition of a homosexual being a man who sleeps with another man -- this is exactly what he is. Strangely, Roy states that “Homosexuals are men who in fifteen years of trying cannot get a pissant anti-discrimination bill through City Council” (51), but even if they succeed in passing an anti-discrimination bill, others’ judgement of homosexuals would not change. As a consequence, people with similar mindsets to that of Roy that have oppressed the gay community and stripped them of their rights as citizens. Not only being isolated from the general populace, but also being associated with the negative connotations of AIDS; even though studies have shown that anyone can get AIDS and that it is not isolated to a single sexuality like many
Life for most homosexuals during the first half of the Twentieth century was one of hiding, being ever so careful to not give away their true feelings and predilections. Although the 1920s saw a brief moment of openness in American society, that was quickly destroyed with the progress of the Cold War, and by default, that of McCarthyism. The homosexuals of the 50s “felt the heavy weight of medical prejudice, police harassment and church condemnation … [and] were not able to challenge these authorities.” They were constantly battered, both physically and emotionally, by the society that surrounded them. The very mention or rumor of one’s homosexuality could lead to the loss of their family, their livelihood and, in some cases, their lives. Geanne Harwood, interviewed on an National Public Radio Broadcast commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, said that “being gay before Stonewall was a very difficult proposition … we felt that in order to survive we had to try to look and act as rugged and as manly as possibly to get by in a society that was really very much against us.” The age of communist threats, and of Joseph McCarthy’s insistence that homosexuals were treacherous, gave credence to the feeling of most society members that homosexuality was a perversion, and that one inflicted was one to not be trusted.
She confirms her authority on the topic by revealing, very early on, that she has contracted the disease herself. She states, “Though I am female and contracted this disease in marriage, and enjoy the warm support of my family, I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering a flickering candle from the cold wind of his family's rejection.” She purposefully conveys to her conservative audience that she is not gay, is married, a mother and contracted her disease in marriage, not with a random partner. Here she is playing up her personal experience to support her argument. Fisher’s inclusions of these social facts are added to acquire the sympathy of her traditional audience. Likening herself to the hypothetical “lonely gay man” draws sympathy from the assembly for a hypothetical character in her rhetoric. These inclusions of speculative illusions strengthen the rhetorical appeal of her argument. Fisher specifically includes certain information to develop an understanding from a conservative audience that may need
Historian David Carter, provides an intriguing in-depth look into the historical impact of the Stonewall Riots in Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution. This engaging book adds to the genre of sexual orientation discrimination. Carter extensively analyzes the various factors that played a role in igniting the Stonewall riots and the historical impact that the riots had on the Gay Revolution and movement for gay equality. Through the use of interviews, newspapers, and maps, Carter argues that the riots were a product of many geographical, social, political, and cultural factors. Carter further argues that the riots ultimately led to the forming of the Gay Revolution and caused sexual orientation to be a protected category in the growing movement for civil rights. Carter’s book provides a well-structured argument, supported mainly by primary evidence, into the different factors that contributed to the riots as well as a detailed account of the events that transpired during the riots and the political attitudes towards homosexuality in America during this time.
...e social changes brought about this period. He cites the growing sensationalism of sex covered in the media as a prime driver behind the sexual orthodoxy in American culture (Chauncey 1994, 359). During this witch hunt, he draws a silver lining. Using the scholarship of others such as John D’Emilio, he cites that this period brought a greater bond to the gay community by forging brotherhood of adversity which would then come back into play in the 1960’s as an experiential touchstone for the Civil Rights era (Chauncey 1994, 360). Chauncey nestles his own narrative of the gay community in New York within the larger narrative of gay life in America filling in the gaps of secondary sources through his own primary work.
The first story centers on Gene Robinson, now the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, and the son of a loving, church-going couple from Kentucky. Next, we meet the Poteats, a Baptist family from North Carolina with a gay son and daughter. Then there are the Reitans, from Minnesota, whose son Jake comes from a long line of Lutheran pastors. When Jake came out of the closet, some of the locals threw a brick through their windshield and wrote “fag” in chalk outside the house. The mother’s description of immediately scrubbing the profanity off the driveway was very poignant. Perhaps the most heartbreaking story was that of Mary Lou Wallner, a Christian fundamentalist who rejected her lesbian daughter, which ...
... homosexual being felt in the world around the 1970’s and 1980’s. The time period in which this play was written was one of great dissonance to the LGBT movement. For Harvey Fierstein to be so bold and public with his own lifestyle was truly admirable and brave. Fierstein shows us that ignorance can destroy a life because of what is unknown.
In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people have dedicated themselves in fighting for
To begin with, ‘Down Low’ is a phrase that was coined by members of the African American urban culture during late 1980’s which defines gay men who appear to be straight (Hamilton, 2009). Many characteristics of men living on the down low include individuals (who appear as though they are straight) who are sometimes married with children, members of the clergy, elected officials, ex-convicts, and most notable in a number of low-budget and often overlooked films – straight acting thugs (Hamilton, 2009). It is almost virtually impossible to be appreciative of the drama “Angels in America” without having an understanding about the history of the AIDS crisis as well as a more extensive story of lesbians and gays in the United States of America. While men and women have engaged in homosexual conduct in all times and various cultures, it was only in the twentieth centu...
Mattachine, an activist group in New York, called for a meeting July 16 to organize around gay liberation. Dick Leitsch, an old time leader, tried to lead the meeting. “ Acceptance of gays and lesbians would take time,” he explained, but one young man shouted, “we don't want acceptance, we have got to radi...
He was one who couldn’t even come to terms with the diagnosis he actually had. Instead he denied having AIDS and said he had liver cancer. Having AIDs was considered being the gay disease and if you had that then you must be gay. He being a wealthy and somewhat important man could not go on to live in public with a status like that. Comparing to Campos poems “Towards Curing AIDs” there was a man who was denied care because of his disease or having no health insurance. Roy is like the line in the poem “what I would Give” about being hubris. Hubris to dictate to his doctor of what disease he has and how it will be treated and dealt with. He feared being vulnerable and rejected in societies eyes. I can see the emotions behind Campos’s poems and the anger and emotions amongst healthcare professionals and the patients he writes about. They show that maybe there is some sort of hope and compassion left in some people and that in Angels in America there is pain and denial as well as discrimination. “Homosexuals are men who know nobody and who nobody knows” ”who have zero clout”. (46) This is something Roy says and it just shows that no matter how important or wealthy you are Roy is not going to pick up the phone and tell the president he needs top treatment to cure his AIDS. He could never admit to
Discrimination has always been prominent in mainstream society. Judgments are quickly formed based on one’s race, class, or gender. The idea that an individual’s self-worth is measured by their ethnicity or sexual preference has impacted the lives of many Americans. During the early colonial period, a social hierarchy was established with white landowners at the top and African-American slaves at the bottom. As equality movements have transpired, victims of discrimination have varied. In the late 1980’s when Paris is Burning was filmed, gay rights were still controversial in society. The lack of acceptance in conventional society created hardships in the lives of transgender women and gay men.
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.
The movie, And the Band Played On, portrays a current issue the U.S. health care system face: the effects of societal perceptions of people who should receive health care support. Those perceived as undeserving are disregarded. Homosexual men were the first to be affected by AIDS in the US, and because of this, the stigma of homosexuality prevented developing health care policy to control the epidemic. Homosexuality was, and to a lesser extent now, not widely accepted. Marginalizing gay individuals was seen in the movie at the beginning, when media coverage on AIDs would not include “homosexual” within the news title (Pillsbury, Sanford, & Spottiswoode, 1993). This represents how media has to be marketed; the broader public will not be interested if a new disease only affects an undesirable population. Another example of this negligence is seen when Phillip Burton is asked to introduce a bill on AIDS. He agrees, but does not hesitate to retort, “They couldn’t get a dime out of this administration with the name gay on it” (Pillsbury, Sanford, & Spottiswoode, 1993). Finally, in order to change the perception, at the CDC conference with blood agencies, they renamed gay related immune deficiency (GRID) to AIDS, and the film cuts to news segments finally covering
The movie ‘Philadelphia’ explores prejudice against having AIDS [also being homosexual]. In the film, Andrew Beckett (played by Tom Hanks) is a lawyer with a huge opportunity as a lawyer in front of him. When he finds out he had AIDS he chose not to tell his firm mentor about either his disease or his sexual orientation. Andrew is fired for, as his firm members claim, ‘incompetence’ however we can see it is more. Andrew was fired because he had AIDS and was assumed gay (at this time AIDS was know the ‘gay disease’). The movie shows Andrews struggle to be treated equally.
It’s safe to say that Kushner’s “Angels in America”, is one of the most famous plays to explore the topic of homosexuality. Joe 's character represents