Challenging Ideas about Sexuality

Something I found to be compelling about Angels in America was that, although much of its content revolves around sexuality and sexual identity, it challenges its audience to think differently about human sexuality. I think it does that by presenting five different characters whose sexuality could all be classified as gay by society (not necessarily their own identification), but all five of these characters are drastically different. Their differences aren’t limited to their personality either. They range in race, religion, levels of privilege, and their own personal problems with and in the world.

Angels in America points out the reality that two men who are both gay can be worlds apart, especially when we consider the differences Belize and Roy Cohn, and Luis and Joe. It seems like Tony Kushner uses all the stark contrasts between these characters to challenge his audience’s preconceived notions about what it means to be gay in America.

Let’s start by looking at the most obviously different characters: Belize and Roy Cohn. It doesn't take long to realize that these characters have little to nothing in common besides the gender of the people that they sleep with. In fact, one of the first annotations I wrote in a scene between the two of them was “polar opposites.”

The first words exchanged between the two men in part two act one scene six are pretty telling of how race, class, power, and privilege separate the two. Belize enters the hospital room and straight away Roy tries to establish dominance over him, “Get outta here your, I got nothing to say to you…I want a white nurse. My constitutional right.” Belize, because he doesn’t take anyone’s crap especially not Roy’s, responds with, “You’re in a hospital, you don't have any constitutional rights.” At this point in the scene, the wheels should start churning in the audience’s brains. Belize is an African American working class male nurse, while Roy Cohn is a white, wealthy lawyer, who has the power to pull strings even on the level of the white house. What do Belize and Roy have in common? They both sleep with men. What do they not have in common? Literally everything else. Belize even goes as far to call Roy his “vanquished foe” in part two act five scene three.

The relationship between Belize and Roy is far closer to one of oppressor and oppressed than two gay men in solidarity with one another because of their shared sexuality. I think all of this goes to say that while sexuality can be an important factor in shaping an individual’s personal identity, sexuality, in and of itself, tells us very little about a human being.

And then we have the contradictory and complicated love-hate relationship between Luis and Joe. For these two men, it is their politics and religions, which drastically clash. In the beginning of their romantic relationship, in act three scene seven, they find solace in each other because both feel as if they “don’t deserve being loved.” Joe is a closeted, politically conservative, Mormon, who has lobbied for very homophobic court rulings. Luis is a liberal and “deeply secular Jew” who thinks that right-wing conservatives are basically the downfall of America. Their relationship was doomed from the get-go and ends dramatically in a fits fight.

In part two act four scene ten, Luis has found and read over court decisions Joe had helped rule in. When Luis finds out that one of the rulings Joe wrote, “Homosexuals are not entitled to equal protection under the law,” Luis calls Joe a “stupid closeted bigot.” The two then have an all out brawl that ends with Luis lying on the floor and bleeding followed by my favorite Luis line, “I just want to lie here and bleed for a while.” We find no reconciliation or closure between these ex-lovers, only bad blood (literally).

What does this failed relationships tell us about sexuality? Well, in one sense it tells us that sometimes politics can be more divisive than sexuality is connective. In the end, being sexually attracted to one another was not a deep enough bond, a deep enough similarity, to merit these two men to stay in a relationship (or even friendship for that matter) with one another. I think this is especially relevant it today’s political climate where bipartisan politics runs just as deep –if not deeper than it did in the 1980s. If I was to assess who I have more in common with, a person with my shared political views versus my same sexuality, I would definitely go with hanging out with a liberal lesbian than a super-conservative male. I have friends in both groups, but you get the idea.

By more closely examining the relationships between all the gay characters in Angels in America we find disconnect, not homogony. This lack of any kind of homogony challenges the notion that people who share the same sexuality can be grouped into one uniform identity. They can’t. In a day and age where people are still very divided because of their sexual orientations, it is important to remember that connectedness based on shared sexuality alone can only take you so far.