While this extensive film encompasses a variety of themes and topics, the focus of this paper will be its proposition of progress. It will be argued that Angels in America confirms progress to be inevitable and essential by drawing on, and redefining, American concepts and myths of westward movement and migration, equality and pluralism. Thus, traditional elements of the construct “American Dream” will be analyzed.
The first part will consist of a short overview of different approaches to progress employed in the film: historical, religious and political. Subsequently, the second and third part will focus on a set of selected scenes and investigate how progress, and the lack thereof, is communicated in the depiction of different characters as they are caught in a constant struggle between motion and staying put, between moving on and giving up, between living and death. From this, the redefinition of aforementioned American concepts will be derived.
In 2003, playwright Tony Kushner adopted his two-part play premiered in 1991 and 1992, Angels in America, to the screen. The HBO miniseries was directed by Mike Nichols and studded with celebrated actors such as Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson. Set in New York City in the mid 1980s, a time of Reagan’s politics and the silencing of AIDS, the series revolves around a set of characters differing greatly in ethnicity, religion, worldview and sexual orientation.
They include Louis and Prior, a homosexual couple having to cope with Prior’s AIDS diagnosis, and Harper and Joe, Mormons, who are faced with Joe’s oppressed homosexuality destroying their marriage. Other characters are Hannah, Joe’s mother from Salt Lake City, Roy Cohn, a lawyer also diagnosed with AIDS, and Belize, Prior’s black homosexual friend who is also Roy’s nurse. Throughout the film, these characters come together in unexpected ways in an attempt to move out of their crises and transform themselves.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Approaches to Progress in Angels in America
3. Halted Progress and Fear of Change
4. More Life: Favoring Progress
5. Conclusion
Objectives & Core Topics
This paper examines the concept of progress in the HBO miniseries "Angels in America," arguing that the work portrays progress as an inevitable and essential element of human existence by redefining American myths and cultural concepts.
- The role of historical, religious, and political perspectives on progress.
- Analysis of the "American Dream," migration, and westward movement.
- The tension between stasis (immobility) and change in character development.
- Critique of conservative politics and societal exclusion during the 1980s.
- The significance of community and plurality in moving toward the future.
Excerpt from the Book
3. Halted Progress and Fear of Change
The first part of Angels in America, “Millennium Approaches,” focuses on the collapse of the world on a political and historical level as “reactionary politics, and invocations of environmental and nuclear catastrophes compose a desolate atmosphere of loss and pain” (Klüßendorf 61). This situation is mirrored in the characters for they are thrown into deep crisis; things come to an end. Louis and Prior’s relationship falls apart since Louis cannot deal with Prior’s illness and abandons him. Harper and Joe’s marriage finally collapses under the weight of Joe’s heavily denied homosexuality and Harper’s severe valium addiction. All characters are isolated and passive. Their lives are being halted as they make no progress. Harper remarks: “I’m stuck. My heart’s an anchor.” As Prior and Roy are being diagnosed with AIDS, they are facing a terminal illness without cure.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Presents the scope of the film and defines the core argument that "Angels in America" frames progress as inevitable through the lens of American cultural myths.
2. Approaches to Progress in Angels in America: Discusses various theoretical vantage points, including migration myths, religious perspectives through Mormonism, and the political climate of the Reagan era.
3. Halted Progress and Fear of Change: Analyzes how the first part of the film, "Millennium Approaches," illustrates personal and societal despair, isolation, and the characters' struggle against stasis.
4. More Life: Favoring Progress: Explores the second part of the film, "Perestroika," highlighting the transition toward hope, restructuring, and the characters' eventual embrace of transformation and life.
5. Conclusion: Summarizes the paper's findings, affirming that the film ultimately rejects pessimistic views and champions plurality and community as the true catalysts for human progress.
Keywords
Angels in America, Tony Kushner, Progress, American Dream, AIDS, Migration, Stasis, Change, Reaganism, Mormonism, Plurality, Community, Identity, Millennium Approaches, Perestroika.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this academic paper?
The paper examines how Tony Kushner’s "Angels in America" portrays the concept of progress, arguing that the work reframes American cultural myths to present change as both inevitable and necessary.
What are the central thematic fields explored?
The study centers on the intersection of personal crisis and national themes, specifically looking at the "American Dream," the myth of the frontier, political conservatism, and the struggle between social isolation and community building.
What is the main research question of the work?
The paper seeks to answer how "Angels in America" uses the depiction of characters in crisis to comment on broader political and historical notions of progress versus stasis.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The author uses a qualitative analysis approach, examining selected scenes from the miniseries and connecting them to historical, religious, and political theories established by scholars and cultural critics.
What is the thematic focus of the main body chapters?
The body chapters analyze the two parts of the film—"Millennium Approaches" and "Perestroika"—to contrast the initial atmosphere of despair and stasis with the eventual move toward optimism, human growth, and progressive politics.
Which keywords best characterize the paper?
Key terms include progress, identity, AIDS, American Dream, stasis, community, migration, and the political critiques associated with the 1980s.
How does the author interpret Roy Cohn’s character in relation to progress?
Roy Cohn is analyzed as the film's only true antagonist who remains static; he refuses to progress, embodies isolation, and serves as a symbol for the failed conservative politics of the era.
What is the significance of the "Great Work" mentioned by the angel?
The paper highlights how the angel’s concept of the "Great Work," initially intended to enforce stasis and motionlessness, is subverted by the characters to define and promote active movement toward the future.
- Quote paper
- Amelie Meyer (Author), 2012, The Concept of Progress in Tony Kushner's "Angels in America", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/537852
