Written by R. Brian Gomez. 2010 San Jose State University
Dedicated to all my LGBTQ+ friends and family, with love. Pride Month 2025
Rocky Balboa wins over a biased Soviet audience in his match with Ivan Drago. A scrappy band of teenagers fight invading Russians to a standstill on U.S. soil. Lieutenant Commander Tom Farrell turns out to be “Yuri”, a KGB spy planted to discover U.S. military secrets. All of these fictional film events were produced during a time when it was perceived that insidious un-American forces were threatening the United States from outside and within. These situations are certainly fantastic, yet they reflect the social and political climate which inspire them. Echoing the paranoia and forced homogeneity of the 1950’s, this is the America that Tony Kushner presents in his two-part epic, Angels in America. Through veiled and explicit allegory, Angels seeks to answer questions regarding identity, otherness and persecution. How does Angels in America explore the connections between the sociopolitical landscapes of 1950s and 1980s American in regard to marginalized groups?
The character that most represents the bridging of 1950s and 1980s homogenization is also one of the dramatically powerful forces in Angels. His introduction to the audience in the second scene is an introduction to a person whose controversial career and secretive private life is the product of his status as a marginalized American.
Because of his status as a Jewish-American, the factual and fictional Roy Cohn had to adopt an overly aggressive persona. In order to stay out of public stigmatization and to fit in with the political culture of Washington, he had to develop a hyper-aggressive nationalist personality. ” His aggressiveness and ambition make him unrespectable, but paradoxically they make him respected: hard hitting, risk taking, and beholden to nobody. His ugliness is his charm, and so too for McCarthy” (Freidman 5). Cohn’s dangerous charm is apparent in scene four of Millennium where he attempts to persuade (and seduce) Joe Pitt into moving to Washington by appealing to his self-preservation and selfishness. “You do what you need to do, Joe. What you need. You. Let her life go where it wants to go. You’ll both be better for that. Somebody should get what they want” (Kushner 60). This is precisely what Cohn has done for the sake of his own ambitions, political and personal. His role in the prosecution of the Rosenbergs as Communist conspirators is a display of power over what Cohn perceives to be an inherent liability of his own heritage. “No question, indeed, that non-Christians and atheists were viewed with considerable suspicion in American society” (King 88).
Cohn’s overreaching personality shares similar traits with his boss and mentor. “McCarthy worked hard to foster his image as a Washington outsider, emphasizing that he was a different sort of man from those commonly found in the halls of Congress. He cultivated a reputation as a fighter, a gambler, and a womanizer. McCarthy made much of his college career as a boxer, glorying in his depiction as a “slugger” rather than a man of skill” (Friedman 4). McCarthy epitomizes the type of overtly masculine behavior that resonates with conservative America. In the 1980s, Ronald Regan was partially elected on his plain-spoken cowboy image, ushering in an era of conservative ethics and policies.
From a Performance Studies standpoint, Cohn and other Gay men during most of the twentieth century were forced to perform a particular sexual identity because the performance of the aggressive, macho individualist had already been constituted by American culture (Bottoms). Either the masculinity was performed in the overt manner that Cohn demonstrated, was not openly discussed, or it manifested as discrimination against more open homosexuals (or all three) (Fisher). Any far deviation from accepted gender performance becomes salient and must either be reintegrated back into what is accepted or permanently exercised. The closet is a precarious thing for those who spend time in the public spotlight, and this would lead to the end of McCarthyism.
Senator McCarthy’s mission to explicate Communists and homosexuals from the government was derailed by his perceived reliance on Roy Cohn during the Army/McCarthy hearings. Roy Cohn was chief consul to McCarthy and G. David Schine was also brought on-board as a consultant. The time that Cohn and Schine spent together was under scrutiny and it was insinuated by journalists and attorneys that they were Gay (Friedman 9-10). This claim was used as a way of pointing out the hypocrisy of McCarthy’s efforts to weed out homosexuals in the state department as well as his enemies. McCarthy’s supposed permissiveness of Cohn’s relationship with Schine discredited and disempowered him to the point of political castration. “This identity is closely parallel to the politically and militarily subversive identity of the so-called communist infiltrators and homosexual federal employees whom he and his colleagues worked so hard to expose in that same era. (Ogden 242) It is no surprise then, that Kushner’s Roy Cohn would have learned a valuable lesson from this experience.
At the end of scene nine of Millennium, Roy Cohn is diagnosed by his personal physician as having AIDS. As a result, Cohn forces the doctor to change the diagnosis on his records due to the stigma that accompanies those who carry the disease. Cohn proclaims that “Homosexuals are men who know nobody and who nobody knows. Who have zero clout” (Kushner 51). Although Cohn admits earlier in the scene that he engages in sex with men, he does not identify with more openly Gay men. Cohn has come to prominence during a period in history where being labeled as Gay is instant political anathema. “Roy recognizes that to be diagnosed with AIDS, a disease conflated with homosexuality, would signify the end of his power brokering ability in the high-Reagan era of the mid-eighties. It would also call ironic attention to his own closeted, socially subversive sexual identity from the 1940s forward, when his public life began in earnest” (Ogden 242).
The world of Angels in America takes place before 1987’s heavy news coverage of Ryan White. White was important to the national discussion about AIDS because he was not homosexual and a drug user. He was a hemophiliac who received HIV through a blood transfusion proving to America that HIV can be transmitted to anyone regardless of sexual orientation or personal lifestyle (Richert 469). Before this time, AIDS was not widely spoken about or even acknowledged by the Regan administration. Regan was slow to act on the early stage of the epidemic. Either because he was pressured by the conservative right or was just incompetent to handle the situation. This prompted activists to believe that the White House was purposefully keeping the disease in the dark due to a prejudice towards the Gay community. Regardless, he was quiet on the issue until 1987 when a White House commission was formed (Richert 469).
The early populations of AIDS patients had to endure social hostility along with government indifference. When Prior shows Louis his first Kaposi’s Sarcoma lesion in scene four of Millennium Approaches, the man closest to Prior becomes grieved and fearful. It was more difficult for outsiders to understand. The visible symptoms of the disease can be frightening indeed. ” The first reason is the physical degradation and wasting that occurs with patients. The other reason has to do with the marginalized groups associated with the disease: Gays, drug users, and minorities (Herek 100).
The second half of the passage describes a popular sentiment at the time. The claim that homosexuals deserve the disease runs rampant in the sermons of individuals such as the Reverend Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church (“God Hates Fags”) was more widely accepted in conservative America. “AIDS exacerbates homophobia because various religious organizations that already condemn gay men view AIDS as a malediction for those who engage in homosexual relations” (Gorney 8). This fear was a detriment to AIDS patients who required medical care, social services and especially testing; yet felt the need to hide any indicators of the disease. Potential HIV positive carriers feared some kind of institutional discrimination by employers or heath insurers (Clark).
The outbreak of AIDS sought to destroy the re-imagining of America the Regan administration designed. Martin, an assistant under Ed Meese, plainly and zealously espouses the Republican agenda in front of Joe in scene six. ”It’s really the end of Liberalism. The end of New Deal Socialism. The end of ipso facto secular humanism. The dawning of a genuinely American personality. Modeled on Ronald Wilson Regan” (Kushner 69). With a social policy that is based on the moral Christian majority and the privatization of public resources, the appearance of HIV/AIDS is an aberration that forces the nation to look inward with honesty; this also begs the question of how well the nation looks after its most unfortunate citizens. On the personal level this struggle between idealism and reality is personified in the character of Joseph Pitt, a closeted and married Mormon Republican who grapples with his sexual preferences. Joe admits to this metaphorical fight with his wife Harper. He refers to an often looked at childhood picture bible where Jacob wrestles with a gloriously handsome male angel (Kushner 55).
However, as a Mormon he also projects the lifestyle and ideal image of the American Republican male. When Prior Walter finally gets a glimpse of him early in act four, he compares Joe to the “Marlboro Man”: a Madison Avenue icon of male ruggedness and individualism. Regardless of his sexual preferences, he still believes in the new conservatism and post-Vietnam apologetics. “America has re-discovered itself. Its sacred position among nations. And people aren’t ashamed of that like they used to be” (Kushner 32). Joe is being groomed to continue the legacy the standards that Cohn, McCarthy and other Cold-War hypocrites perpetrated. “…Joe reveals himself not only to be filled with self-loathing but also to be Roy’s intellectual and ideological heir, continuing the McCarthy-era legal persecution of homosexuals” (Ogden 243).
In Angels of America part II: Perestroika, the character of Prior Walter embarks on the path of prophet-hood. Prior is a spokesperson for infected America and a living challenge to its ideals. “In his prophetic relationship to the angels and in his eventual ascent to heaven and return to earth, Prior emerges as the play’s figure of Christian redemption. The constant references to blood in fact associate him with Christ’s bleeding wounds and the suffering that accompanies them (Ogden 251). It is a matter of irony that Prior through his suffering gains entrance into heaven after being denied entrance to the Mormon welcome center by Hannah Pitt.
As mentioned in the introduction of Perestroika, the tone of the play is more hopeful and contains a greater amount of closure (Kushner 142). Although the immediate and life-changing crisis is over, Prior still retains the prophetic voice of his people at the end of the play. “We won’t die secret deaths anymore. The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come” (Kushner 280). A positive outcome from the AIDS outbreak of the 1980s is the solidification and progression of the Gay Rights Movement. Gay activists were in a good demographic to be effective advocates for change in FDA policy. They were young professionals in legal, medical and scientific areas that could be influential. Although fractured in the 1970s, the countless tragedies of the AIDS virus resulted in the galvanization and organization of Gay Rights Movement into what it is today (Richert 478).
Perhaps with the dismantling of the Soviet Union and its satellite nations, the United States finally lost a monolithic adversary to distrust and be wary of. With this loss, no longer could politicians equate having a different belief system or being part of a minority as acts of Communism. Americans had to question the presence that they were going to have in the greater world. However, this was quickly answered by the U.S. intervention in the First Gulf War of 1990, which is the year where Angels in America leaves its audience. Louis speculates on what was known as “the end of history” and the bright course that the western world will take. Unfortunately for America, the Matthew Shepard incident and the homosexual marriage debate awaits. However, greater visibility and acceptance also lie in their future.
Works Cited
Bottoms, Stephen J. “Re-staging Roy: Citizen Cohn and the Search for Xanadu.” Theatre Journal 48.2 (1996): 157-184. Project MUSE. Web. 25 Mar. 2010
Clark, Peter A. “The Need For New Guidelines For AIDS Testing & Counseling: An Ethical Analysis.” Internet Journal of Infectious Diseases 5.2 (2006): 8. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Mar. 2010.
Fisher, James. “`The Angels of Fructification’: Tennessee Williams, Tony Kushner, and Images of Homosexuality on..” 13. Mississippi State University, 1995. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 22 Mar. 2010.
Friedman, Andrea. “The Smearing of Joe McCarthy: The Lavender Scare, Gossip, and Cold War Politics.” American Quarterly 57.4 (2005): 1005-1025. . Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 25 Mar 2010.
Gorney, Allen. ” “Truly an Awesome Spectacle”: Gender Performativity, the Closet, and the Alienation Effect in Angels in America.” Thesis. University of Central Florida, 2005: n. pag. Web. 26 Mar 2010.
King, Emily. “The Overlooked Jewish Identity of Roy Cohn in Kushner’s Angels in America: American Schmucko.” Studies in American Jewish Literature 27 (2009): 87-100. Project MUSE. Web. 29 Dec. 2009.
Kushner, Tony. Angels in America. 1st Combined Paperback Ed. New York: Theater Communication Group, 2003. Print.
Ogden, Daryl. “Cold War Science and the Body Politic: An Immuno/Virological Approach to Angels in America.” Literature and Medicine 19.2 (2000): 241-261. Project MUSE. Web. 18 Nov. 2009 Richert, Lucas. “Regan, Regulation, and the FDA: The US Food and Drug Administration’s Response to HIV/AIDS, 1980-90.” Canadian Journal of History 44.3 (2009): 467-487. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 18 Mar. 2010