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shamanicshayminWell, play actually. We have to perform it in Theater class.
I'm pretty open when it comes to stuff I like. Even MORE so if it's something I hate. Take Tony Kushner's Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. The thing with school assignments is no matter HOW much you hate the book, you have to finish it because It's An Assignment TM. You take the test and viola. You never have to see the damn book again. Until they assign it another year, that is. (But at least you already read it!)
It's funky really. I have an endless library of books in my brain I adored (Farenheit 451, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Animal Farm, etc.) and I'd bring up only if someone showed a copy of the book to me and I'd be all, "Oh yeah! The Pigman! I read that in middle school!" and look back fondly how good it was and blah blah blah. But there's something about bad books compared to bad movies that no matter how hard you try, you. Never. Ever. Forget.
Let's start from elementary to highschool. The Witch of Blackbird Pond bored me to tears, and that could be why I get a nasty taste in my mouth when I hear about Puritans. Summer of the Swans had the whiniest female protagonist I ever read (Not to be mistaken with Trumpet of the Swans by E.B. White--not only does the story actually center around swans *GASP! They're supposed to only exist as allegory you silly goose!*, it's a good book too!), rivaling only what has to be the worst fucking disappointment in the entire planet, Searching for David's Heart: A Christmas Story. (Yeah, the Christmas story tagline? That's a complete lie. *gag* Nothing remotely holidayish or even in the SPIRIT of the holiday remotely happens until the last two pages of the book!) I have never wanted anybody in a book to die so much. Finishing The Scarlett Letter was an agonizing trek shoving a boulder up a hill in the Sahara with no water. Only after reading (and liking) Dr. Heidegger's Experiment was I able to forgive Hawthorne a little... somewhat. A tiny bit. But you know how I feel about Puritanlit. *vicious grimace*
So you see? I got off on a tangent. But Angels in America, don't think you've got away! Here's what I have to say after reading the first act, Millienium Approaches:
Reading the title, I was wary. I didn't feel like having another history lesson, and I already know what scum we are, so I don't want to be reminded for 2 1/2 hours when I could see the same thing on the Internet or the paper. Also? If the book/play/whatever deals with gay themes at all, it's ALWAYS about the same fucking thing. (Guy 1: We're in love! Guy 2: Let's have buttsecks! Wife: Where's my husband? *manages crying twins* Guy 1: Oh no! I shouldn't be feeling this! Guy 2: Gay people aren't capable of displaying affection any other way! Guy 1: Ow! My religion! *jumps the sack anyway* Wife: *sniff* We don't talk anymore. *snorts cocaine* Guy 2: Oh no! I have AIDS! Guy 1: I wish I could quit you! I'm supposed to be straight! Wife: WTF IM DIVORCING U CHEATIN' QUEER ADN IM TAKING THE KIDS WITH ME. Guy 2: Tell my fuckbuddies at the Gay Bar not to buy the new Faith Hill albulm. It reeks man. *DIES* Guy 2: OH NOE! I LOVED YOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!11!11!1 *lives in misery until he commits suicide* *DIES*) Because *GASP* it's not like they're normal human beings and capable of having more than angst and drama in their lives! They can even *OMGHOWUNSPEAKABLE* have happy endings! OH GOD WHAT A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY
I guess I'm bitter because I'm stuck with yet ANOTHER gay-lovers-AIDS-tragedy plot, along with Other People Whose Lives Suck But Can't Be Bothered To Hire A Psychologist TM. I tried to let loose and take pride in the little things (even if it means letting my 5-year-old self go lawlz whenever I read the f-word in print), but the whole plot is just... it's reminding me of Magnolia all over again. Aside from music (being the ONLY good thing about the movie) and a spoiler scene with frogs (see last message), that movie was misery piled up after another, introducing us to supposedly unrelated (but they're all connected somehow!) people whose lives make a sewer rat's seem luxerious, but they're so despicable that you can't bring yourself to feel sympathy for them. What's that, I hear you say? "Because they make mistakes! BECAUSE THEY'RE HYUUMAAAAAAAAAN!!11!11!1" Yeah, and so was Joseph Stalin. If being a selfish prick who goes out of their way to drown in self-pity and tear everyone else down with them makes you as genuine a human being possible Under God's Image, then praise the lord, 'cause Pokey Minch might as well be our savior.
That said, I hate Louis. Sure I'd be scared too if my lover got sick with AIDS and had to watch him die and suffer and take in the various TMI details. But outright abandon him? Um, excuse me? God, no wonder Prior's pissed! Then he goes out and whines and spews racist bullshit in front of Belize (whose black btw), then when he speaks up to tell him to stop, he had the GALL to scream, "OH MY GAWD YOU HATE ME KUZ IM A GAY JEW ARENT U!?!!?!!?!?!?! KUZ IM SURE BLACK PEOPLE HATE JEWZ!!1!11!11" I was speechless.
What a disgusting self-pitying bitch! I realize I'm using as much language as the play is right now, but there's no words to describe just how... appalled I am. At least Joe fucking admits he's a closeminded jerk! He knows he's hurting Harper! (And hell! Even HARPER is more sympathetic than Louis ever was! She's a candy cane next to a stick of slime!) But no. Louis just brushes everything off, woe is him. "BE SORRY FOR ME!!11!1!11" is all that ever comes out of his mouth. Victim of America, Victim of Democracy, Victim of Religion, blahblahblah shut the fuck up Lou, and commit suicide already. Make sure that when you do the deed, you'll be lying there in agony an hour or two with blood pooling out of your empty head.
Why oh why didn't Belize punch him in the face? Albeit, they were out in public. And he DID tell him off. Still, Louis needs more than he deserves. Just... what the fuck.
Part 2: Perestroika better be better than this crap. Is redeeming a little asking for so much? I doubt it's going to happen though. It's like every chapter of this play I read, I just get angrier and angrier. I hate plays like this. Reminds me of the other day when I picked up my college books, and these shiny copies of the Sweeney Todd script were like the glints of shaving knives. How I wish I were singing, scheming, and cooking meat pies right now!Who wants Louis Pie? Anyone? Oh well, Threed Zombies are hungry anyway.
I'm pretty open when it comes to stuff I like. Even MORE so if it's something I hate. Take Tony Kushner's Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. The thing with school assignments is no matter HOW much you hate the book, you have to finish it because It's An Assignment TM. You take the test and viola. You never have to see the damn book again. Until they assign it another year, that is. (But at least you already read it!)
It's funky really. I have an endless library of books in my brain I adored (Farenheit 451, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Animal Farm, etc.) and I'd bring up only if someone showed a copy of the book to me and I'd be all, "Oh yeah! The Pigman! I read that in middle school!" and look back fondly how good it was and blah blah blah. But there's something about bad books compared to bad movies that no matter how hard you try, you. Never. Ever. Forget.
Let's start from elementary to highschool. The Witch of Blackbird Pond bored me to tears, and that could be why I get a nasty taste in my mouth when I hear about Puritans. Summer of the Swans had the whiniest female protagonist I ever read (Not to be mistaken with Trumpet of the Swans by E.B. White--not only does the story actually center around swans *GASP! They're supposed to only exist as allegory you silly goose!*, it's a good book too!), rivaling only what has to be the worst fucking disappointment in the entire planet, Searching for David's Heart: A Christmas Story. (Yeah, the Christmas story tagline? That's a complete lie. *gag* Nothing remotely holidayish or even in the SPIRIT of the holiday remotely happens until the last two pages of the book!) I have never wanted anybody in a book to die so much. Finishing The Scarlett Letter was an agonizing trek shoving a boulder up a hill in the Sahara with no water. Only after reading (and liking) Dr. Heidegger's Experiment was I able to forgive Hawthorne a little... somewhat. A tiny bit. But you know how I feel about Puritanlit. *vicious grimace*
So you see? I got off on a tangent. But Angels in America, don't think you've got away! Here's what I have to say after reading the first act, Millienium Approaches:
Reading the title, I was wary. I didn't feel like having another history lesson, and I already know what scum we are, so I don't want to be reminded for 2 1/2 hours when I could see the same thing on the Internet or the paper. Also? If the book/play/whatever deals with gay themes at all, it's ALWAYS about the same fucking thing. (Guy 1: We're in love! Guy 2: Let's have buttsecks! Wife: Where's my husband? *manages crying twins* Guy 1: Oh no! I shouldn't be feeling this! Guy 2: Gay people aren't capable of displaying affection any other way! Guy 1: Ow! My religion! *jumps the sack anyway* Wife: *sniff* We don't talk anymore. *snorts cocaine* Guy 2: Oh no! I have AIDS! Guy 1: I wish I could quit you! I'm supposed to be straight! Wife: WTF IM DIVORCING U CHEATIN' QUEER ADN IM TAKING THE KIDS WITH ME. Guy 2: Tell my fuckbuddies at the Gay Bar not to buy the new Faith Hill albulm. It reeks man. *DIES* Guy 2: OH NOE! I LOVED YOOOOOOOOOOOOU!!11!11!1 *lives in misery until he commits suicide* *DIES*) Because *GASP* it's not like they're normal human beings and capable of having more than angst and drama in their lives! They can even *OMGHOWUNSPEAKABLE* have happy endings! OH GOD WHAT A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY
I guess I'm bitter because I'm stuck with yet ANOTHER gay-lovers-AIDS-tragedy plot, along with Other People Whose Lives Suck But Can't Be Bothered To Hire A Psychologist TM. I tried to let loose and take pride in the little things (even if it means letting my 5-year-old self go lawlz whenever I read the f-word in print), but the whole plot is just... it's reminding me of Magnolia all over again. Aside from music (being the ONLY good thing about the movie) and a spoiler scene with frogs (see last message), that movie was misery piled up after another, introducing us to supposedly unrelated (but they're all connected somehow!) people whose lives make a sewer rat's seem luxerious, but they're so despicable that you can't bring yourself to feel sympathy for them. What's that, I hear you say? "Because they make mistakes! BECAUSE THEY'RE HYUUMAAAAAAAAAN!!11!11!1" Yeah, and so was Joseph Stalin. If being a selfish prick who goes out of their way to drown in self-pity and tear everyone else down with them makes you as genuine a human being possible Under God's Image, then praise the lord, 'cause Pokey Minch might as well be our savior.
That said, I hate Louis. Sure I'd be scared too if my lover got sick with AIDS and had to watch him die and suffer and take in the various TMI details. But outright abandon him? Um, excuse me? God, no wonder Prior's pissed! Then he goes out and whines and spews racist bullshit in front of Belize (whose black btw), then when he speaks up to tell him to stop, he had the GALL to scream, "OH MY GAWD YOU HATE ME KUZ IM A GAY JEW ARENT U!?!!?!!?!?!?! KUZ IM SURE BLACK PEOPLE HATE JEWZ!!1!11!11" I was speechless.
What a disgusting self-pitying bitch! I realize I'm using as much language as the play is right now, but there's no words to describe just how... appalled I am. At least Joe fucking admits he's a closeminded jerk! He knows he's hurting Harper! (And hell! Even HARPER is more sympathetic than Louis ever was! She's a candy cane next to a stick of slime!) But no. Louis just brushes everything off, woe is him. "BE SORRY FOR ME!!11!1!11" is all that ever comes out of his mouth. Victim of America, Victim of Democracy, Victim of Religion, blahblahblah shut the fuck up Lou, and commit suicide already. Make sure that when you do the deed, you'll be lying there in agony an hour or two with blood pooling out of your empty head.
Why oh why didn't Belize punch him in the face? Albeit, they were out in public. And he DID tell him off. Still, Louis needs more than he deserves. Just... what the fuck.
Part 2: Perestroika better be better than this crap. Is redeeming a little asking for so much? I doubt it's going to happen though. It's like every chapter of this play I read, I just get angrier and angrier. I hate plays like this. Reminds me of the other day when I picked up my college books, and these shiny copies of the Sweeney Todd script were like the glints of shaving knives. How I wish I were singing, scheming, and cooking meat pies right now!
