On Wednesday, we went to see Larry Kramer’s The Normal
Heart at A.C.T. It was a moving drama set
in the early 80s when the appearance of AIDS/HIV began to appear among the gay
community of NYC. Kramer’s alter-ego Ned is a Cassandra telling the gay
community, the medical establishment and politicians to do act on this
information, but their tepid and fearful response incends Ned, whose lover and
friends are impacted by AIDS. I thought the drama by Kramer, who founded ACT-UP
and the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), would be a screed against what
individuals and organizations had failed to do in the face of an epidemic, but
it was an emotional work because of the impact AIDS had on loving relationships:
that with family, with lovers and friends. I was especially moved my the
depiction of one character bringing his dying partner back to his mother—a
modern day pieta. HIV infections continues to rise among many populations and
the take away is that we should fight and scream for that which we truly care
about.
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