I am a gay male and simply that. I do feel that being gay might have attracted me to this show more but who knows. I do not live in New York, am not a musician, do not have aids, don't do drugs, and can fully support myself, yet dispite what one might say as a huge distance between myself and these characters, I could still relate to pure emotion. Staying alive, finding and needing love, not knowing what might happen tomorrow. I feel many of these characters are misunderstood. Addicts stay with drugs because they don't know a world outside. I am reading a great book right now called A Million Little Pieces and at one point the drug addict had a dream that he was drinking and doing drugs and couldn't stop. Eventhough he wasn't physically doing these things, his body felt complete. Mimi is 19, alone, innocent, and doesn't know a world outside addiction, aids, and stripping. To her she must do what she can to survive. I completly feel as if she doesn't want this life but doesnt see any other way. The pure relationship between her and Roger illistrates this fact perfectly. She found love and saw a new hope. She went to meetings, she tried to stop using. But once he left she resorted right back to the addictive behavior (being all she ever knows) That is just one character outlook for me. I could explain everyone of them! The more you see the show and listen to the music the more you realize that these aren't just face value characters. In a way I feel as if Johnathon Larson might have been proving a point. Simple storylines and characterizations make us overlook these people the exact same way as we can live each day not really seeing what is there. So many people in this world have Aids, are dying, are starving, are freezing, are lonely, and we know about them, however, we overlook this fact all the time and continue on with our lives. We take these situations for face value because they dont directly affect us the same way as we don't feel as if any of these characters are explained enough because we just can not understand. This show has such depth if you take the time to listen and understand. Hopefully one day you can come to appriciate this show as much as I do! :0)
(Martha Graham from a letter to Agnes de Mille) "There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening That is translated through you into action, And because there is only one of you in all time, This expression is unique. If you block it, It will never exist through any other medium And be lost. The world will never have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, Nor how valuable it is, Nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly, To keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware Directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, A blessed unrest that keeps us marching And makes us more alive than others."
Updated On: 12/2/05 at 04:41 AM
