Identity In Joel Kushner's Angels In America

“The incalculable value of being white in America rested to a large extent on the calculable disadvantage of being black.” (Mazel: “A selection of quotes from ‘And don't call me a racist!’”) As readers explore Angels in America, issues of homophobia and the AIDS epidemic come to the forefront but the recognition of identity in Angels and how that shapes the events of the play as whole is a discussion which truly begins to explore the complexity of Kushner’s work. While the issues of sexuality and AIDS are central to the plot of Angels, issues of identity not only shape the world of the play but also color every single character’s interaction with every other character. As we look into this world we find only one character of color in the entirety of the play: Belize. Belize is the ever present caretaker of Prior and eventually Roy. He is an ex ex drag queen and a registered nurse. He is a gay man and a black man. He is viewed by many to be the moral center of the entire play. His kindness and compassion know no bounds. But to …show more content…
In this moment it is a black, ex ex drag queen who holds the power over Roy as his nurse and has just stripped Roy of the rights Roy thought were his. “The irascible Cohn and the unflappable Belize achieve a moment of honesty when Belize concedes that Cohn is dying.” (Tuss: “Resurrecting Masculine Spirituality in Tony Kushner's Angels in America”) Belize also gets Roy to concede to the fact that he need AZT, which is Roy admitting he has aids, something he would have never done before this moment. Belize is also the only person to identify Roy as gay to his face. “Consider it solidarity. One faggot to another.” (Kushner 161) Belize’s ability to assign this identity is based in the fact that one, he now has power over Roy as the only person with the medical knowledge that Roy