Homosexuality In Andre's Mother, By Terrence Mcnally

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After reading Terrence McNally’s play Andre’s mother, quality over quantity comes to mind. Andre’s mother is a short and simple play that carries a powerful message. The story unfolds at Andre’s memorial service and it’s attended by Andre’s boyfriend Cal, Andre’s Mother, Cal’s father, and Cal’s sister Penny. Andre’s mother is a story about accepting and letting go, sometimes we have to accept things for what they are even if one is not ready. Andre died of HIV, this was a common occurrence for homosexuals in the early 80’s, late 90’s and even today it happens frequently. Andre’s mother was more than a play about a gay male afraid of facing his family. It was a play that brought forth two imperative subjects in the early 90’s; Homosexuality and AIDS. Beyond that, the play taught us to accept and let go.
Homosexuality has been a sensitive talking point for a long time. Being gay goes against the social norm for most cultures worldwide and there are even cultures that persecute individuals because they are gay. In the early 90’s, the US government was making strides to bring forth the issue of homosexuality and especially homosexuals living with HIV/AIDS to the public in an effort to educate the general public. “In 1991, the red ribbon is adopted as a symbol of awareness and compassion for those living with HIV/AIDS” (PBS). Although it was not groundbreaking at the time, just having the ribbon was a major step in bringing the issue to the public eye. If you see a pink ribbon today, you automatically think of breast cancer. The creation of the red ribbon by the New York-based Visual AIDS had a similar impact at the time.
Two years later in 1993, “The Department of Defense issues a directive prohibiting the U.S. Military from barrin...

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...go at the end. “Andres Mother stands alone holding her white balloon. Her lip trembles. She looks on the verge of breaking down. She is about to let go of the balloon when she pulls it down to her. She looks at it a while before she gently kisses it. She lets go of the balloon. She follows it with her eyes as it rises and rises” (McNally).
There is a distinct contrast between Andre’s mother and Cal, Cal seems to be at peace with the situation and finally let’s go of Andre’s spirit. Andre’s mother on the other hand is as reluctant as she has ever been, she does not seem any closer to accepting her son’s life at the end of the play but she lets go and maybe this is an indication that she is on the road to acceptance. In the end, the simple message in the play was to accept the Homosexual community even if we did not understand an individual who was gay at the time.

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