| Michael's circle of friends strikes me as a period-specific collected one. The social solidarity was almost a survival tool when gay men were rounded up in rest rooms and even bars. One of the big points of the play -- and to me it's a positive, others disagree -- is the idea of a community forming around common social issues now taken for granted. The gathering in "Boys..." reflects a time when shared gay lives mattered, in the existential sense, because simply being a gay man was illegal in so many places. Arrests were routine, and destroyed careers and lives. Many newer New Yorkers fail to remember those times. NYC was a mecca but could be a dangerous one. If you've ever had a friend call you after an arrest -- which could result in overnight unemployment -- you won't forget those days. I had two friends, prominent in their professions, almost ruined by ordinary cruising arrests. Perhaps they all stand by Michael because he's loyal in that era-defining sense. Coming out at work was rarely an option, except for men in specific careers (Hank gets that profile). Perhaps the ability to eliminate negative influences within a circle was a luxury, then. Only a handful of men had sociopolitical participation in LGBTQ rights (and anyway, that's a different play). |
