The only good thing about 'Angels in America'

Maybe forgiveness is where love and justice finally meet.
-- Angels in America (please see long postscript below)

Aww. =)



WARNING: What follows is a very long postscript/endnote. i could have written this as a separate entry, but in citing the show i have to always have this long disclaimer…

Don’t bother watching that miniseries.
i like the quote above, but that’s about it. Disappointment is such a mild word to describe my reaction after watching the last segment. i thought, being award-winning and all, and being about angels for crying out loud, it can’t go wrong, right? Nope. i was wrong, and much of it did go wrong.
The premise is that God left creation. The lead character is angry. “Sue the bastard,” he says more than once.
The problem with the premise is that it’s not true. So the entire multi-part series based on a play is a complete waste of time.
The lead character is also selfish. He refused to serve as the angels’ prophet, yet insisted “I want my blessing anyway,” more than once. The story completely distorted the context of Jacob wrestling with his own angel/God Himself (seeking out and struggling with God).
OK, i have to admit that the young Jacob was selfish and deceitful and manipulative…but his story did not end there! Jacob was transformed by God, and his circumstances were resolved completely, not by simply extending the lifespan of the reluctant prophet/AIDS patient. It’s not the length of your life but the quality of your life that matters. Five years after the lead’s encounter with the angels and what? He had nothing to show for it. Did he gain anything aside from an extended lifespan? No, just the same old same old. Not exactly what you would want (and from Biblical records, what you would expect) from coming face to face with heavenly creatures.
i might sound like a closed-minded ignorant snob. i understand if you, the reader, would feel this way. Sadly, it’s the people behind this play and this show that seem to be, on so many levels, simply lost. Apparently they haven’t yet encountered the real, living God…the Creator who will never leave His Creation, nor forsake it, but even died for it.
Anyways, i expected to be blessed and enlightened by the show. i didn’t know the actual schedule on cable but i got to catch three to four parts, including the finale. i kept on looking for some “redeeming” points but only found that one quote above. At the very best, like i said, it would just be a waste of your time (and electricity). At the very worst, it could make you curse God but at the same time demand your blessing. Ngek.
Don’t bother watching it, but if you insist, just consider yourself warned. :)

(written December 17, 2005)