Prior to seeing, The Man in the Ring, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, after watching the powerful piece I was flooded with excitement and awe.
This production played with the important theme of sexuality. The story takes place in the 1950s-70s. A time where sexuality was still black and white. Then there was Emile Griffith. A young man with a heart of gold and a dark secret.
While watching the play, it was very interesting to see how the character himself and those around him reacted to the situation. At first, Emile seemed to be somewhat open about his feelings until his boxing coach, Howie, immediately shut it down and said it wasn't what a man was and that it made him weak. Emile continued to be beaten down by "ring" of societal acceptance of being straight. No edges, one small space, no room for variety. Not to mention, he had to endure the physical struggle of boxing as well. This torture caused Emile to spiral out of control by attempting to force himself to be something he wasn't.
The aftermath Emile had to suffer was hard to watch. Seeing the mental damage done to him not by who he was but how he was treated was heartbreaking.
Stories like this being presented in the theatre are very important to me. They are cleverly sculpted to expose to the audience how crucial and heartbreaking these tragedies are. These events are not fictional. They happened and they are still happening today. Love is love.
I completely agree with you Flynn, this story is extremely important and I believe that it was a perfect story to tell in the form of a play. Theater is very important to stories like this, stories that people can relate to and stories that have themes which are still very relevant today.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you as well that the story is important and asks great questions about society, but I also think it is morbidly humorous how little people realize they their actions have longstanding effects against a person. I don't believe Howie meant to cause Emile the emotional harm Howie's words and societies reactions did. I feel as though Howie was honestly trying to help Emile, to keep him from the pain of being a gay during the 1970s but I also think that the words did more harm than good. Especially since as you said, it made Emile try to be a man he was not.
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