Torch continued...
wanted to test Ed's attraction to
men. When Arnold finds out, a
row ensues. But they soon make
up. One day, Arnold gets a mes
sage and visits Alan on the set.
Alan has heard good news: they
are going to be parents. He tells
Arnold that it is time they were
married. They make plans to find
a new apartment because their
son will need a room of his own.
The night they move in, Alan goes
out for some take-out Chinese
while Arnold makes the bedroom
habitable. In the distance, the
sound of a siren screams. A sense
of dread pervades the apartment
and Arnold hurries out to the
street. The paramedics are tak
ing away a body on the stretcher.
It is Alan, bludgeoned to death by
gay-haters.
Three years later, a fight
erupts in the schoolyard. In the
principal’s office, the teacher
tells one of the fighters that she
has called his mother. The audi
ence roars with laughter as the
camera chronicles feet clad in
bunny slippers pounding up the
stairs. Arnold in his housedress
yanks David to his feet saying, “
You are in trouble!” At the apart
ment, we get another surprise.
Ed is getting a divorce from Lau
rel and is staying over, on the
couch. Arnold reveals that his
mother is coming to visit his
father’s grave and plans to stay
with Arnold. She does not know
that David is her grandson. Ed is
told to stay out of the way for a
few days. His mother arrives
while Arnold is at the meeting for
David’s final adoption procedure.
Mrs. BeckofT is shocked by
David’s youth and questions him
because she thinks that he is
Arnold’s lover.
When Arnold returns, he
and Mrs. BeckofTpay a visit to the
cemetery. Alan is buried is a plot
left to Arnold by bis father. As
Mrs. BeckofT says the Khaddish
(prayer of mourning) for her hus
band, Arnold takes out his piece
of paper and begins his prayer.
His mother accuses him of blas
phemy, saying that he does not
know what it is like to lose some
one close. Finally, Arnold pours
out all the grief and anger that he
has suppressed. He shouts that
gay people can feel agony and
loss. He speaks of shopping for
groceries for two and setting a
dinner place for Alan even
though he is gone. His mother
cannot accept the similarity of
their losses and runs away. When
Mrs. BeckofT returns, Ed is still
watching TV . When Arnold
comes in a few minutes later. Ed
guiltily and hopefully says,
“Oops?” Still in a rage, Arnold
yells, “OOPS is when you acci
dentally douche yourself with
Drano.”
Later that day Arnold
disappears from work. Ed finds
him drunk outside The Stud and
takes him home. In the cab, he
asks Arnold for a second chance
but Arnold tells him why he could
not: Ed has not even told his
parents that he is gay. Back at
the apartment, Arnold and his
mother have another fight be
cause she does not think that he
could be a good parent to David.
Finally, Arnold says sadly that if
the people he loves do not respect
his way of life, there is no place for
them in his life. Mrs. BeckofT
takes that to mean an order to
leave.
The next morning, Ed
tells Arnold it is time to tell the
truth because he loves him. Mrs.
BeckofT observes the scene. As
she is leaving, she relents a little
and asks him if he loves Ed. He
nods yes. “As much as the other
one T Ruefully, Arnold says no.
“Does it ever stop?" he asks her,
referring to the grief. Gently, she
replies that it never does. The
phone interrupts them. It is
David. He wants Arnold to turn
on the radio. Arnold fusses but
turns it on as the announcer is
saying, “I checked it with my
producer and I’m not sure but
here it goes: To Arnold, with all
my love, David.” Arnold looks up
to find his mother gone. But they
have shared a moment of under
standing. As the song plays on, he
rocks himself gently while
huddled over a photograph of
Alan and a pair of glasses his
mother had left behind.
What makes Torch Song
Trilogy a great movie is that it
does not attempt lecture its audi
ence about how to treat gays. The
scene where Alan is bludgeoned
with a baseball bat does show
senseless and brutal homophobia
but its importance lies in the grief
that Arnold suffers. The movie is
a chronicle about one man’s
struggle to find love and peace. It
is not a quest to change the world.
Yes, Arnold must constantly
fight against stigmas. But only,
twice does he ever make an issue
about being gay. The first time,
was when he needed to break
through his mother’s blindness
and the second when he wakes Ed
to reality. Arnold is human. If we
lost a loved one like he did, we
would suffer too.
Havery Fiersteinis Ar
nold mesmerizes the audience.
His style of “show” rather than
“tell” works very well. Note the
subtlety of the episodes with the
dedications on the radio. If you
have not yet seen the movie, try
calling around the local video
rentals. If you want to read the
play, UO library has it.