Finally, the legendary children of an entire generation get their time in the spotlight. So many lives were lost, silenced, so many of them who lived and died in the shadows. If you are watching, this is for you.
Beyond the sequin and theatricality, the 'fantasy' that is perhaps inspired not by the world in which they lived, but the one they wished they had a chance to explore. Pose is, above all, a reminder of the price that was paid for today's community to have the slightest chance at progress.
Under the storyline of a show designed to entertain, and beyond all the traps that such ethos inspires. Pose is a capsule, a reminder of the injustice imposed on marginalized groups of the LGBTQ+ community by the community and society at large. And yet, what occurred in the early years of the AIDS epidemic goes beyond the marginalized groups who are finally getting overdue and well-deserved visibility.
The AIDS epidemic was/is a health crisis, one that could have been avoided should the underlining evils that conspire against the community at large were once and for all addressed. How different the approach would be, if we stopped conspiring to exalt our differences, and we find the humanity that is shared by all. Could you deny your own kind the essential dignity and effort to be treated like an equal? Would labels finally collapse their iron curtain to reveal the illusion that is all of this?
The world deserves color, drama, passion. Everyone should be allowed to experience themselves fully and without judgment, especially the things that make them different. Yet, it should always be reminded that nothing separates us from each other, except the labels and illusions we create. Pose is a perfect allegory that tells us who we are born is not who we are meant to be. And who that is, is not that different from the most common denominators of our society. Let's celebrate our differences, and Pose!
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