For the episode "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" of the Angel series, viewers are presented with an interesting segment of Angel's past and the communist paranoia that ran rampant in 1950's American society. With the overall theme being paranoia, it was not a bit shocking to see the shady character Judy heap the blame coming her way onto Angel when being assaulted by the lynch mob. Though the mischief and mayhem was principally brought about by the Paranoia Demon, residents within the Hyperion Hotel provided the impetus and motivation for such a capable bad-guy to wreak havoc. The guilty secrets and shady nature of most of the guests comprise the actual villainy that occurs within the episode, leaving this untapped source to be drawn out by the creepy Paranoia Demon.
Though she was not actually responsible for the supposed "murders" that were taking place within the Hyperion Hotel, Judy's reputation is called into question when the hotel guests find out that she has robbed her previous employer. When faced with interrogation from the rabid lynch mob, Judy cracks under the pressure and calls Angel out as the murderer. Even though he has served as an aid to her in dealing with her pursuers, she shifts the mob's attention to Angel in order to avoid any blame directed towards herself, a highly selfish act. She betrays a friend in order to save her own skin, while Angel is hanged by the angry mob for an act none of them did.
This demonstration of the destructive power of paranoia highlights Senator Joseph McCarthy and his antics with the Senate Permanent Sub-Committee on Investigations in the 1950's. Many innocent Americans were brought in for questioning and had their lives dismantled due to the pervasive fear of communist penetration into U.S. society. Some lives would be ruined while McCarthy and the American people who believed him could feel somewhat more relieved that communism was being dealt with. Just as Angel is hanged by the lynch mob, a large number of individuals were left to suffer from the irrational fears of others during this dark time in our nation's history. The episode "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?" reminds us all of the power of fear, and hopefully drives home the expectation that innocent individuals won't be left to suffer unnecessarily from paranoia's effects.
1 comment:
Well said, Andrew! The scene where Judy betrays Angel is so powerful because although it surprises us, it really doesn't surprise us at all (at least in retrospect). We ask ourselves what we would do in the same situation (even without a paranoia demon making things more difficult), and I think we wonder if we wouldn't sell out our slightly shady sort-of friend.
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