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Hipsters End: Queer Time, and Imitation versus Authenticity, in Matthew Lopez's the Inheritance
Alberto Fernández Carbajal1,2,3,4
1English Literature, University of Roehampton, London, UK.
Journal of Homosexuality
|May 11, 2021
Summary
Matthew Lopez's play "The Inheritance" critiques millennial property concerns and community building. It argues the play prioritizes idealized masculinity over AIDS-affected bodies and authentic queer experiences, failing to represent intersectionality.
Area of Science:
- Literary Criticism
- Cultural Studies
- Performance Studies
Background:
- Matthew Lopez's play "The Inheritance" is a contemporary adaptation of E. M. Forster's "Howards End."
- The play engages with themes of property, community, and intergenerational relationships.
- It has been noted for its exploration of queer identity and history.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze Matthew Lopez's "The Inheritance" as a rewriting of E. M. Forster's "Howards End."
- To examine the play's engagement with property, community, and the representation of queer bodies and experiences.
- To interrogate the play's cultural distinctiveness and its engagement with queer intersectionality.
Main Methods:
- Textual analysis of Matthew Lopez's "The Inheritance."
- Comparative literary analysis with E. M. Forster's "Howards End."
- Cultural critique focusing on themes of property, community, authenticity, and queer identity.
Main Results:
- The play's engagement with property resonates with contemporary millennial concerns about community formation.
- The article argues the play idealizes masculine bodies and avoids realistic depictions of gay sex, potentially perpetuating repression.
- The play's "hipsterism," characterized by a tension between imitation and authenticity, fails to offer a distinctive representation of the queer community and its intersectionality.
Conclusions:
- "The Inheritance" offers a complex, yet ultimately limited, portrayal of queer community and identity.
- The play's focus on property and idealized masculinity overshadows a nuanced representation of queer intersectionality.
- Lopez's positionality and fascination with Forster's work may lead to a fetishization of the past, hindering authentic contemporary queer representation.