Despite the personal dislikes, the piece was powerful piece on many levels: the conflict and resolution of so many yin-yang opposites, all in an almost complete resolution. Joe’s absence in the ending was central to the whole movie, and it made me try to think of a reason. There HAD to be a reason — for a character so central to be omitted is big.

I’m left to think that Joe wasn’t in the “happy ending,” because the Joe character will never be resolved. I think he encompasses the final, ultimate conflict. Joe is still trying to find who he is, and find that internal reconciliation. The enormity of the other conflicts in the movie (love/hate, life/death, the demands of heaven vs. life on earth) pale in comparison to that simple internal conflict. Everything else was resolved: but Joe’s still lost.

I’ll be thinking about the Joe character and why he was omitted… but despite the portrayal of LDS in a rather negative light, Angels in America in itself was great.