August: Osage County

I just finished reading "August: Osage County", a 2008 play that won lots of prizes, including the Pulitzer.

I found it funny in places, but mostly depressing. "Darkly comic", as the critics say.

I had read, on some conservative website, that the play had a political message. But it only had one clearly political passage, and here's its key message:

"You know, this country was always pretty much a whorehouse, but at least it used to have some promise. Now it's just a shithole."

There's more, along those lines, less vulgar, but just as vague. Is it backed up by anything else in the play? Not really, except for the fact that the characters in the play all seem deeply lost. With citizens like these, what kind of country could America be?

I suspect the playwright's view of people was caught by this line: "He's not perfect. Just like all the rest of us, down here in the muck."

I felt stuck
in the muck -
it rolled on, unrelenting.

Now I'm free.
Lucky me!
Excuse me for my venting.