A.M.Holmes Music For Torching, Seth MacFarlanes Family...

A.M.Holmes Music For Torching, Seth MacFarlanes Family Guy, and Tony Kushners Angels in America The social progression of America in the 20th and 21st centuries has been arguably advantageous. In the years following the feminist and civil rights movements, the United States has undeniably developed into the world’s leading democratic system. Women and minorities have equal citizenship status under the law. There are more females in the workforce than ever before, and formerly guarded issues such as homosexuality and domestic problems can now be addressed openly in social and political forums. However, the question remains as to whether or not such progression has benefited American culture and its population as a whole. Perhaps we†¦show more content†¦References to primarily American popular culture and literature create a discourse investigating the merits of our nation’s development. Each text employs comedy at Sigmund Freud’s tendentious level of jest to challenge personal and social reticence without appearing antagonistic to any specific group . The use of intertexuality condenses the length of the works and lends to the humor of the subject matter by alluding to already familiar people, places, and events in American culture. Without prior knowledge of such entities, most of the texts’ meaning and wit will be lost. Nevertheless, a complete understanding of such allusions will reveal the juxtaposition of America’s modern progression: society has improved in certain aspects, yet has somewhat been demoted in other regards. The long-established attraction of migrating to America is derived from its historic reputation as the land of opportunity. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes the ability of the wretched refuse to surpass birth and class distinctions through hard work and economy. But the overwhelming importance placed on possessions as status symbols has gradually lost its allure. In Music For Torching, A.M. Homes reveals that the contemporary world of suburbia, viewed as the culmination of financially successful households, is not as wonderful as it is presumed to be. Her constant citation of designer labels reveals the importance placed on