led me to believe that there's a specific type that Joe is meant to represent
Huh. If that's so, and it may well be, I didn't get that, but that may well explain why (as I say in more detail to wrabbit below) I think I take a much more sympathetic view of Joe than the play.
which in the HBO version is heavily paralleled with Louis's abandonment of Pryor
It's not just the HBO version; several key Prior-Louis and Harper-Joe scenes in the play are written so they take place on stage simultaneously.
no subject
Date: 2011-07-25 04:17 pm (UTC)Huh. If that's so, and it may well be, I didn't get that, but that may well explain why (as I say in more detail to wrabbit below) I think I take a much more sympathetic view of Joe than the play.
which in the HBO version is heavily paralleled with Louis's abandonment of Pryor
It's not just the HBO version; several key Prior-Louis and Harper-Joe scenes in the play are written so they take place on stage simultaneously.