Slings and Arrows

In the Goldberg Variations finale, Jamie Goldberg grapples with existential uncertainty and self-discovery. He starts by rejecting the gay sexual underworld he had fallen into. In turn he throws himself into his studies. Upon learning that he has been cast as Horatio in a university production of Hamlet, he experiences a surge of elation. However, this euphoria is short-lived as he realizes that he will be sharing the stage with his bully schoolmate, Ben, who will be in the lead role of Hamlet. Jamie then throws himself into politics, only to unexpectedly clash with his activist mother who still doesn’t accept her own gay son. To pay for his education, he accepts a temporary job at a right-wing bank, which puts him at odds with his liberal friends, including his best friend and roommate. These attempts to evade his true self ultimately fail as he confronts the reality he has been desperately attempting to conceal and rationalize. Not unlike Hamlet, he is suddenly confronted with the undeniable truth and faces the ultimate challenge: how to accept what he finds so profoundly unacceptable.