I watched the movie first, out of curiosity about the Brando hype. I had watched him in a couple of his later movies and could not believe he was ever a sex symbol, despite his strong political views.
I liked the movie and felt compelled to read the play, which I loved. I have never seen it performed on stage, unfortunately.
I find the story very challenging to what has been America's ever troubling false-ad stereotypes.

What you mentioned about reality raping fantasy has happened in every era and yet there is always this blind sense of hope and optimism about the endless possibilities of self-realization and follow-your-guts/dreams kind of promotion.
The so called loss of innocence is invoked after every great social or political conflict/scandal, but as Williams suggests, we never learn.
Lust and social pressure will always get the best of us and reality will always rape us as long as we continue pursuing dreams with the wrong tools.