I know I have a very unpopular opinion in this thread, so I'll make this my last post. I just felt the need to clarify some of my points, then I'll stop raining on everyone's parade. If I feel the need to respond, I'll do so to the specific poster by PM.
I'm going back a few pages here, but I'm very confused about the stance people take against Rent's character, calling them "whiny." I mean, if you see really lousy actors, I guess I can see where it's coming from, but I don't think there's really a sense of entitlement in all the characters. With Mark and Roger, they're staying in a place their friend owns and lets them stay in for free, and one day, on Christmas Eve, her rides over and pays them a visit and basically says, "Oops, by the way, your rent is due, or you're out on the street." Somehow, I think if he told them, you know, before the rent was due so they had some warning and it wasn't just laid on them on Christmas Eve, right after Roger comes home from rehab (which, I'm sure, didn't hit him financially at ALL, right? Noooo. Couldn't have). People seem to act like as if the story is portraying these people as if they're whiny brats who think they're entitled to a free ride and hate their landlord on principle--because he's a landlord. But that's not what's in the script. They're constantly picking on their landlord because he's a former friend who's obviously lost all sensitivity to their situation and moved all his worries to money (the guy marries for money, which he has more than enough of, then kicks his friends out on the street without even giving them the opportunity to save up.). Ok, Benny was in the wrong for doing it in that manner with such short notice, but that's where the whole entitlement thing comes in. How long were they expecting to stay there for free and just because Benny was their friend long ago, he should continue to keep putting up with them? What are they giving him in return? Is it because he's making tons of money now that he's obligated to help them live their life trying to figure out how to make money without selling out while they get to stay in a spacious loft for free with electricity and other utilities.
Not to mention these people also feel it's ok to go to a restaurant and just stay there without paying for anything and when Angel's blood money lets them stay, they think it's ok for them to be making a big mess just because they have money now. Yes, I know it's probably supposed to represent that money buys anything and how materialistic the world is and how those with money feel like they can do what they want. However, the characters in Rent had no problem being like the same exact people they're supposed to be better than.
Nobody in the show is against having money or making money. They're against taking jobs or doing work that goes against something they believe in. So I'm not sure what's "funny" about them returning to a show they believed in in the first place. I'll concede the point about Adam and Anthony. However, the characters in Rent have no problem having a superior attitude towards those with money, and they are only kidding themselves if they believe that they themselves haven't sold out in the tiniest bit to get to the situation that they were in or ended up being in. Angel was willing to kill a dog for money, Maureen has no problem taking advantage of Mark when she needs him to help with her show, and I am sure she has no problems with Joanne, the lawyer, probably helping to pay for some of the production. I mean there's no way Maureen can be making enough to fund it. Tom Collins steals money from ATMs and pretends he does it to stick it to the man. And as sad as Mark was for "selling out" by selling his "video" and taking a job at a studio (a job that utilizes what he wants to do and he is still complaining!) I'm sure that didn't stop him from spending that money.
Yeah, I know the show is about their struggle with it and how they don't always succeed. However, I just don't see what's there to celebrate.
Not to mention the bigger framework of all those issues is nothing other than learning to appreciate the mere fact that we're alive. I agree, it is a great message. However, the other parts of the story just make it seem to be a lot more than "we're alive! Celebrate! Live only for today!" Especially when they're worrying about where they're going to live tomorrow.
"I've got to get me out of here
This place is full of dirty old men
And the navigators and their mappy maps
And moldy heads and pissing on sugar cubes
While you stare at your books."
