Am I the only person who hated Rent? — Page 5

Please refrain from comparing "Rent" to "Cats" in any sense, ever. >>>

Why?

Who are you to set that mandate?

---

-The Portrayal of AIDS. Ridiculous. I know that not everyone goes to the theatre for a slap of reality. But to see healthy, beautiful people in the advanced stages of AIDS dancing on tables is offensive to the thousands of people living with the virus. If you're going to use AIDS to tell a story, then tell the damn story. And the ending is a cop-out. >>>

It's a MUSICAL. People dance. People sing. That's not real life. It's representational so I have no problem with the AIDS patients singing and dancing. Are you suggesting that people with AIDS are miserable ALL THE TIME, and never have moments of lightness and joy?

There is a definite strain of thought on this board that POPULAR=bad, and if one can denigrate a show or genre someone else enjoys then that person elevates themself somehow.

I see this with Rent on this Board sometimes and others and I see it with Wicked as well.

---

Thanks for your excellent clarification, Margo. I know a lot of RENT fans also wonder what Larson might have done with the show had he lived. Again, I'm not surprised that you and your friends were turned off, given the circumstances. What I'm asking myself is if I would have liked it better with characters who were less "whiny" and more socially active - and I'm not at all sure about that. It might have been more of a comfort to those actively engaged like you, but less effective at engaging a general audience. It's certainly interesting to speculate, though, and you might very well be right.

I will in no way argue if Larson captured all of what the East Village was during that time period. What I think he was successful in was in giving suburbanized, middle class teens a glimpse, as deluted as it might be, of what was happening.

---

Rent is absolutely amazing!!!! There are most definately people who live like that today, maybe not in the same area but defiantely in many places. The show might be slightly dated but there are many issues that are incredibly relavent today. The music is also absolutely brilliant.

---

As far as Rent being an inaccurate depiction of the early to mid 90s East Village, I have always had this impression. I have never lived in the East Village, I am one of those suburban kids, but I was never under the impression that the depiction of the East Village in Rent was a very vivid and accurate one, although many suburban kids will think so. I think, in a way, it is a flaw of the show, but I don't think Larson's intention was to expose us to that life, or even show us truly the horrors of AIDS. Of course, if that was the purpose, one thing that would've never been there was Mimi waking up in the end. Of course there is an attempt to introduce this different world to us, but in small dosages. I suppose only the amount he felt necessary, because, as said earlier, he was trying to appeal to people who were not familiar with living under hard conditions. He was writing to appeal to people who did not know struggles with money and disease as he may have.

What I think Larson was trying to do was convey a message of looking at life in a positive way, even when the worst occurs. He was trying to teach to live life as if we could go any minute, and he was trying to teach not to wait until we contracted AIDS and death was knocking on our door to do so. It was a call for us to stop the whining (that so many posters on this board are complaining about without realizing what its point in the show was) and try to just live and appreciate what's there. And I think this is what is done relatively successfully.

That being said, there are a plenty of flaws besides its inaccurrate depiction of a real place. One thing that I think is an extremely large problem is what seems to be underdeveloped characters. The first and only time I saw the show in live performance, I felt as if I were watching a relatively good rock concert rather than a story being told and later came to realize that its a show that I think does not stand on its own without good ACTORS in its leads. The production with the original cast, however, was like seeing a completely different show in every way, and I absolutely loved it then.

I just read the thread in its entirety.
I personally LOVE Rent. I have had the cast recording for the longest time, and loved the show when I saw it in December 2004. When I saw it in December on Broadway, my mom went with me. I was very afraid that she wouldn't like it. She ended up really liking it. Although Rent is my favorite musical, I don't think it is the best musical ever. I can understand that people don't like Rent for a lot of reasons, most of which have been said in this thread. Just because a lot of people like a certain musical doesn't mean that everyone has to like it. I personally HATE Cats, but I know a lot of people who are as obsessed with Cats as I am with Rent. It's a matter of opinion.

---

This review is kind of harsh, but somewhat interesting.

http://gaytoday.badpuppy.com/garchive/entertain/063097en.htm

---

They also lived in the East Village, not the Lower East Side.

What a horribly written article. Do they not have any editors? Half the article is made up of fragments; it's like trying to read some teenybopper's account in their LJ.

I mean this is just ridiculous:

"Two ballads: "Will I Lose My Dignity?" (one of the men in the AIDS mutual support group who doesn't seems to have taken Mimi's Happy Dust; and "Without You" (best of the ballads but somehow not even this best not having any original words, music that "catches") and "I'll Cover You" (a lament by the more-straight gay man after the death of the transvestite Angel)."

Two ballads: Will I, Without You and I'll Cover You [Reprise]. Um, yeah.

Everyone has a right to their opinions, but my opinion is that this person needs to learn to write before they attempt to properly review anything.

---

I saw it on Broadway in 1998, when I was 17. And I found it to be pretentious, overacted, and insisting upon itself! I think I fell asleep very part of it cuz I was so disinterested the only part I really liked about the whole musical was the Seasons of Love Theme and Take Me for What I Am! With the exception of those two songs, I could definitely leave it!

tacotheatrelover said: "this thread is literally older than me why are you responding to it?"

Thank you for reminding me to call my doctor tomorrow to schedule a colonoscopy.

And don't just poop in a box! I'm 35 and my dad works in healthcare; he told me "you'll live to see pooping in a box be as good as a colonoscopy, but you're certainly not there YET." So in five years I'll have to take the fully immersive experience, so to speak.