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

[bythesword84]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 11:21am

Actually "older" people has nothing to do with it, I'm 20. I saw Rent when I was 18. I hated it.

"Basically, when you find yourself thinking that the central characters are whiny brats who should quit squatting and find a job, something's off." Plum, I love you for that because
thats how I felt too when I first ecountered Rent.

[mikewood]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 11:26am

-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.

[cabarethed]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 12:01pm

Margo, those were some of the best posts I've ever read on this board. I really enjoyed that. And isn't JCM vocal about his dislike for Rent, hence having Yitzak try out for the touring cruise (in the movie) as kind of a slam/mockery?

Rent was my first show...I was 17, and I didn't really care for it. I didn't openly hate it like my friend, but the plot confused me, and I wished there was more dialogue. Of course now I kick myself realizing I had most likely seen Norbert and KLK (it's the one playbill from all these years that I've lost), but I think I was just personally at a wrong place in my life to understand it. I've grown up way too fast in some aspects, but I was purely clueless in others, including just what the AIDS epidemic and Alphabet city was really like. Now I can't learn enough about it. I saw Rent again in early 2003 from lotto seats, and I liked it far more. Granted, I had also become a huge fan of the tick Tick Boom CD by this point, but I just finally understand what it's about. I don't love it, and I do think it needed a lot more work, but I definitely intend on seeing it again. I prefer TTB by far though.

[Chloe]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 12:18pm

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.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 12:22pm

It's one of those shows that will always be extremely divisive to people, I think. I love it and have for years, but I remember my friend and I who love it playing to two other friends and they started laughing at what I would consoder poignant and touching moments.

As far as the generational gap, thats really been interesting me. I work with children, was a teacher in NC before moving to NYC, and I see the kids as being much more akin to my parents than I ever was. As I see it people in their 50's and teen's today actually have more in common than either group does with those of us in the middle. They (as a whole) want the structure and rules we really always hated.

By no means do all the people fit into those categories, there are rebels and conservatives in all generations, but it seems to be bearing out as a general trend.

[TGIF]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 12:27pm

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.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 2:35pm

mikewood, try using "edit this message" next time.

I think that Larson making the show and it's portrayal of the East Village, AIDS, etc. appeal to the "middle class suburban" crowd was a good thing. If he made the show for the people living that life a) it probably wouldn't be commercially successful, b)he'd basically be preaching the choir and none of them would be interested, and c) all of us middle class suburban kids would never know these kinds of lifestyles even existed.

I learned about AIDS for the first time in 5th grade and all we were taught was how not to get it. It never occured to me that the rest of the world didn't go through this health unit as well, so I never really learned all the history behind it. Seeing Rent kind of helped me realize that AIDS wasn't just this disease in a textbook that people got back in the '80s, then we all used condoms and it went away everywhere except Africa. I think any show that gets kids for the suburbs thinking outside of their own cul-de-sac is definitely a positive thing in my book.

[ElphabaRose]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 2:42pm

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.

[Unmasked05]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 4:03pm

I saw the tour back in November and I was alittle iffy about seeing it but my mom wanted to see it so I went to see it and I fell in LOVE with the show instantly and I wasn't nervous at all seeing the show with my mom either.
Since I live in the south(Alabama) I thought there were going to be alot of younger people there but there were alot of older couples there ......and I mean old and they enjoyed the show.

MIKEWOOD.......just because people have AIDS doesn't mean they can't jump around and sing and dance......there are plenty out there that can and I know a few. AIDS doesn't always stop you from living your life and enjoying it.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 4:13pm

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.

[mikewood]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 4:40pm

MIKEWOOD.......just because people have AIDS doesn't mean they can't jump around and sing and dance......there are plenty out there that can and I know a few. AIDS doesn't always stop you from living your life and enjoying it.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >>>

Hmph.

Talk about taking some one out of context.

[thegoodseed]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 4:48pm

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.

[Aigoo]

Posted: 4/18/05 at 5:09pm

I've never seen the show, however, I thought the score and the music was just brilliant. Larson did an amazing job stringing...what almost seems impossible to do. Kudos to him.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 10/13/05 at 1:02am

This review is kind of harsh, but somewhat interesting.

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

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 10/13/05 at 1:13am

Everyone's got a right to their opinions
Although, Roger's last name is Davis not David...

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 10/13/05 at 1:48am

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.

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/13/05 at 3:00am

What I really didn't like about RENT was the hype behind it.
After watching many Broadway shows, it was the turn to watch RENT.
I felt it was completely out of place. It could have stayed a very interesting Off Broadway experience, but, for once I don't see why the tickets cost as much as a bigger spectacle, for example. That was the first thing I noticed about it, it's too simple for its ticket cost.

The performers were very talented for the most part - although WAY too good looking to be dying of drug abuse or AIDS - it was like they went to have surgery and to the SPA before going onstage - no way you can believe these perfect looking people have gone so low.

I think the music is very good - but the story is completely impossible... what do fans have to say on what these eight people do in the lapse of three hours? They meet, fall in love, go shopping, fight, celebrate, go to a meeting...I mean, in three hours and two couples are already swearing each other eternal love - I hope the movie is more generous with this time frame.