Dont you hate... (RENT related)- Page 4

[La_Becca]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:39am

liotte-- It's all good, yo.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:40am

mmmm. Adam.

[NickHyper]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 1:06am

You shouldn't hate it. You should be glad that something is giving this show more exposure. Just because people know about something before someone else doesn't give them more of a right to be a fan. RENT is a very good show and I'm glad the movie is making more people aware of it.

[Kringas]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 2:59am

What I hate is when people decide their appreciation for a show is somehow more deep or profound than someone else's, simply because they got there first.

[Jenny1284]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 8:10am

I'm not a "RENThead," and while I don't like the idea of it becoming a fad or something that people merely pretend to like, a part of me is happy that they are excited about it. I'm actually kind of jealous that it's so popular in high school, since I'm not a high school student anymore. I don't want to make it sound like something has to be popular to be appreciated, but when I was in middle school and high school, I always wished that there were movie musicals and that more people were excited about them. The Evita movie came out when I was 12, and my classmates didn't even know what Evita was. I guess that wouldn't appeal to young people as much as RENT does, but it would have been nice if other people had at least heard of my then-favorite movie. Even when Chicago came out during my senior year of high school, there weren't many people who were interested outside of the music and drama departments. I know I'm probably being idealistic, but maybe the widespread interest in RENT can connect you to people you never would have talked to before. They may be developing a genuine interest in theater or this particular story, and that wouldn't be a bad thing.

Then again, when I read the away message that said "4gEeTT RrEgGrReTt...ReENntT tHheE mMo0viiE *11-23-05*," I thought I might be giving some of these people too much credit. That message has more important problems than sounding like a "poser," though. What's with all the double letters? :)

[Kass983]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 8:28am

Once again, I am a little offended by the idea that ones time as a poster is ASSUMED to be ones time as a musical theatre fan. I've been a fan of RENT since '99, and while that may not have been the whole time it's been around, it's quite a while. I was 26 years old when this play came out, and I'm 35 now. I have had friends die of AIDS and, unfortunately, other untimely deaths. This play hit me as more than just as a bunch of pretty songs.

I completely understand the protectiveness; what I don't understand is the unwillingness to let anyone else in. Not every so called "newbie" is in it because they saw an "Out Tonight" video. It is a reality that many new posters have been lurking for years, as I have. We are just as excited for the movie as you are, if not more so. We don't have as much exposure to theatre as you all do, and quite frankly, that you take for granted.

A RENThead, really, is one who appreciates the message, can articulate their reasons for being one, and truly live as if there is no day but today...society be dammned(sp).


Updated On: 11/16/05 at 08:28 AM

[Jenny1284]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 8:46am

I definitely agree with you Kass983, although I think the first poster was afraid that some of the people she was referring don't really "appreciate the message" or care about it. Although I guess that raises the question of how a person can prove the extent to which he/she appreciates it. The more I read the original post, the more I think it's just concerned with people behaving disingenuously in high school, and feeling that they have to be someone they aren't. Of course, that problem certainly isn't limited one's taste in movies or theater. (I hope I'm not putting words into your mouth, WiCkEDrOcKS!)

[LeaGirl]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 9:03am

I really don't think everyone should worry about this so much.

First of all, it isn't anyone's fault if they were 6 years old when Rent opened. How the heck were they supposed to be there? That sort of attitude is what has people lying on the Rent blog going "oh yeah I knew all the words to Rent when I was 2" - there is NO SHAME in coming to Rent later.

Second of all, YES the movie will probably bring some "fad" fans, but they never stick around for long anyhow.

I think the people who are the MOST worried about this are being a little bit hypocritical (and are probably younger fans themselves, who haven't seen other waves of fans come and go). I personally have experienced so called "Rentheads" at the Nederlander who have behaved in a way that makes me embarrassed to be one. It doesn't belong to you. You can't "protect" it from others.

To me, you can be a Renthead if you've never seen the show, if the music speaks to you, if you love the message. Seeing it 1 time, no times, or 130 times doesn't mean bull.

Maybe its because I'm not so worried about being part of some "in" Renthead crowd, maybe its because I'm an adult no longer in school, maybe its because I've been around Rent long enough to watch the "fad" fans come and go, but I think everyone needs to freaking relax.

SO WHAT if someone at your school is like "OMG I LUV RENT I LUV SEASONS OF LUV" - they'll see the movie. Maybe they'll "fad" over it for 2 months, maybe they'll become a lifelong fan. I don't see how EITHER way hurts you in any way at all.

The fad fans will go away, the people who really like the movie will become fans. And I don't see how them coming to Jonathan Larson's music through the movie makes them any less of a fan than any of you. Everyone needs to get off their high horse. Just IGNORE them if you hate the hype... but don't judge them.

[kasim]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 9:07am

I dont see what the problem is??

What is this first grade and i beat you to liking it and since i have liked it more there for you cant like it as much.

I wouldnt consider myself a rent head in the slightest, but i am excited about it opening. I only just saw it this year.

Now i will agree that someone who has not seen the musical or heard the soundtrack or obs would be a bit weird for them to be excited.

But ... eh ... who cares?

[Kass983]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 9:07am

Jenny,

Not putting words into my mouth at all... I appreciate you taking the time to care.

I agree that the original poster's intent was not to discount anyone, but people will do what they will. I'm not only proud to be a RENThead, but also proud to be the absolute only RENThead in my circle of friends. I am the reason they are even seeing the movie. Yes, I have been hounding them and they know I won't let up, lol.

[DancNdaMoonlite]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:23pm

I feel the same way.

I just got to know Rent this year but I think I'd consider myself a renthead. I read something like "Your a renthead if..." and a lot of the things applied to me. lol

But for some reason I just feel like I don't deserve to be or something? Like there are sooo many people who've known the show since the beginning or really early on and have gone 2 a billion performances when I've only been 2 1. I dunno...

Does anyone feel like this?






7 Days!!!!!!!!!

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:39pm

This is something I've been thinking about lately. I love the fact that RENT and RENT's message are being spread and will now be heard by a whole new and much bigger audience. That's exciting. It's great to know that Jonathan Larson's voice is being heard. I guess that I have to that I'm happy that there will be more rentheads in the world. But to me, the movie seems so big, and so far away that it makes me feel like my experiences are being cheapened.

I've been a fan of RENT since the very get-go. It revolutionized the way people thought about theatre. It changed how producers sold tickets and marketed their shows. It obviously influenced a generation of theatre people. I remember camping out side. I slept over night to get damn front row tickets. It's unfortunitly not logical or safe to continue the line and a lotto was put in place. Since then I feel like the experience of the line can not be duplicated. RENT has become something totally different. I feel like I can't hold it and experience it like I used to. Are there other people in the way? I wonder. So many things. I've seen RENT 165 times. Hows that for dedication?

These times are the begning of a new wave of RENTheads. They're idina-wicked fans, they're rosario dawson fans, they're people obssesed with adam pascaal's rather obvious attractiveness, they'll be middle aged women who just love Jesse L Martin on Law and Order (and who knew he could kiss a man?) They're the people who's high school choruses made them sing Seasons Of Love and probably patronized its message. I welcome the fact that there is a new birth of RENTheads....However, I feel like part of the experience... the intimacy of RENT on stage....has died. I feel like my experience has been cheapened and someone else is buying tickets.

Updated On: 11/16/05 at 12:39 PM

[liotte]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:42pm

AMEN!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:46pm

I'm torn on the issue.

I mean, I know that it's very, very hypocritical to have such sentiments, considering that I certainly wasn't there from the very beginning. I have really strong feelings for the show, but I was ten years old when it opened. I'm not a RENThead in the sense that I ever slept on the street for tickets, or ever saw the original cast on stage. And honestly, I know that if I want to have a fair chance and being "considered" a fan, and if I hate the notion that there are "requirements" when applied to my own love of the show, and if I don't want someone to tell me that my appearance seven years too late is cheapening their experience, it's nasty of me to say that the "new fans" shouldn't be given the same chance. Just because I wasn't there to see it happen doesn't mean that I don't consider myself a fan, someone who loves Rent very, very very, much, or that I wouldn't be offended if someone told me I wasn't a good enough or proper fan.

It's of course very difficult not to judge someone who's just like "OMG IDINA!!!!!!!!" or who just thinks Adam is hot, but I know underneath that... who am I to say they don't have a brain, or they don't "get it," even if they don't act like they do?

I'd like to say it'll be easy for me to give the new wave of fans the benefit of the doubt. I think it's easier for me to figure into saying good for them if they see the movie because they like Rosario or they think Adam's hot, but then out of it, they decide to check out more theatre, or more importantly, may become more open-minded people. Even if they're annoying when they first start pouring in, I think it's important to keep in mind, next to the sense of ownership and love, that it's new generations of fans that are going to keep Rent on stage.

Shouldn't we want people to be inspired and moved by the themes? Isn't that what Jonathan wanted?

Those questions are why admitting wanting to joke about and drive away the new, slightly crazy fans makes me feel like an awful, horrid, hypocritical loser.

Updated On: 11/17/05 at 12:46 PM

[LeaGirl]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:46pm

I just don't get how your experience has been cheapened.

I saw the original cast back in 96 (though my measly 30 times pales in comparison to your viewing prowess) and I don't feel like anything has been "cheapened" for me.

If Rent had never amassed any new fans over the years, it'd be closed. Dead. Left with the handful of people who saw it "from the beginning". Like a dead language that nobody speaks anymore. Sure, some people learn it, but it isn't really alive.

No 15 year old kid would ever pick up the CD and discover the sheer joy and energy that comes from listening to "La Vie Boheme" for the first time. I want them to hear things that they can't express yet in the music. I don't want to hide the show, I want people to hear it.

Maybe it is JUST me, but I want these kids to feel the same way I felt when I was 15 and seeing it for the first time. Why is that so odious to everyone? There have ALWAYS been people that liked Rent because it was "cool" - and those people never hang around for very long.

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:53pm

I'm not saying that NEW rentheads are evil or that you have sleep outside or see the original cast to be a true renthead- what I'm saying is that because RENT is soo big now it just feels so far away. I can duplicate what I rewrote, but there is no need. I feel like my experience has been washed over by a tsunami of new fans. Good, the Jonathan's message is being heard....good, his show has been very successful. I'd be a fool to not want that. I just miss the old RENT experience when Rent was Extrodinarily Special. Now its well, less special. Does that make more sence?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:55pm

I wasn't targeting you in particular. I meant that I, as a "younger" Renthead, dislike the notion that you have to have seen it a certain number of times, or had to have slept out on the street to get tickets back in the mid-90's.

I recognize that there's a difference, sure. I have no idea what that was like. I don't pretend to. You know what? The first time I saw the show was less than three years ago. But hey, would you want your ten-year-old sleeping on the streets of NYC?

Oh, and by the way, wait until you see the movie. I think that -- imperfections aside -- I feel closer to the material than I ever did before. It's impactful and jarring in a very different way, but I literally can not stop thinking about it.

Updated On: 11/16/05 at 12:55 PM

[LeaGirl]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:58pm

My parents didn't have me sleeping outside on the street at 15. Lea saved her money and bought her ticket.

So if you're going with THAT definition of Renthead... *g* - count me out, I just walked BY the people camping out.

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:58pm

Ha- abolutely not. Please don't think that I think your less of a RENThead for not seeing it a bazillion times or sleeping outside. If you love the show- then you're a renthead...a renthead is a renthead is a renthead... my disdain was not against rentheads, it was against the experience.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 12:59pm

Again, I was speaking in general terms. A lot of people use that idea jokingly, but I *have* heard it in very serious, elitist context.

[dramaparoxysm23]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 1:06pm

I had heard of RENT before I heard the movie was coming out, but I wasn't sure what it was about til I read about the movie and decided to get the OBC recording...now I love it!!
Does that make me one of the people who irritate you?

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 1:08pm

no, just don't show up at a Rent event with a huge GREEN poster that screems something about wicked and idina. Then ill be liable to shoot.

[keggss23]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 1:33pm

Kringas, I love you!

If someone falls in love with Rent's message who cares if it is because of the movie or from seeing it onstage? Who cares if you were the first or millionth person to discover Rent? I don't see why people are getting so defensive about "their show" as if it is their own personal secret. Guess what, lots and lots of people love Rent and it's message.

Sure, the fangirls will be annoying and flood the boards for awhile, but once the next big thing peaks their interest they will move on to something new.

I feel bad for the people who discover Rent from the movie because the people on these boards will automatically dismiss them as being not being “a real fan” because they became a fan from the movie instead of the stage show. Just because someone has been a fan from the beginning doesn’t make them a “real fan” by any means. Those who love Rent for it’s message will be lifelong fans regardless if they have been fans from it's conception or from the movie.

[dramaparoxysm23]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 1:56pm

No way. I mean, I understand that die hard Wicked fans would be excited that Idina's in the show, but I loved the show before I realized it was Idina...I was just pleasantly surprised, haha.

[SpellRENT]

Posted: 11/16/05 at 3:53pm

(This is my first post! Yay!!)

Wow. I was just talking about this today. I have really noticed that people are only into the movie. And, though I am excited that others are pumped about the movie, it seems everyone is trying to be RENTheads. And that is annoying. Like, today, I was talking to someone who was singing "525,600 minutes.." and they stopped. I asked if they knew the rest of the song or any other songs for the show. They replied "No, I heard that on the trailer, but I'm so excited for the show you have know idea!" Gosh! Also, I was talking to a friend of mine and we got on the subject of AIDS. Here is our conversation:
Me: Yeah, I learned that from a song, what AIDS meant
Friend: What song?
Me: It was from RENT
Friend: Oh, with that black guy, Taye Diggs! I can't wait!
Me: I was talking about the musical
Friend: Oh, but he has AIDS
Me: No, Benny doesn't have AIDS
Friend: Oh, but MiMi does.
Me: Yeah. So, your a renthead now, arent you?
Friend: Yeah
And he wasn't even kidding.
I mean, I am by no means a renthead. But, I was a fan long before the movie. So, hearing people talking about the movie as if they saw the play and can't wait to see how they changed it are just annoying.

Also, I was watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Rosario
Dawson was on. At the end of the interview, Jon goes, " RENT 2! ROSARIO DAWSON!" The crowd kinda laughed and Rosario was a bit taken back. I thought that Jon should have done a little research about the show, seeing as he knew nothing about it. Just wanted to add that.