Ending Of Rent...

[Singin' In The Rain]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 12:06am

I want to start out by saying that i am a big fan of jonathan larson and all of his work but whenever i leave rent i always felt something was wrong, and i realized that it is because the ending is so out of place
while i kno a musical isn't supposed to be realistic after the intense moments of angel dying and mimi coming close to death, mimi coming back to life and saying, blah blah blah, "i saw angel and she looked goooood" seems so stupid and out of place, i feel that if they stuck to the ending of the real boheme with mimi dying it would be much more powerful and moving, with roger possible making a speech about not wasting life to mourn
the ending kills any sense of realism and it was as if ms. lovett popped out of the oven at the end of sweeney and said, "sweeney, i saw signor parelli, and damn he looked good"
just wonderin if anyone agrees

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 12:09am

I dunno...there's only so much grief I can take at one time..

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 12:09am

oh hon, oldest discussion ever... haha... i have always wished that mimi would just die. i think this way it questions the whole point of the show.

[Singin' In The Rain]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 12:13am

i think i better way to have done it would be mimi to die then roger to say some deep speech about living and then sing a rendition of glory...i don't know it just seems better

[Mythus]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 12:15am

Well, I'm sure she dies/they die soon after anyway.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 12:15am

absolutely agree with you. the fact that she doesn't die just irks me so much.

[almostxfamous]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 12:22am

In the RENT book that I own, people asked Jonathan why she didn't die, and he said he didn't have her die, because RENT was supposed to be about life, not about death. The whole seeing Angel thing I think is supposed to be that's what she saw when she was at first dying, but then doesn't. I definetely think the whole life/death message was a big reason why Mimi doesn't die. I guess that was just his preference.

[neomystyk29]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 12:29am

I like that mimi lives. Although I do not like what she says when she does live. "She Looked Good" "moooo", just doesnt seem at all appropriate. It would have been better if she had said angel was there and said to listen to that boys song.. and then Finale B started right off.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 2:44am

Mabye he's trying to let the audience know that Angel's doing fine and that he's still "living on" in heaven and doing "good." And to keep his memory alive for the audience. Not just be like "oh yeah, he died earlier in ACT 2, but anyways.." Maybe? ha.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 2:56am

"celebrating life in the face of death" is the phrase that Larson used to describe the show. it's true that he didn't want Mimi to die because his show was about celebrating life in the face of death... not celebrating life and "embracing" death...

Mimi undoubtedly dies perhaps a few month or a few years later as she does in La Boheme, but think of it as a "not this time" sort of thing. she came back from this but she will die. we know she's going to die. she's facing death, but she won't die now. not tonight. tonight we celebrate life.
Updated On: 7/17/05 at 02:56 AM

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 3:46am

its in part because RENT is written in a brectian style, in which we are supposed to be removed from intence emotions. If Mimi dies we're enwrapped in sorrow.

Also, Jonathan needed Heroes in the AIDS crisis, by living Mimi and Roger are heroes/survivors....

[teh_pretty]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 2:54pm

She's probably hallucinating and will die in a couple hours, anyway.

Why do people complain about the ending so much? How would six random bohemians know whether or not somebody's dead? People pass in and out of consciousness all the time. Or maybe her heart stopped briefly. That happens too. Come on, people!

[AdamIsGodImJesus]

Posted: 7/17/05 at 11:25pm

Besides the main reason that Jonathon didn't want RENT to be about death, but life. We've all heard that before.

Mimi not dying is the message of the show - no day but today. Roger went two to three months running away from his problems, not seeing Mimi and comes back to see her dying. And yeah, she prolly dies soon - but that moment when Mimi comes back to life is bitter sweet because they'll live what they have together. That's the message.

And Roger giving a speech is kinda lame. He could sing a sad song or whatnot, but that'd be so sad and everyone would leave the theatre thinking about death and it just wouldn't be a fun night.

[jeremykushnier1fan]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 9:35pm

When i first saw RENT sure, i wanted Mimi to die in the end, then i read the Rent bible and What Jonathan says about the musical being about life not death makes complete sense. BUT if Mimi did die i think roger saying a speech would kill his character in a way. Then when i compare Angel to Mimi i see Angel as more as a peace maker and the one who kept the group together (a jesus comparison?)so i geuss Jothathan chose to make Angel die because that would have more impact on the audience?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/18/05 at 9:36pm

pst, you two(Adamis... and jkfan) - JonathAn.

Updated On: 7/18/05 at 09:36 PM