Lindsay Ellis' complete dissection of RENT as a property

I absolutely adore RENT, but no lies were detected in this video essay.

This is amazing. Thanks!

She's a treasure. Very well articulated, researched, and edited.

This video is fabulous and so well thought-out. It really puts to concise, clear words what's frustrated me so much about Rent over the years. Thanks for sharing!

For me RENT was a musical for its time.

I saw it when it first opened on Broadway, and I've seen numerous productions since. And I've enjoyed it each and every time.

Like all shows of its ilk (and not) it was inevitable that it would be received differently by different people.

And now, it is equally inevitable that it will be analyzed through a different prism now that we're some 20 years out from its original introduction to the theater world.

Back then, I'm sure some in the audience were taken aback by the subject matter (and I'm sure this was especially true when it started touring to subscription houses across middle America).

I'm sure some made a personal connection to it, because even though the characters weren't always sympathetic, you could feel for where they were at at that moment in their life, regardless of how they got there.

Some liked it because it was the flavor of the day (and it was hip and edgy to like it), while others, even then, loathed it because it didn't go far enough (and it was considered too white-washed for their taste).

Could it have been handled through a more Larry Kramer-like lens? Were (and are) there grittier stories out of New York, and Alphabet City? Were there more authentic ways to address the themes of the musical with greater ventures into realism? Sure.

Maybe that wasn't Larson's vision. Maybe it was as gritty as he wanted it to be for his Broadway audiences. Maybe Larry Kramer wasn't what he was looking for.

Nowadays it is absolutely inevitable that it will be looked at through that different lens.

Yes, there were those who felt it missed the mark, even then. That it didn't go as far as it could have.

But there will be even more nowadays who critique it as such. Because we're looking at it from a 20 year old perspective. And nothing is left to the imagination anymore.

Did it have its flaws? Did it have its share of unsympathetic characters? To many, yes.

But it resonated with a lot of people....at whatever level they were at at that point in history. There were those in the audience who had never experienced what these kids were living. There were some who did. And there were some who had undoubtedly endured a hell of a lot more than these kids did, without the safety nets some of these characters had.

Does that mean the creator was out of touch with those of the latter group? No. It just means he didn't take this particular show in that particular direction.

There will be those who were very young, or weren't even born, when the Broadway production came out, who can now grab their bottle of Stoli and critique this and that. And it's all valid. Many good points.

But what's interesting is that a lot of those points were being made even then. From how the characters were perceived (including their backgrounds), to the lack of grittiness and realism that could have been utilized instead. The majority accepted it for what it was, and enjoyed it.

Certainly not everything will appeal to everyone, all the time. Some endeavors will resonate with many, and miss the mark for others. And vice versa. The beauty of theater. And what keeps these boards and other forms of social media thriving.

Updated On: 1/1/17 at 01:55 PM

i watched the first part of the video and then fast forwarded to the end so let me know if my argument isn't valid, but I couldn't believe to what standards she was holding Rent. Rent is a musical. It's still around because its music is great. Yes, the characters definitely have flaws but she seems to go past that and is judging it for not being something a musical can never be. What exactly is she looking for? Does she really expect a musical to accurately capture the depth of the AIDS epidemic? Wouldn't trying to take such as serious and tragic topic and setting it to song and dance automatically make it kind of absurd? Rent's a musical, not a novel, not even a play, there's only so much depth you can give it.

I wonder if, in decades to come when Larson's vision isn't so sacrosanct and revered, the show will get a revision in the way Grand Hotel (and to a lesser extent the stage version of Wizard of Oz) did.

spidernight said: "i watched the first part of the video and then fast forwarded to the end so let me know if my argument isn't valid, but I couldn't believe to what standards she was holding Rent. Rent is a musical. It's still around because its music is great. Yes, the characters definitely have flaws but she seems to go past that and is judging it for not being something a musical can never be. What exactly is she looking for? Does she really expect a musical to accurately capture the depth of the AIDS epidemic? Wouldn't trying to take such as serious and tragic topic and setting it to song and dance automatically make it kind of absurd? Rent's a musical, not a novel, not even a play, there's only so much depth you can give it."

Wow, okay. I don't think her standards are the ones that need adjusting here.