RENT is confirmed to be selectively homophobic — Page 2

Say what you like, my viewpoints have been vindicated.

My negative gut feeling re RENT the movie was based on the avoidance of the male/male affection in the trailers and poster -this avoidance is an indisputable fact, so please don't question my veracity here. Now an independent observer confirms that the makers of this movie had a hard time wrapping their minds around the fact that two men can love each other sexually and erotically. Columbus and Sony appear to have presented a minimal, camped-up version of a gay male relationship in keeping with straight male discomfort at the notion of two men loving each other.

Updated On: 11/19/05 at 03:29 AM

Wait...WAIT...Nope, still not vindicated.

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Ugh, they weren't avoiding it, they just weren't promoting it to the extent you wanted.

*headdesk* Why am I even bothering?

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Updated On: 11/19/05 at 03:37 AM

"Now an independent observer confirms that the makers of this movie had a hard time wrapping their minds around the fact that two men can love each other sexually and erotically."

Um, okay...NOBODY has sex in this movie. Not even the straight people.

Orangeskittles,

LOL! Linguistic contortions won't get you far with me. Perhaps you and Bill Clinton should write a book.

It's clear as the nose on one's face that the promotion of RENT was fraught with avoidance in relation to the male-male interaction. Go back and check them out - you'll see that I am correct.

WickedRentLuv,

Sexual passion can be conveyed in a passionate kiss, and doesn't necessarily need an all-out sex scene. I thought I'd bring you up on this.

OK, perhaps many people will disagree with me but Rent is not a show about being gay. I have yet to see the movie so honestly I can't provide my opinion about how "homophobic" it is. But the Broadway show, again in my opinion, it's not about the struggles of being a homosexual. Rent is about so many other things, in the show the homosexual couples are not treated as special, the Angel-Collins relationship is treated matter-of-factly and Maureen and Joanne have issues that any couple goes through, Maureen is a slut regardless of whether she's with a woman or a man. I think that the advertisement of Rent goes with this same idea, they show Angels and Collins, and they show Angel in drag, and they show Maureen and Joanne, and Mimi and Roger, there's no "homophobic" innuendo in my opinion because Rent is not about a group of gay couples.

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Art, they _do_ kiss in the movie...as for whether it's "passionate" or not, I don't know because I haven't seen it (and neither have you). Judging by what many people have said in their reviews, the chemistry between the two is pretty much the most believable.

Judging by what many people have said in their reviews, the chemistry between the two is pretty much the most believable.

Yes, it is. Exactly.

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The simple fact is that the movie is NOT a replica of the stage production.

Overall, it's not. But, when it comes to the Angel/Collins relationship...it's the one element of the movie that is the most true to the stage version, in my opinion.

Columbus probably wanted to sex it up while keeping the male-male as un-erotic as possible.

The male-male relationship in the stage version isn't erotic either. It is raw, it is powerful, it is emotional...and the movie remains very true to it. And I would know more than you, in this case.

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You are indirectly condoning altering the stage production to sex up the female-female relationship but not the male-male relationship.

Oh my God, no there isn't. There is no "sexing" up of the female-female relationship in the movie. The movie stays true to how the female-female relationship is performed in the stage show. There is nothing different about it...whatsoever. The commitment ceremony scene was added not to "sex it up" but because Joanne is so insecure about the relationship that she wants a sign that Maureen commits to her and only her...so they added the scene. That's it...there's nothing sexy about it.

Angel and Collins don't need a scene like that because their true love for each other is so evident in the way they hold each other...and look at each other...and kiss each other...adding a scene like that would only be beating a dead horse. We know they love each other, it's blatantly obvious. They have somethine Joanne and Maureen just don't have.

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I can only repeat: wait till you see the movie for yourself :)

It's hard to take you seriously as well, Art, simply because you are basing everything you are saying on ONE review. That is ONE person's opinion. Many OTHER people have said that the male/male relationship was portrayed beautifully. This is why I say, wait to form your own opinion after you see the movie. Chances are we will have our opinions by then too.

...I can't believe I am arguing over this at 4 o' clock in the morning.

Updated On: 11/19/05 at 04:16 AM

The Washington Blade review also confirmed that the male-male kiss was shown with Angel in drag. No other kisses were apparently forthcoming, and certainly not with Angel in men's attire. One could suggest that if Columbus can exercise directorial license by adding a gay female marriage theme, he could also have shown a kiss between the men where both are in men's attire, not just Collins.

There's just such a stench to the way RENT has been handled, sad to say.

Updated On: 11/19/05 at 04:22 AM