What's up with everyone's hair in the RENT movie?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 10:32pm

Adam looks like a shag dog. He doesn't look like Roger. All that hair does is make him look his age, which is not Roger's age. Roger should have short, even spikey hair. He's not supposed to be 35.

Why is Rosario Dawson's hair straightened? It's as though she's trying to look less Latina, less Mimi. Mimi is known for her curly hair. This style makes her look like a fancy upper-class modern Mimi. I've seen plenty of Mimis on Broadway and not one has a different style than the traditional "Mimi" hair. Everyone knows that.

What's up with Tracie Thoms' hair? Joanne is supposed to be an African-American woman who was raised in a privileged Connecticut family, and one of the ways that's been communicated on Broadway has been by her having long, straightened hair. In the movie she has these short dreadlocks...huh?

Something so simple...what was Chris Columbus thinking?

Updated On: 8/2/05 at 10:32 PM

Posted: 8/2/05 at 10:34pm

to quote adam - "it's just hair"

[Aigoo]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 10:34pm

Don't. Diss. The. Hair.

[xM3L24x]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 10:35pm

yeah thats true.. it kinda bothers me, not so much rosario and tracie as adam just because i think he looks better w/ short hair, but like adam said on the blog its not about where they film it or how their hair looks.. alltthoughhh every other cast member who is performing or has performed on broadway has basically kept the same hair styles, whatever. It's just hair, I'll get over, but i know what you mean.

[CostumeGirl2]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 10:36pm

I don't mind the hair so much. Though I must Rosario's hair does make her look a little classier. Adam's hair just makes it look a little more modern. That shaggy look is really in now. Hence the Harry Potter kids.

[Chloe]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 10:40pm

What was Chris Columbus thinking? Perhaps that Roger should look like someone who hasn't left his apartment in months - in the flashbacks of Roger and April he does have the short, spiked hair. Not all Latinas have curly hair. Mimi is associated with long curly hair because that's what Daphne's hair was like when she did the role. As for Joanne, perhaps the Doc Martens weren't enough and this is another way she's rebelling against her parents.

Besides, it's just hair.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 10:50pm

i know more latina girls with straight hair than curly... and i was just in south america, and guess what, straight hair!

as for roger, chloe just summed it up... roger hasn't left his apartment at all, and why would he care about his hair as a starving musician?

joanne, in my opinion, is trying to get away from her parents "let's grow up and be like rich, suburban, white families..." she wants her hair like that for a reason, same reason she wears men's pants suits with a tie, same reason she wears doc martens...

[XOsweet_dancerOX]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 10:52pm

yes i get what you are saying but it is their hair and they choose as they will...

[insomniak]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 11:11pm

My only complaint is that I feared Adam's hair would eat him for lunch one day, but he seems to have tamed the jungle since the filming ended.

Joanne usually has straightened hair? Not that I've seen.

And now I have that song stuck in my head.

"My hair like Jesus wore it
Hallalujah, I adore it
Hallalujah, Mary loved her son
Why don't Wanna Be A Foster Love me?"

That's how it goes, right?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 11:28pm

I came to terms with Adam's hair. I love it.

(He cut it, by the way.)

Posted: 8/2/05 at 11:37pm

[July 14, 2005]

[insomniak]

Posted: 8/2/05 at 11:38pm

*shields eyes*

That color. Did he dunk his head in the first staining substance he happened upon or what?

I do like his wife's shirt very much, though. I want one like that.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 1:32am

I do love YOU very much, insomniak. And sorry, I didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings with the hair comments, I was just curious if anyone else noticed a difference from the usual Roger, Mimi, and Joanne hair styles.

[loudasthehelliwant]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 2:01am

My theory w/Rosario's hair is that they didn't want to make her Mimi to look too much like (and be associated with) Val in Josie and the Pussycats (she had the "classic" Mimi hairstyle in that).

As for Roger, he hasn't left the house for 6 months and, in his current state, probably cares very little for his appearance. I love the way his hair looks in shots of Light My Candle; I really don't like it in La Vie Boheme though (its kinda poofy in that... maybe it'll look better in the movie).

I agree w/what's been said about Joanne rebelling.

Posted: 8/3/05 at 2:40am

i love anthony's hair. he looks so adorable in the trailer and everything thing else i've seen. haha
and i agree, adams hair does look kinda weird in la vie boheme.

[DreamFlyer22]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 6:44am

Hey! No one's complained about Taye Diggs' hair yet! I mean GOSH! I don't know what he was-- Most Bennys don't-- I mean, c'mon! Hehe...

Anyway, I echo the "It's just hair" sentiment. Yes, it's different and a bit jarring, but it's (if you'll pardon the pun) grown on me.

[kas]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 8:18am

adam's wife is so beautiful, but i don't think i've seen a pic where she is smiling. has anyone read any of her plays?

[YankeesFan175]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 10:54am

their hair is so weird b/c the movie is supposed to take place in the late 80's, not present day or the 90's.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 11:39am

It takes place in the '80s? Where did you get that from?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 11:40am

Foster -- You're way behind on the film info...

All these questions would be answered if you'd just search through some of the RENT film threads.

RENT is being set in the late 1980s, because that is when Jonathan Larson began writing the show. The tent cities, the riots on Avenue B -- these are all late 1980s events. The East Village was pretty cleaned up by the time RENT actually opened.

Updated On: 8/3/05 at 11:40 AM

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 1:20pm

Wow, sorry. I was totally clueless.

[Bdwyguy30]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 1:58pm

Not coming down on you because I believe everyone is entitled to their opinions...BUT...I have to respond to your recent entry. There is no "set" way Roger's hair should be actually. The only reason Adam Pascal's hair was short and spiky originally was because that was how Adam kept his hair. And in mine and I am sure a great deal of other people's opinion Adam does not even "look" 35. Or what does 35 suppose to look like. He is an actor they play different age ranges all of the time. Just because you know how old these people are you immediately deem them as being "too old"? I would like to also let you know that the characters in the Rent except for Mimi and Angel were all Mid to Late 20's in the original breakdown. The ensemble was ranged Early 20's. Somewhere between then and now people believe that everyone is supposed to be 20 years old and that is NOT the case AT ALL. Again, in my opinion that is the whole purpose of their struggle. These characters are struggling artists if they were 20 and 22 where is the struggle, you just came out of college or just got into your desired profession. If you are in your late 20's early 30's and you have been "pounding the pavement" for awhile trying to make something happen in your career and you haven't "hit" then you indeed have something to complain, ponder, and have angst about and it doesn't come off as being spoiled or complaining for the sake of complaining. Next up is Mimi's hair in the film. Just because it is straight does not make her any less Latina than if she had curly hair. And for the record in the original studio production, if you look in your Rent book you will see that Daphne, as Mimi, had straight hair. And you or any of us can't judge until we have actually seen the movie. Again hair style does not a Latina make or Mimi. Also, the characters are not as external as you are suggesting, each person could look completely different from the original production but if the essence of the character and Jon's intentions are in it then their should be no problem. And no one on this board would know that better than the cast in the movie and the OBC and his parents and friends while he was writing the show. And just because Joanne's hair has "short dreadlocks" as you put it doesn't make her any less educated and affluent than if her hair were straight. She could have been raised in Bel-Air and still have short dreadlocks that doesn't make her any less priviledged...It is a hair style. And I am sure that you know Fredi Walker's hair were in dreadlocks. But that was Fredi and previous Joanne's had different hair styles. Just because someone has "dredlocks" or an "alternative" hairstyle doesn't make them any less affluent or perceived to not be from "a privileged Conneticut Family" than "Joe Prep". What was Columbus thinking? Christopher Columbus was thinking about making a great film that Jonathan and his family and friends and we the public who have loved Rent would be proud of that is, in my opinion, what he and the designers were thinking. Just another note from what I have heard Jonathan's parents, sister, and friends were at the set almost every day so if there was anything that was questionable or off I am VERY sure that they would make sure that it got corrected. In closing, I have seen countless productions of this show where they can be wearing the same "trademark" costumes, etc. but not deliver the goods as far as telling the character's story. And the beautiful thing about Rent is that the Roger's and Mimi's and the other characters in the play, their character development and journey will continue to evolve with each new actor's interpretations if they are at least rooted in the foundation that Jon laid down. When that happens it is thrilling. Sorry for the very long e-mail and I hate to sound like I am coming down on you but I needed to say these things. Take it easy.

[insomniak]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 2:04pm

That was a very long post. Cliff notes version, please.

Wanna Be A Foster, I might love you too if you'd calm down a bit.

[Bdwyguy30]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 2:05pm

Yeah once it got posted I realized that. sorry about that all. :)

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 2:13pm

Jeez, I really didn't mean this to become a big deal. I agree it's just hair. I was just throwing some observations out there. Seriously, I'm sorry if I offended anyone.