I don't have any major problems with the direction; I think there are several scenes and moments that could be better staged, but it's by no means a disaster.
It's 2 a.m. and I really don't want to get into THIS argument again, but neddyfrank -- Rent is period. Rent is not dated. Dated indicates irrelevancy, and even though AIDS is not what it is, and the East Village is not longer filled with such squalid conditions, the themes that make Rent truly effective are still *very* relevant -- they're the ones that can transend a location change, or a time period change. If it were simply "no longer relevant," it would not still be getting the attention and the love and the following that it has and continues to get. And even if it is period, ever hear of learning from history? If you just blew off everything from the past because it's happened and changed, that would be a pretty useless outlook.
Saying that people have lived through it isn't really an excuse, either -- not that I know what you're using it as an excuse for, honestly. Rent is kept going by its fanbase, but also by the "younger generation" discovering it, though the "new" fans are not really all young. I was almost 17 the first time I saw the show. I wasn't some 13 year old who thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. It's not like some standard right of passage, as many people like to think. For some, it's been there, done that -- but if that were the case for everyone, Rent wouldn't still be around, or a big deal. It continues to be a big deal in a way very different from when it opened.
I don't think it's *geared toward* young people, per se, but that by virtue of what it is, those are the people whose attention it catches. It's not for everybody, and that's about taste *and* age.
ETA -- yay for Mac users!
A work of art is an invitation to love.
Updated On: 5/6/06 at 02:14 AM