Why RENT is the bane of my existence

[IHATERENT]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 2:34am

There is no character development.
There is no tension in the plot.
There are very few memorable moments in the music.

Please show me how I am wrong..I was dying to love Rent, but I squirmed in boredom and agony through the entire film.

Point out all the genius and beauty that someone flew over my head, please.

[SirLiir]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 2:39am

k

[Sarah2]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 2:39am

You made a username called IHATERENT just so you could post that...?

[IHATERENT]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 2:43am

hah...my username is i hate rent just because that's what was going through my mind when I signed up..everyone around me is raving about it, and I know a lot of people who have loved the original all along...and it is bothering me so much that I hate it! I just want to hear something besides "because it's amazing" I want people to write WHAT exactly is amazing about it, so that I can try to appreciate it.

[theatreboi11]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 2:51am

Well I am not sure how old you are but I would say that you must have missed the 90's if you just absolutly can't get one thing from this musical....heck alot of it is still pretty relevant today. Might I suggest reading a newspaper?

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 2:56am

the thing is...whether its the 90s or not..all the things that he mentioned that most people do like about musicals, really don't apply to rent...I stand by his post.

[theatreboi11]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 3:05am

Call me crazy but everyone I know who has either seen the movie or the musical has definatly shed a tear when Angel dies....why would people even care if she dies or not if that character wasn't developed (just one example)

Personally, I find the music very memorable. Listen to the lyrics. "Will I lose my dignity, will someone care, will i wake tomorrow from this nightmare" It is a beautiful way to sum up someone dying of Aids who feels alone and lost! "No day but Today" Classic line that really makes you think. How much of us really live for today? "Take me for what I am or leave me" If you do not like everything that I am made up of then screw you! Johnathon Larson had some beautiful ways to express such personal situations. There many more beatuiful lyrics in the show. If you take the time to listen to the lyrics you would catch them all.

Sure there might not be some extremely gorgeous moments in the music (however I do find there to be many) but look at the greats like Sondheim, his music is very wordy and difficult to perform. Some people might think that there are no memorable moments in his music because it isnt all flashy like such shows as Wicked. Beauty comes from the simplicity. And lyrics sometimes have the extreme power to make you think, motivate you, and truley touch you in ways never experienced.

Updated On: 12/2/05 at 03:05 AM

[ThE nEw KiD]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 3:11am

I personally like RENT but I agree with you. RENT is based on La Boheme...there's our answer. It's a nothing story. I actually believe RENT is superior to La Boheme story wise...the only thing in RENT I really don't like is the ending. Mimi lives on the street, drugged up and at death's door and they call it nothing more than a 'fever' which breaks and bam, that was easy. In the workshop presentations of RENT, Mimi did die and from what I hear, it was so much more powerful.

I understand why Larson made the choices he made (RENT is about hope etc.) but it comes off cheesy as hell and if the score wasn't that good, there would be no show.

I seriously believe that RENT couldn't be successful if it were based on the story alone...because there isn't one to begin with. Throughout the whole evening, Roger is going to write an amazing song...and at the end he writes what I consider the worst song of the show.

RENT has a TON of heart...but heart alone doesn't make for a good story.

[theatreboi11]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 3:15am

Plus, I might add, have you only seen the movie?

Yes I loved the film, but I loved the show much better! There was just that something that was lost in the movie that translated so well on stage. Seeing Rent is a one of a kind experience that is extremely addicting.

[IHATERENT]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 4:19am

I've never seen the show on stage and I still would like to, to get the full experience...
I didn't cry at all in the movie, perhaps having seen the show and knowing the music beforehand is what attached people to the characters, because I felt nothing for them...
And maybe because I wasn't really coherent when AIDS and homosexuality were a big deal(I'm 19, and as long as I can remember they've been everyday things) I think that it's hard to see the lives of the characters as interesting.
I really saw Rent for the music though, which I expected to be stellar because I already loved Seasons of Love and Take Me Or Leave me but when I heard the rest of it, it sounded like a big early 90s pop mixtape, with every single song ending in the same way...repeating the last line 3 times.
Having been a singer and pianist for most of my life, I primarily listen to the music itself and how it is performed rather than lyrics so I did not appreciate the simple poetry of the music. Also, the only singers that I liked were of course Idina, Tracie Thoms (amazing.) Taye Diggs, and Collins (I can't think of the actor's name right now) so during most of the musical numbers, I tuned out so I wouldn't have to hear Rosario's complete lack of vibrato, the grunts of the guy who wrote his 'amazing' song at the end, and the whines of whatshisface with the scarf.
I'll admit, I'm a sucker for show and glitz and big loud numbers and overly dramatic music, so this show is probably just too simple for my taste...
One more thing...I just cannot sympathize with people who live in the slums of New York and who put on shows where they moo and scream in dirty freaky underground places and who buy drugs under bridges and who would rather live in these conditions than 'sell out'
Maybe I'm not a true artist, and that's why I don't understand...or maybe I'm just not a freak who romanticizes the idea that drug addicts and musicians and artists and homosexuals are different from the rest of the world and are the only people who can truly understand love.
Grow up, bohemians, we are all the same we all feel pain and love and sorrow to the same extent but us normal people would rather feel it while working a regular job if we don't make it as an artist and not living in a dump contracted AIDS from all the other freaks we sleep around with.
I find that most people who love this show are either
1. gay and so different from the rest of the world
2. an artist/musician and so different from the rest of the world
3. afraid that people will say they don't truly appreciate musical theater if they don't appreciate rent
4. imagining that it is better than it is, because of Johnathon Larson's tragic life
5. all of the above

[dmb_rent]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 4:33am

There is no character development.
There is no tension in the plot.
There are very few memorable moments in the music.

Please show me how I am wrong..I was dying to love Rent, but I squirmed in boredom and agony through the entire film.

Point out all the genius and beauty that someone flew over my head, please.

You are ugly.

Please show me how I am wrong.

[theatreboi11]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 4:41am

I am a gay male and simply that. I do feel that being gay might have attracted me to this show more but who knows. I do not live in New York, am not a musician, do not have aids, don't do drugs, and can fully support myself, yet dispite what one might say as a huge distance between myself and these characters, I could still relate to pure emotion. Staying alive, finding and needing love, not knowing what might happen tomorrow. I feel many of these characters are misunderstood. Addicts stay with drugs because they don't know a world outside. I am reading a great book right now called A Million Little Pieces and at one point the drug addict had a dream that he was drinking and doing drugs and couldn't stop. Eventhough he wasn't physically doing these things, his body felt complete. Mimi is 19, alone, innocent, and doesn't know a world outside addiction, aids, and stripping. To her she must do what she can to survive. I completly feel as if she doesn't want this life but doesnt see any other way. The pure relationship between her and Roger illistrates this fact perfectly. She found love and saw a new hope. She went to meetings, she tried to stop using. But once he left she resorted right back to the addictive behavior (being all she ever knows) That is just one character outlook for me. I could explain everyone of them! The more you see the show and listen to the music the more you realize that these aren't just face value characters. In a way I feel as if Johnathon Larson might have been proving a point. Simple storylines and characterizations make us overlook these people the exact same way as we can live each day not really seeing what is there. So many people in this world have Aids, are dying, are starving, are freezing, are lonely, and we know about them, however, we overlook this fact all the time and continue on with our lives. We take these situations for face value because they dont directly affect us the same way as we don't feel as if any of these characters are explained enough because we just can not understand. This show has such depth if you take the time to listen and understand. Hopefully one day you can come to appriciate this show as much as I do! :0)

Updated On: 12/2/05 at 04:41 AM

[MUNKY]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:01am

There is no character development.
There is no tension in the plot.
There are very few memorable moments in the music.

Please show me how I am wrong..I was dying to love Rent, but I squirmed in boredom and agony through the entire film.

There are so many opinions. You should consider posting this in the RENT review threads. Hit search. You know the rest.

Well since you're new, please...p l e a s e ... read the FAQs.

Thanks!

Updated On: 12/2/05 at 05:01 AM

[Kringas]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:06am

And maybe because I wasn't really coherent when AIDS and homosexuality were a big deal(I'm 19, and as long as I can remember they've been everyday things)

Honey, I'm sure being gay was an every day thing since the day you were born.

[MUNKY]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:32am

You dont agree with the Rent rave, that's fine. Bashing those who likes it, not cool. Grow up.

Oh by the way, welcome aboard! :-P

[meagan9848]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:49am

See the show.

Why would you judge solely by a derivative of the original work?

[MUNKY]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 5:55am

Why would you judge solely by a derivative of the original work?

Nicely said M. Hey we have almost the same birthday. Go Leos! Rrrrrrrrrrr!

[sally1112]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 6:13am

"Gay and so different from the rest of the world"
????????????????????????????????????????????????

[DramaDork925]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 6:57am

IHATERENT, it seems to me like because it wasn't big and flashy you didn't give it a chance. Also, I don't think being gay makes you different than the rest of the world. It makes you a minority... that's like saying someone being black makes them different than the rest of the world. I wasn't drawn to RENT because I'm a performer, I was drawn to it because my friend gave me a copy and told me I'd love it. And I did. There is SO MUCH character development in this show (Roger goes from recluse and mourning his own life and April's to falling in love with Mimi and learning to appreciate the time he as, for instance). The movie isn't a really good portrayal of the genius that is RENT.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 8:16am

You've seen the film, and once.

Until you've seen the stage show and had a chance to digest it, you're making yourself look like a bitter fool by developing such staunch conclusions already.

And I am sorry you hate it, but why focus on the negative?? It seems a bit silly to spend all your time spouting your hatred of RENT, why not find what you ENJOY and focus your time on that?

[DamnYankees101]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 8:21am

"contracted AIDS from all the other freaks we sleep around with."


Sorry-what??

"And maybe because I wasn't really coherent when AIDS and homosexuality were a big deal(I'm 19, and as long as I can remember they've been everyday things)"

You're 19? You're 19?? Homosexuality has been around since the dawn of time. Even before the whole boy on man relationship of the Ancient Greeks. That's right ANCIENT GREEKS. My friend who's in her freshman year of high school knows this. AIDS is still a big deal and has been a big deal for many years now. I don't know what you're not opening your eyes to, but try opening your eyes.

I find it helps.


Updated On: 12/2/05 at 08:21 AM

[Marquise]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 8:36am

"And maybe because I wasn't really coherent when AIDS and homosexuality were a big deal...

you're barely coherent now, so i guess not much has changed...
Updated On: 12/2/05 at 08:36 AM

[Fantabulous428]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 8:36am

"I find that most people who love this show are either
1. gay and so different from the rest of the world
2. an artist/musician and so different from the rest of the world
3. afraid that people will say they don't truly appreciate musical theater if they don't appreciate rent
4. imagining that it is better than it is, because of Johnathon Larson's tragic life
5. all of the above"

I find your assumptions to be crap

[collins]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 8:41am

1. I am not gay.
2. I am not an artist/musician.
3. I don't know anyone who loves theater, and don't care what anyone thinks about my love of theater.
4. I didn't know anything about Larson when I started liking Rent.
5. I love Rent.

I am one exception to your theory.

[LightMyCandle]

Posted: 12/2/05 at 8:51am

""I've never seen the show on stage and I still would like to, to get the full experience...""


There you go. See the show. Then tell me what you think.