Rent (2005)

"To Marijuana!!" -Tom Collins

It's hard to overcome my own biases.  RENT is one of those biases. I am/was inclined not to like it. Something about it and all the hype I got from all corners of my social circles gave me a distrustful distaste like broccoli to 3 year old. It is of particular note that I have heard lots of people, who while technically able (And I would never doubt the joy in someone's heart) to sing, just throw cacophony in to my ears. Five Hundred, Twenty-One Thousand, Six Hundred Minutes made me ball up my fists and shut my heart.   I was born to be stubborn and yell at children and hippies to get off my lawn. Pbhhhhhhh.

Then someone bribed me to watch the 2005 movie of RENT.

And, now having sat through it, RENT is firmly OK. I admit my previous rejection was not entirely valid or rational, and the musical merits consideration as a cultural and 90s era touchstone. But I can't bring myself to call it a masterpiece.  -All my theater friends may now feel free to pelt me with diatribes, soliloquies, fruit, and ever so in-group jabs. I am a philistine.

 There were some laudable things about RENT.

1. Jesse Martin can sing!
2. The music is at certain moments perfect.  -I found it emotionally and melodically flat at others, but perfection should always be given its due.
3. The depiction of AIDS, alternative gender performances, alternative sexual orientations, and social class dynamics were revolutionary and no doubt a breath of fresh air/hope in 1995.
4. I certainly have more empathy now for those I have seen belt out it's anthems...and the joy it meant to them. -Few musicals/works of art can do that. 
5. RENT made me consider that I have generally always felt secure in my ability to be, say and do what I want without interference. (I would be remiss to not mention that this is deeply entwined with privilege.) I recognize that for those from other circumstances, RENT speaks on a deeper level and serves as a touchstone for communication about these issues to an often hostile society. I am in many ways lucky that these themes do not resonate as strongly with me. But, I cannot will not deny their existence, power, or importance. 

3.8 out of 5 stars