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Rent is a movie that exalts the importance of friendship. It demonstrates the importance of cherishing every moment with
those whom you love, for you never know when that time may cease. Moreover, Rent is a movie about being human.
The movie originally was made as a musical in the 1980's by Jonathan Larson. He wanted to help break society's stereotypes
of people who had AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). So he placed together this play over a span of several years.
However, the night before the first production, he died from a heart attack. This led to the play being dedicated to him.
Then, after some technical hurdles, the play finally came on to the silver screen on November 23, 2005.
The story chronicles the story of eight friends who rent an apartment to fully explore their artistic talents. Some
time ago, according to the story, the original owner donated this place to those who desired to explore their art. A group
of homeless people live close by. Benny, an opportunistic developer, wants to use the land that the homeless are living on
for his own purposes. He sends the eight residents a letter saying that unless they convince the homeless to move out, they
will be evicted immediately.
Though this conflict regarding the rent of the apartment and the dilemma of eviction jumpstarts the plot, for me it was
more of a parallel plot aside from the main storyline,the friends enduring their personal struggles with AIDS, isolation,
introspection, and self-realization. The two characters that the movie focuses on includes Roger (a former singer) and Angel.
Roger is a former singer who is HIV positive. Angel is a gay man who is in the final stage of AIDS.
The other characters include Mimi, a stripper at the "cat-scratch" club in town; Mark, a cinematographer who
is documenting the lives of everyone in the apartment; a former professor who also has AIDS; Maurie, an ardent and somewhat
eccentric social activist who is strongly against the eviction of the homeless; and Benny, the land developer.
Without going too much into the story, Rent explores the various methods in which HIV can be contracted (FYI, HIV is
the virus that leads to AIDS as well as the emotional trauma that one goes through when one realizes he/she is HIV positive.
Resilience, solidarity, and the meaning of friendship all combine into one thread as the movie progresses.
Saying what scene in the movie is my favorite presents a difficult task because I have so many. If I had to choose one
however, it would be the scene in which Angel dances around the room in a Santa suit. The cheerfulness and humor give comic
relief to an otherwise emotionally intense drama. Other scenes include the bittersweet "Light My Candle," the hilarious
"Over the Moon", and "Life Support." The latter is particularly intensifying with Angel's final moments
of life in the hospital as he's being held by his soul mate (Sorry, I forgot his name, hehe).
Of cinematographic note is the scene in which Roger attempts to isolate himself from the rest of his friends, likely
due to the emotional grief that he is enduring. In the scene, he is on the second floor of the apartment singing to his friends.
The others are down below on the sidewalk just outside the apartment, singing back at him in what I call "musical dialogue"
(most of the movie is made up of this dialogue). The struggle between Roger who appears to be expressing that he feels all
has abandoned him and his friends who continue to tell Roger that they care even though he is attempting to resist them is
very powerful in relation to Roger's position on the balcony and the position of his friends down below. Their physical positions
and the dialogue couple to make a very impressive and emotionally powerful panorama.
My only criticism is that Angel's character should have been developed a little more. If it had been, the scene of his
passing would have been even more powerful. Aside from this, I consider Rent a very powerful social masterpiece of the sense
of what life is like for people with AIDS as well as the poignant and essential message that people with AIDS are exactly
this: people. Because they have an illness that can be transmitted does not make them any less human than anyone else. If
we are to live out our lives "doing unto others as others would do unto us" then this message needs to encompass
everyone. The minute that we discriminate against other people because of an attribute that they have no control over or
because of an illness they have, we treat them less than human. In turn, we become less than human. To say that this is
unacceptable is an understatement. It is an abomination to whom we are as human beings.
Therefore, I encourage my readers to see this movie if you have not seen it. If you do not know anyone with AIDS or
HIV (yes, they are distinctly different; HIV leads to AIDS) it will open your eyes to the devastation this disease brings.
If you';ve held any preconceptions about people who have AIDS, hopefully this movie will dispel them. It's a movie that
EVERYONE should see. It explores the meaning of friendship and what it means to be human.
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