This week we got to see the movie “Rent”. It’s funny to see how tv shows and movies today incorporate the same ideas from Rent. I remember one of the episodes of The Office, when Michael Scott was leaving, they sang a parody of the first song in Rent! It just goes to show how we continually reference and evolve our ideas. Here is the song I’m referring to:

Rent, to me, was artful, but ironically not enjoyable. In my senior year of high school, my AP Literature teacher trained us to think critically about pieces of english and art to create a “meaning of the work as a whole” statement. Essentially, we were in analysis bootcamp for one academic year. Although I’m extremely grateful for her effective teaching style, I feel like I’m hindered from enjoying actual works of art now since I’m always worrying about the message and the meaning of every action. Rent is a perfect example of this balancing act.

It was clear from the beginning that the struggle for paying money for Rent was not the underlining theme in movie. Instead, the movie creators suggest that we all “live on rent” in life; it encourages us to live in the moment because time is precious. Every character is on different time schedules for their “contract to rent”.  Angel, for example, had to be evicted early on in his life from AIDS. But, he knew how precious time was, so he seized the day with his partner. His attitude can further be showed through his solo song called “Today For You, Tomorrow For Me”.  This song shows how he sees everyday as an adventure with others because his time is so short. While Angel and his Partner saw how to seize the day despite their short rent contract, Roger and Mimi didn’t. Roger was still upset that his girlfriend passed away (which of course is terrible that she passed, but they depicted it in a way that he should move on with his life) and Mimi had a heroin and AIDS problem that prevented her from loving Roger fully. They both didn’t realize the value of time until Mimi’s verge of death at the end of the movie. Thus, further shows how we should live without limits to make every day count.

I saw this message repeat constantly throughout the movie, and analyzing it prevented me from fully enjoying the music. Also, I got the whole point of the movie, but I feel like I wasn’t able to connect with the characters on a relatable level–which is critical in the whole movie experience.