No Day But Today

I took advantage of some use-or-lose time this afternoon and cut out of work early to go see the movie Rent. While I have several good friends who are huge fans of Rent the musical, I have actually never seen or heard it. I'm not sure why - I am a fan of musical theater but somehow this one just escaped my radar during my college and Pittsburgh years. So I walked into this without any real expectations - I wanted to like it, but I also know that sometimes movies of musicals can be a travesty (or a bombastic pomposity, natch).

I have a couple of reactions....

- I didn't *love it* and I felt a little disconnected from the rest of the packed audience. By their sniffling reactions it seems that these were mostly people who have loved this show for 10 years and are clearly emotionally invested in the characters. For the most part, I was not. I didn't hate it, but I also don't have any reason to describe it with superlatives.

- That being said, I was very impressed with Rosario Dawson's overall performance and I really liked Jesse L. Martin's voice. I also thought Angel and Joanne were very strong.

- I was surprised with how cheesy some of the lyrics were. I didn't really like many of the "love songs" cuz the words just didn't seem believable. Sure, most musicals have a major cheese factor, but since this one was trying to be so "real" and edgy, the cheesiness was a little more pronounced.

- I found Idina Menzel to be really unappealling. And I'm a big Wicked fan - but the matinee that I saw featured her understudy, so I've never actually seen her live. I do love her voice as Elphaba and listen to the soundtrack all the time. But somehow I found her grating on film. Maybe she's someone who is better on stage - with her personality projecting out that way rather than being flat on a screen. She was a bit overpowering and I daresay irritating. Or maybe I just didn't like Maureen. Probably a combination of the two. And I really wanted to like her cuz I love the story of Idina and Taye Diggs. But oh well.

- My biggest reaction is more of a sociological observation, and I'm not sure if I can articulate well or not. But as I was watching it I kept thinking that the whole story and its themes felt really dated. Edgy new bohemians, multiculturalism and homosexuality, poverty and AIDS. For some reason it all felt very 1990's to me. It's not that these issues are no longer relevant - certainly they're all still important and should be of concern or something we're working to broaden awareness and acceptance of, etc.

But I felt that this is no longer the "cultural moment" in which those themes make a statement. Not anymore. I hate to say it, but the story felt very pre-9/11, pre-red state/blue state. I think there has been a cultural shift in the last 5 years or so, leaning more towards social conservatism and fears of terrorism instead of where I think we were 10 years ago, focusing more on expanding awareness of different cultures and lifestyles and on social issues. I've read a lot lately about how no one talks about AIDS anymore, and how that's hurting the financial cuase of raising $$$ for care and research. Having 1/2 of the main characters in this movie living with AIDS felt really out of step with our usual sociocultural fare these days. For better or for worse.

I'm not saying this is a good thing, but I almost found myself thinking "how quaint" when watching the movie, cuz it does feel like it's a slice of another time. It's a time that I really miss -- I was younger 10 years ago, obviously, and was more excited about all the boho possibilities for a young person in the arts. Now I'm 30 and a manager and more driven by my desire for financial stability instead of inspiration and big ideas. Maybe part of my disconnect while watching the movie was knowing that if I had seen the show when I was 21 or so, I would have fallen in love with it. So maybe I just missed the moment in time in my own life that would've been right for Rent. Hmmm. But I'll probably be getting the soundtrack anyway....I can't get that "525,600 minutes" song out of my head.