La Vie Boheme!

"RENT" obsessed post II

This is how bad it is people...I actually LISTENED to the commentary! Actually, in this case it makes sense as I want to hear about changes made from stage to screen and why, etc. I also didn't know they filmed in San Francisco. Wish I would have known! Rats!

Chris Columbus was really happy to get a PG-13 rating, though he says he now has some reservations as kids who really have no clue what the lyrics of "La Vie Boheme" even mean are singing the song.

So, all you "Rentheads" out there...if you were a from "Rent," who would you be? Or, after seeing the movie who do you think you would be? After watching the movie over and over and listening to the soundtrack constantly since I bought it back in November or December...I think I am Mark. Obviously not in every aspect...but he seems to fit better than anyone else. I mean things down to the whole Maureen/Joanne thing...but I was in high school and he didn't break up with me for another guy...he just realized that...well...we still stayed friends through high school.

Back to "La Vie Boheme." It is amazing how often that song goes through my head. Out of the blue..."Going insane, going against the grain, going mad." In some ways that makes sense...sounds like a definition of ministry at times! I just think lyrically, Larson really showed his brilliance in this song. As they go through some definitions of dance, film and anarchy so much if it I can relate to without being fully involved in any of that stuff because it is the "stuff" that bonds them together in community.

I try not to overthink the film all that much. I struggle a lot with the "no day but today" way of living life. Part of the song "Rent" says:

MARK
"The music ignites the night with passionate fire"

ROGER
"The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit"

MARK
Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground

ROGER & MARK
And feel the heat of the future's glow
How do you leave the past behind
When it keeps finding ways to get to your heart?
It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out
"Til you're torn apart Rent!

Lines like that just jump out at me. I need to get Anthony Rapp's book about his journey. He said something in an interview (the web site? MTV? "The View?") about playing Mark and the parallels to being closed off from emotion the way Mark is on stage and screen. There is another line from a song that says, "I don't own emotion...I rent." Very often guilty as charged.

Speaking of which, I need to get ready to see Rob!