FIRST PERSON: For the LGBT community, RENT is more than just a show.
By Jack Davis ‘19
When I first heard that Burke had chosen to do RENT as its spring musical, I was admittedly a little nervous. Alright, more than a little,I was a lot nervous.
AIDS, LGBT issues, and the connection between the two are topics about which most high schoolers are not the most knowledgeable, and even the most well-meaning people can make mistakes.
I had already talked to Jim Gagne, Burke’s student theater director, about
my thoughts and perspective on the characters in RENT — but when he
came to me and offered me a position to ensure that that the production correctly portrayed these issues, I was both impressed and, frankly, flattered
by the offer.
All of this leads to the ultimate question, what does RENT mean to
me and why was I so excited to get involved in the Burke production?
One big reason is as a member of the LGBT community, I feel that the
common curriculum often erases and our history — something even
the LGBT community often forgets. RENT makes me feel as though
I have an enjoyable and potent connection to the history that I often
have to strive to feel in tune with.
Until recently I have felt a disconnect from the AIDS crisis and its
impact on the LGBT community. Working on RENT has helped me
feel much more connected to the history of my community. My
involvement in the musical also inspired me to start doing my own
research on the AIDS crisis and the impact it had on modern LGBT
politics.
The other reason why RENT is so important to me has somewhat less to
do with the show as a whole, but more one particular character: Angel (pictured on the left). RENT is outdated in a lot of ways, aspects of Angel’s portrayal being one of them, but that doesn’t change that fact that many trans people, myself included, relate to her very strongly.
A scene that personally affected me deeply in the movie version of RENT
was Mimi helping Angel paint her nails in the hospital. For RENT to feature
a character that could very easily be interpreted as a trans woman meant
a lot to me, particularly because she was seen as a kind, generous person in a loving relationship that all the other characters support and look up to.
In a time where trans people — trans women specifically — are seen
as unlovable, that made my heart nearly explode. Trans women have
made LGBT history time and time again, only to be swept under the
rug or mislabeled as gay men in order to erase their trans identity.
To be clear: RENT isn’t perfect. It has issues with representation of
bisexuality and even though Angel is a wonderful character, she still
has flaws as an introduction to the trans community. Even so, RENT still
has a plot and ideas that would be considered fairly groundbreaking
even today.
This doesn’t mean that nobody should try to improve upon RENT’s
representation. If a piece of media today tried to portray the experiences
of a trans person during the AIDS crisis, I would be thrilled. But since
that has yet to happen, I will continue to be invested in RENT as the
closest representation of a trans person during that era.
