We started a new Christmas movie tradition this year. I added it to my favorite Christmas movie list. In the midst of commercialism, materialism, blah blah blah it helped me make peace with the holidays. RENT is a good movie.
First, it's a musical with great music. It blends rock, pop, and excellent singing. The songs will be stuck in your head and annoy your loved ones for days, even weeks at a time.
Second, there's the story. It focuses on the lives of the poor, dying, and helpless. At least four of the central characters have HIV. The movie centers on the homeless, homosexuals, transsexuals and drug abusers. It doesn't condemn or advocate lifestyles, but turns a compassionate eye to the characters' suffering.
There are no brightly wrapped, expensive-looking boxes. Maybe there were before the apartment's heat was cut off and everything had to burn to keep tenants warm.
My favorite scene is when a character who is making a documentary with an outdated piece of crap that passes for a camera starts taping a homeless woman. His documentary would be about the homeless and people who are dying from AIDS. She says if he wants to help her he should give her some spare change. He walks away sadly, because he has nothing to give. His documentary is the gift.
I like this movie because it focuses on people. We see them suffer and hope, and we suffer and hope with them. There's something very Christ-like about that.
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