The CONTROVERSY behind Rent

A couple of months ago I wrote an article called “A Banned Book a Day Keeps the Shellshock Away,” where I pointed out that most books we find inappropriate or unfit for today’s youth give them a stronger understanding of the world around them. The purpose of the article was to show that just because something is deemed as a stigma or taboo, there is still purpose to it.

When we are in high school, the only place we know is the world happening within our own personal bubbles. Sure, we have the internet, but nothing compares to experiencing real-life issues first hand. Aside from experiencing them on our own, many of the books discussed in my article can explain real-world issues by using a whimsical or relatable stories that most can’t help but get attached to. Plays and musicals have the same effect. Through song, dance, humor, heartbreak, and tragedy they invite you in and teach you about real-life situations while you’re having a night out.

This year our drama program will be performing Rent the musical. The play is a controversial mainstay due to its high levels of profanity, drug use, diseases, and “racy” characters. Rent parallels award-winning novels like To Kill a Mockingbird because both teach you about controversial problems. The novels convince you to sympathize with their characters as they tackle these real-world issues. To Kill a Mockingbird deals with racism, physical violence, and rape; Rent deals with drugs, homosexuality, and the AIDS crisis. While the problems in To Kill a Mockingbird are brought up in many period based novels, the issues brought up in Rent are almost never talked about in school.

Rent the musical will be playing in the Black Box theater November 7-9 at 7:00pm. Ever since word got out on which play Mrs. Silver chose for the fall production, many have been confused as to why she would pick such a controversial musical. The flyers clarify that the play will be the high school version of the original, yet people remain skeptical.

Silver has led her drama program to a countless amount of awards in various categories, so why shouldn’t we trust her to produce another gem of a production? The version of Rent she is producing has cut out a sex scene, strong profanity, and “will not put students in situations them and their parents do not consent to.” So why are we criticizing it?

While the characters in the musical are not ideal in society’s eyes, they are not bad people. “One of the key aspects in Rent is the acceptance of all types of people. Everyone has their own story and its important to learn to accept all of them, especially in our teenage years,” Silver stated. Watching our peers step into these roles can allow us to sympathize and accept different people and possibly teach us to avoid the mistakes they made.

Taking place in during heart of the AIDS crisis, the musical follows the stories of eight characters: Mimi, Roger, Joanne, Maureen, Mark, Ben, Collins, and Angel. Amongst this group is a drug addicted stripper, multiple people fighting AIDS, members of the LGBTQ community, and their landlord. These may not seem like the people you want to see your fellow Colts portraying, but they are proudly representing the dark side of society people don’t like to see, but should be discussing.

The themes in Rent are still relevant today. 37 million people live with HIV/AIDS virus in 2017-2018, and out of those, around two million are newly diagnosed. In the last two years, more than 20% of hate crimes have been committed against the LGBTQ community. In the last three years, over 21 million people report having a substance abuse problem. Rent can be an important step for our small community to teach everyone about some of the dangers and sticky situations that are prominent in our society.

Rent is an inspiration. The music and the emotion makes you feel like you’re right there with them, living through all the hardships New York has in store. Most can't help but get attached to the characters. They make you happy, angry, disappointed, cheerful, and sad. It's a rollercoaster of emotions, but in the best way possible. The play has a large vocal range for all of its characters, but the voices of our Covina High Colts will undoubtedly carry those notes with grace and confidence. There is no question that Silver and her students will do this play justice.