Thursday, October 06, 2005
This is just straight crazy thoughts about Rent the movie
I wouldn't dare call it an essay and I didn't proofread
I was listening to the Rent soundtrack (from the original Broadway cast) and I figured out why the movie they are making about it pisses me off so damn much.
The musical is about Alphabet City being taken over, the corporations pushing out the artist/poets/musicians who have always lived there to make way for corporations. It covers how AIDS was taking out big portions of the neighborhood. Cyberland was killing reality and Larson wrote it all so well. "I'm forbidden to produce MILK, in Cyberland we only drink Diet-Coke"
Now East Village/Lower East Side/Loisaida jargon aside my father grew up in Alphabet City, I spent my summers in Alphabet City, I lived in Alphabet City. That neighborhood holds my heart in such a way and it did even when it was dirty and disgusting and junkies were everywhere. Even when they wanted nothing to do with it I loved Loisaida. And in law school I moved there not cause of how hot the neighborhood was but because of who was in it. Either way the truck of progress Larson wrote about so well had done its task... a bit.
And now they are filiming a movie about it, the squattors are all gone, the junkies get arrested and they are trying to capture the essence of a late 80s early 90s Alphabet City in 2005. And people are gonna LOVE this damn movie cause the musical was soooo awesome and they are gonna go to the neighborhood and what are they gonna see.
Who knows if we won or lost. I had my own reasons for leaving. Everyone has their reasons for leaving or staying and my decisions was 85% love and 15% political.** The artist are holding onto Loisaida and I hope they hold hard. I love that Oscar is teaching a workshop in the community garden. I love Ciao for Now, how well he treats his employees and that he uses responsible products but I get scared
Get scared at the number of fires that occurred while I lived there. It rose each month. Get scared that they are going to realize they put projects along the beautiful east river, that they are gonna find ways to kick the people out, rip them from their neighborhood and where are they gonna go. I get scared that watching Rent is gonna make little yuppie kids who had never heard of Alphabet City before wanna move there and they won't know who the fuck Jacob Riis is and they will think that it is okay that they are forcing poor people out because it's about economics and why should poor folk get river views.
And I hope when this happens the neighorhood will battle hard and regardless of where I am living I will go there to help.
I don't know if Rent the movie will fit Larson's vision. He died before it hit Broadway but he really did capture what was going on in Alphabet City so fucking well. If they execute this movie to have half of his magic it makes me afraid because anything that good is bound to make people wanna live there even more. I just hope they research about it and love it as much as he did.
**November 3rd I decided I had to move to a red state, John proposing ten days later gave me the red state I was moving to.
I wouldn't dare call it an essay and I didn't proofread
I was listening to the Rent soundtrack (from the original Broadway cast) and I figured out why the movie they are making about it pisses me off so damn much.
The musical is about Alphabet City being taken over, the corporations pushing out the artist/poets/musicians who have always lived there to make way for corporations. It covers how AIDS was taking out big portions of the neighborhood. Cyberland was killing reality and Larson wrote it all so well. "I'm forbidden to produce MILK, in Cyberland we only drink Diet-Coke"
Now East Village/Lower East Side/Loisaida jargon aside my father grew up in Alphabet City, I spent my summers in Alphabet City, I lived in Alphabet City. That neighborhood holds my heart in such a way and it did even when it was dirty and disgusting and junkies were everywhere. Even when they wanted nothing to do with it I loved Loisaida. And in law school I moved there not cause of how hot the neighborhood was but because of who was in it. Either way the truck of progress Larson wrote about so well had done its task... a bit.
And now they are filiming a movie about it, the squattors are all gone, the junkies get arrested and they are trying to capture the essence of a late 80s early 90s Alphabet City in 2005. And people are gonna LOVE this damn movie cause the musical was soooo awesome and they are gonna go to the neighborhood and what are they gonna see.
Who knows if we won or lost. I had my own reasons for leaving. Everyone has their reasons for leaving or staying and my decisions was 85% love and 15% political.** The artist are holding onto Loisaida and I hope they hold hard. I love that Oscar is teaching a workshop in the community garden. I love Ciao for Now, how well he treats his employees and that he uses responsible products but I get scared
Get scared at the number of fires that occurred while I lived there. It rose each month. Get scared that they are going to realize they put projects along the beautiful east river, that they are gonna find ways to kick the people out, rip them from their neighborhood and where are they gonna go. I get scared that watching Rent is gonna make little yuppie kids who had never heard of Alphabet City before wanna move there and they won't know who the fuck Jacob Riis is and they will think that it is okay that they are forcing poor people out because it's about economics and why should poor folk get river views.
And I hope when this happens the neighorhood will battle hard and regardless of where I am living I will go there to help.
I don't know if Rent the movie will fit Larson's vision. He died before it hit Broadway but he really did capture what was going on in Alphabet City so fucking well. If they execute this movie to have half of his magic it makes me afraid because anything that good is bound to make people wanna live there even more. I just hope they research about it and love it as much as he did.
**November 3rd I decided I had to move to a red state, John proposing ten days later gave me the red state I was moving to.
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