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Casey Gjini

Prof. Lobell

Analysis of “Rent!”

The rock musical Rent! By Johnathon Larson, set in the late 1980s early 1990s explores unconditional love with chosen family and loss during the AIDs epidemic in New York City. This play is seen through the lens of Mark’s camera, following him and a group of people navigating through illness and queer identity while struggling to pay rent. “La Vie Boheme” is a defiant response to societal norms, capturing Rent’s message living authentically.

The beginning of “La Vie Boheme” shows Mark, Roger, Marueen, Mimi, Angel, and Collins going to dinner after Maureen’s protest against Benny’s “Cyberland.” Benny is also seen at the same restaurant with a man who also wants to work on Cyberland. The waiter denies seating to Mark and his friends because they never buy food, or they don’t pay for what they ordered. Benny and his friend are allowed to sit at the restaurant, this scene showcases the socioeconomic gaps between Mark and his friends, and Benny. Mark and Roger are roommates, and Benny used to room with them until he bought the building and became wealthy. He made promises to them, telling them they didn’t have to worry about rent, until this year, telling Mark and Roger that they will be evicted if they don’t pay rent. With Benny’s Cyberland plans that displaces homeless people and raises rent, this directly impacts Mark and Roger because now they cannot afford to pay their rent.

A next point discussed in this play is Benny’s “Cyberland” that displaces the homeless people living there and raises the rent for people in the neighborhood. Benny kind of mocks Maureen when he says, “To Maureen’s noble try, it went well” referring to her attempts to protest against the “Cyberland”, acting like he cares when he really doesn’t. The reason why these people cannot pay their rent is due to gentrification caused by his actions with Cyberland. Benny doesn’t think that gentrification is a bad thing, because it keeps out the homeless and makes the community clean, like when he says, “They make fun, yet I’m the one attempting to do some good or do you really want a neighborhood where people piss on your stoop every night?” and then he said “Bohemia is dead”. While he thinks denitrification will improve the neighborhood, meanwhile everyone else is struggling with the consequences of it.

After this scene they start to cheer for different things and sing, “To anything taboo” which is what La Vie Boheme is all about. They say a lot of things that aren’t related to each other on the surface level, what is the same between all these themes is that they reject the norms. Specifically, there are a lot of themes of queer identity and acceptance in this song, which is often considered a “taboo” in society. When Maureen and Joanne kiss, they say they are just sisters, same as when Collins and Angel kiss, stating that they are just brothers. These statements are clearly sarcastic. It’s obvious to the audience that these characters are romantically involved, but the sarcasm highlights how queer relationships are often denied or erased by society. This theme is also shown in the line, “To sodomy It’s between God and me.” Historically, sodomy as a sin has been used to criminalize gay and lesbian people. By saying it between God and them, they are rejecting shame towards them and accepting their identities.

“La Vie Boheme” is sung by a group of outcasts, who came together to celebrate individuality. They embrace their identities, support each other, and reject conformity.