woke up and for some reason remembered that Rent exists

people are trying to memory hole it. i wont let them

everyone in Rent is the bad guy. every character. no exceptions

i used to think benny was ok. he was just trying to get these idiots to grow up and get their shit together while they were cruel to him

then I remembered he was cheating on his wife with an AIDS patient

the play is somehow completely unaware that everyone is a thoughtless unreflective asshole and invites the audience to be honorary assholes

tens of millions took them up on it

i will say one thing in its defense though

maybe it was the times but none of the characters running around inconveniencing the non-sociopaths onstage had any expectation of being praised or elevated by broader society for their behavior

they all expected to die outsiders

by contrast in the present day they could reasonably expect to become Commissars

anyway in honor of this abomination consider that you can make any thread that irritates you cringe by showing up and comparing that thread to something that happens in rent

this is sort of like barging into a cafe and jumping on the table and singing when you think about it