Quick Thoughts On Rent
Quick Thoughts on Rent
It is simply very weird, as put by Lindsay Ellis in her video on Rent, that the machine which the characters are raging against in the midst of the AIDS crisis isn’t the pharmaceutical companies, healthcare system, select politicians, or hell, even the government itself, which failed especially the queer community but also all individuals in need at the time and deserved much raging against. Instead, the characters rage against their landlord. Jonathan Larson made most of the characters petty, artsy, and privileged, and selectively gave some of them AIDS for dramatic effect or to no avail. He also created two characters who (actually) suffer in poverty and are dying of AIDS (literally, one of them dies) and decided to instead center the story on a couple of the aforementioned privileged asshole artists. I find those creative choices quite weird as well.
It is functionally strange that this musical pays such little respect to poverty, queer identity, and illness, despite those being the central themes. A musical that would’ve handled those topics more appropriately obviously wouldn’t have changed the world or stopped the AIDS crisis – entertainment such as Broadway musicals mostly tries to appeal to mainstream audiences to garner more profit (which is why no mainstream show or movie is ever particularly politically radical!) – but that hypothetical musical might’ve raised awareness amongst the massive audience it did get. It might’ve shown a more real kind of suffering coming from poverty, instead of mostly showing characters that chose to live in poverty and complained about it. It could’ve offered a representation of a bisexual character who isn’t incredibly promiscuous and disloyal. Maybe it might’ve even encouraged some audience members to get mad at the horrible institutions that were letting a pandemic fly by for several years, and who knows, those audience members might’ve also joined an AIDS protest or two. Although any change from the actual reality of Rent would’ve been good.
I don’t really hate Rent, but I think that it’s good to recognize that despite the fact that it can be enjoyable, it’s not very good and extremely inappropriate for its time period. If you’re looking for a musical that has queer characters and actually gives a meaningful sociopolitical message, Falsettos talks about similar topics, and Cabaret is great as well!
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so real, when I was experiencing delusions being told I was wrong would've made me worse. Many people when they are delusional, especially in association to religious delusions, tend to believe that they've figured out some hidden truth to the world that nobody else knows and could even think that other people telling them they're wrong is natural.
TLDR reality checking delusions can reaffirm them, and otherwise that person might just double down on it or develop other delusions. Since psychosis can't be controlled.
Btw I just wanted to say if you see someone acting delusional (like. Legitimate delusions. Not being misinformed or wrong. Legitimate delusions.) then please mind your own business. It's not your job to reality check them and by doing so you can harm them even further. Unless the person has asked you to reality check them and you're doing what they ASKED you to do, butt out.
When I'm having a delusion about bugs under my skin or something stalking me or literally any other delusion, I don't need someone to tell me "it's not real". I don't care if it's real or not. It's still terrifying to me. Being told "it's not real" doesn't help me, and once the delusion has passed, it makes me feel bad- like I'm just crazy, like my fears and experiences don't matter because they could just be delusions and hallucinations.
This goes for any delusion by the way. You see someone who believes they're God? Cool. Mind your own fucking business. You see someone who believes they have super powers or are an important figure? Cool! Mind your own fucking business.
Now. You may be asking. "Alfie, what if it's my friend and the delusion is stressing them out?"
Comfort them. Treat it like any other problem- if the person prefers advice, give them advice that matches with the delusion. If they just need comfort, do exactly that- tell them you're there for them, etc etc. You're not feeding the delusion- you're comforting your friend when they're stressed and afraid over something.
Don't reality check a delusional person unless you have been asked to by the delusional person.
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