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Friday, December 23, 2005 What is it about the musical Rent that resonates so deeply with our generation? An excerpt from my latest editor column for Relevant Magazine, Beyond La Vie Boheme: Humans have an innate longing for community, for substantive relationships, and in a postmodern society that community becomes ever more difficult to find. And it's not just the fault of suburban sprawl and the ease of travel in our country; its roots are more entrenched, more widespread. In Paris, you'll see the rupture in the lives of the international students; the French university system doesn't emphasize creating student community the way that the American model does, so it's not uncommon for international students to have only a handful of friends, to feel isolated. What Rent captures is this hunger. Life is far from easy for its characters: they are poor, several have AIDS and many are disconnected from family. But they have each other, and it is enough. There's only us / There's only this ("Life Support"). They are a patchwork family of exotic dancers, filmmakers, crack addicts, teachers, drag queens, lawyers, musicians and performance artists—it's a strange family, but one nonetheless; they find love and support in each other. They need each other. It is only when their family falls apart that life truly becomes unbearable. ^ Top | 5:57 PM | | | 
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