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Symbolism In The Movie Angel

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“There is no future, there is no past. I live this moment as my last.” Rent first a revolutionary Broadway musical turned into a movie, broke down the barriers by being one of the first musical productions to reveal the truths of the “real” American lifestyle. Visionaries like musical director Jonathan Larson and film director Chris Columbus, helped use the movie and musical platform to share the stories of hundreds of people facing adversity in the early 90’s. The movie follows six Bohemians (Mark a hopeful movie producer, Roger a musician, Mimi a night club dancer, Collins a teacher, Maureen an activist, Joann a lawyer, and Angel a trans street drummer) and their journeys with drug abuse, AIDS and HIV, homosexuality, and the struggle to …show more content…

One of the most prominent symbols I noticed, is actually a character: Angel. Angel is characterized as a transwoman, bohemian, street drummer. In the movie Angel and Collins are in a committed relationship, and together go to AIDS support groups, where they connect with other people suffering from the tragic disease. From the beginning of the movie it is known that Angel has contracted AIDS, which sadly enough eventually takes her life. Angel is aware she is dying and instead of focusing on monetary items, focuses on making the most of the relationships she's built with the other characters. Because of this she encourages the other characters to look past their differences and live everyday to it’s fullest. One ironic thing to notice is that Angel actually becomes an “angel” and by the end of the movie is the constant reminder for the other characters to not live with hatred and resentment but love everyone equally. Angel is a symbol of equality and not labeling a person by their sexual orientation, social status, ethnic background, but by the quality of their inner character throughout the movie Rent. Another symbol in the movie is Mark, the narrator of the story and documentary filmmaker. Oddly enough Mark is one of the only characters who doesn’t have HIV/AIDS or a past of drugs , but he is the one telling their stories. I think the director does this to help the audience understand that just because something doesn’t affect you directly doesn’t mean that it isn’t happening and it is not important. Rent was set in the early 90’s and at the point there were thought to be with 8-10 million people worldwide that had AIDS/HIV, but the topic of human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome were not openly discussed by many. By making the main character of the broadway musical and the movie unaffected by the disease, the directors made it possible

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