Rent (again)

So I went and saw Rent with my roommate, and yes I cried again, though I was much better about the talking during the movie. I think that is mostly a thing between me and 1031. I have also read a few reviews about Rent that have kind of pissed me off. One stated that they didn't understand putting Seasons of Love a the begining of the movie with just the cast on stage singing it and that it didn't fit. While yes, for a movie this may be an odd move, but for anyone who actually say the musical they would know that that was how the second act opened. It was just the cast on stage singing the song, and it makes sense for a musical. Now Seasons of Love is one of the best songs in the show and is reprised a few times in different songs so they couldn't get rid of it and you can't just jam it in the middle of the movie, so putting it in the begining makes perfect sense to me. Another review didn't like the fact that the cast got older. Well, if you really think about it no ones age is given except Mimi's (19) and Collins is a college professor and Joanne is a lawyer, so the absolute youngest they can be is 25, and you get the impression they have had their jobs for a while, so now they are in their late twenties to early thirties and no one in the cast was too old to play that. Besides we have 25 year olds playing kids in high school all the time on television and no one says anything, so the critics can just stop with the age thing. The one that really got to me though was someone who seemed surprised that Jesse L. Martin could really sing. They obviously did not do their research; he was in the original cast, his background is on broadway, just because they only knew him from Law and Order doesn't mean that is all he can do. Many critics also made it a point to compare it to Chicago and say that the movie did nothing to revive the show. It seemed like the movie wasn't flashy enough for them. Well, its about life below the poverty line in New York and most of the characters have AIDS, nothing to get flashy with. It was never meant to be a flashy show. It was meant to be real. The magic is in the heart and soul of the songs, not flashy sets and costumes. It was also said that the story is not timeless, that it was dated to when AIDS was a death sentence. Well, while advances in medicine have made it possible to live a lot longer with HIV, last I heard people where still dying of it. Besides the main themes are about love and living for today and as far as I know, those themes are timeless. It was also said that the show lost its shock appeal because gays are everywhere now, well I doubt Jonathan Larson had shock appeal in mind when he wrote it. The characters are meant to represent those who were most effected by aids in the early 90s, meaning gays and drug addicts, which the characters are. Well, except the nice Jewish boy, but he doesn't have AIDS. Most of the critics on of this movie need to get their heads out of their ass. Stop comparing it to other things and let it be what it is; a wonderfully moving show with beautiful songs about life, love, loss, and living for today.