History Fridge / Rent

* When Collins says that he was expelled from MIT for his theory of actual reality, he paints it as they're just being closed-minded and acting like douchebags. But then you hear from Angel in "La Vie Boheme" just how he expressed that theory: [[spoiler:blowing up school equipment that probably costed thousands of dollars to create]]. No wonder he was fired! (Not that he had bad ideas, of course, but unless you wanna give a big "fuck you" to whoever you're working for, you miiiight not wanna do that.)

* Most of Light My Candle and Another Day are just references to Che Gelida Manina. Of course, there's the obvious ones like when Roger and Mimi both comment on the other having cold hands (the original title loosely translates to something like "How cold your little hand is")or his constant mentions of her pretty eyes and the moonlight in her hair. But there are more subtle ones, as well: "We'd do another dance, it'd be another play. Looking for romance? Come back another day." "Long ago you might've lit up my heart," "The words would only rhyme, we'd be in outerspace" and "It'd be another song, we'd sing another way," all look like just flowery ways to describe romance, sex and drug-fueled song writing. But, in "Another time, another place," Paris, 1830, to be exact, a poet named Rodolfo was happy with his life and immediately, willingly, fell in love with a girl named Mimi while singing an aria to her.

* And on a sadder note, with all his references to 'long ago,' it's clear that for all Mimi thinks he's telling her to come back later while she's insisting on living in the moment, Roger is actually telling her she should have come around sooner because it's too late for them.

*** Mark could of also been talking about just between him and Roger as he felt Roger was killing himself trying to hide away from everything.

*** "Today 4 U" is a literal translation of the Spanish phrase "hoy por tí, mañana por yo," a justification for acts of kindness towards strangers basically along the lines of "paying it forward." This seems to be Angel's approach to life in general (quote Collins, "All you do is give.")

** There's a simpler explanation: he burned out. He needed the work to pay the bills, but his heart and soul wasn't in so the daily grind wore him out. To rediscover his passion, he quit to finish making the

** Or even an acknowledgement of the fact [[WeAllDieSomeday that everyone dies some day, so you should live life while you can]], which is one of the major themes of the play. There's a [[AltumVidetur Latin phrase, "hodie mihi, cras tibi"]], with essentially this meaning, which is sometimes used on gravestones and so on as a kind of memento mori type thing. I honestly think that's probably meant as a major secondary meaning of the whole "Today 4 U" musical number itself, although it's not meant as the surface meaning.

* Evita is described as yappy, which is usually associated with small dog breeds, but Akitas are fairly large. She could very well have been a ''puppy'' [[note]]which borders on FridgeHorror for dog lovers[[/note]]. However, Akitas are very expensive. Given how obnoxiously rich Benny and Alison are, they may have gotten Evita just to be trendy/show off their wealth, and didn't really bother with training her. Plus, keeping an Akita in a 23rd story apartment is a really unwise idea, as they need a lot of exercise and roomy living space.

* Evita is described as yappy, which is usually associated with small dog breeds, but Akitas are fairly large. She could very well have been a ''puppy'' [[note]]which borders on FridgeHorror for dog lovers[[/note]]. However, Akitas are very expensive. Given how obnoxiously rich Benny and Alison are, they may have gotten Evita just to be trendy/show off their wealth, and didn't really bother with training her.

** The moon is perceived as feminine, fickle, and ever-changing.

** This irritates me every time, especially given how long it takes Collins to get around to introducing her. WMG: I like to imagine she ran into Mimi on her way up.

* FridgeBrilliance: This troper only just figured out a pun in the title song. The line is "it reaches way down deep and tears you inside out til you're torn apart! RENT!" I thought they were just shouting out the name of the song/show, but they're also defining the term "rent"--as in, torn apart (like in "rent asunder"). Considering the way the cast falls apart, it's an apt term.

* The first time I listened to "Your Eyes" I found it touching, but terribly predictable and full of clichés in the lyrical sense. Especially if one considers that it took Roger no less than a year to write it. Then it hit me, the song was written in character. Maybe Roger is just not the songwriter Larson was. He does refer to himself as "the pretty boy frontman" of his rock band in "One Song Glory". Maybe he wasn't a songwriter to begin with, hence why he had such a difficulty finding inspiration when he picked up the guitar.

** But you can take it a step into happiness, too. If he keeps getting inspiration, maybe he will become a better songwriter. Mimi got him out of the house, she got him to feel happy (just look in the 2008 proshot cast of how he acts during "Happy New Year" when he's singing to Mimi)... she got him to write a song. It's not great, but it isn't horrible to the ear—and it's a start.

* If [[spoiler:Angel died on October 31,]] and "Seasons of Love B" is an interlude set around April (an earlier version of the script specifies that the events of the following song, "Without You," take place in April), [[spoiler:Angel only made it about 308,000 (and not 525,000) "Seasons of Love" into the new year.]]

* Mark seems like an UngratefulBastard for quitting his tabloid job, but considering he has the footage to make a groundbreaking (it's only 1990, after all) docudrama on people living with AIDS then his film could potentially be a major success, meaning he'd need all his spare time to do as much research as possible before cutting it together and finding a buyer.
* In the original New York Theatre Workshop version of Rent, it is heavily implied that everything in "[[spoiler:Without You]]" takes place in the month of April, by Maureen in Voice Mail #3 (the song right before it), where she says, "April is [[spoiler: the cruelest month]].
* When Collins says that he was expelled from MIT for his theory of actual reality, he paints it as they're just being close-minded and acting like douchebags. But then you hear from Angel in La Vie Boheme just how he expressed that theory: [[spoiler: blowing up school equipment that probably costed thousands of dollars to create.]] No wonder he was fired! (Not that he had bad ideas, of course, but unless you wanna give a big "fuck you" to whoever you're working for, you miiiight not wanna do that.)
* Probably not intentional, but when Mimi, the self proclaimed "feline of Avenue B", sings "take me out tonight", the emphasis is such that "me out" sounds like "me-ow".

* FridgeLogic: Why didn't Roger just stick to One Song Glory? How did [[spoiler: Roger get enough gas money to get to Santa Fe and back, if he had to sell his guitar to afford the car?]] Why are they having an orgy during Contact?... the list goes on and on.

* FridgeHorror: There's almost no way Allison (Benny's wife) doesn't have HIV or AIDS by the end of the play. Unless she never has sex with Benny from Christmas onward (the point when Benny and Mimi reconnect), the virus is in her system. Considering Benny's lifestyle, I wouldn't be surprised if she was infected before they got back together. Despite being the driving force behind Benny's actions, she's an innocent victim; even her dog, annoying as it might have been, gets killed.

** Or, maybe Benny and Mimi had no sex at all. The movie at least is somewhat up to interpretation on that part, that he simply took care of an old friend who had a shit ton of problems. Tbh, that sounds a lot more like Benny.

* In "Contact" Angel's solo includes a short reprise of "Today 4 U", but after one line he switches it from "Today for you, tomorrow for me" to "Today me, tomorrow you." [[spoiler: This could not only be indicative of Angel's death, but a subtle dark nod to Collins' ultimate fate as well.]]
** Or even an acknowledgement of the fact [[WeAllDieSomeday everyone dies some day so you should live life while you can]], which is one of the major themes of the play. There's a [[AltumVidetur Latin phrase, "hodie mihi, cras tibi"]] with essentially this meaning, which is sometimes used on gravestones and so on as a kind of memento mori type thing. I honestly think that's probably meant as a major secondary meaning of the whole "Today 4 U" musical number itself, although it's not meant as the surface meaning.

* FridgeComedy: When you realise that for Angel to make her dramatic entrance in "Today 4 U" she had to be standing awkwardly outside the loft while Collins talked to his friends and found a good moment to introduce her.