History YMMV / Rent

** Related to the above, Creator/RosarioDawson being cast as Mimi. While some (including her fellow castmates) liked her in the role, saying she was a welcome addition and felt her presence brought more attention to the film than without her being there, others did not feel she was worthy of the role, believing that she was miscast. Also, said fans had a problem with [[SpotlightStealingSquad the disproportionate advertising and attention she received over the rest of the cast]][[note]]Which mostly didn't consist of HouseholdNames: Creator/JesseLMartin had ''Series/LawAndOrder'' to his name, and Creator/TayeDiggs had ''Film/{{Chicago}}'', but ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' was eight years in Creator/IdinaMenzel's future, and ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' 13 years in Creator/AnthonyRapp's[[/note]], in spite of the musical being an ensemble cast and particularly in contrast to her female costars even though both women are better singers (and arguably actors) than her.

** Related to the above, Creator/RosarioDawson being cast as Mimi. While some (including her fellow castmates) liked her in the role, saying she was a welcome addition and felt her presence brought more attention to the film than without her being there, others did not feel she was worthy of the role, believing that she was miscast. Also, said fans had a problem with [[SpotlightStealingSquad the disproportionate advertising and attention she received over the rest of the cast]][[note]]Which mostly didn't consist of household names: Creator/JesseLMartin had ''Series/LawAndOrder'' to his name, and Creator/TayeDiggs had ''Film/{{Chicago}}'', but ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' was eight years in Creator/IdinaMenzel's future, and ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' 13 years in Creator/AnthonyRapp's[[/note]], in spite of the musical being an ensemble cast and particularly in contrast to her female costars even though both women are better singers (and arguably actors) than her.

** '''Mark''' -- A lot of his actions after "Without You" take on an entirely different meaning if the production has him present when [[spoiler:Angel dies. If a production goes this route, then him quitting the Buzzline job goes from dissatisfaction with the potential career to finishing his film in a desperate attempt to emotionally recover from watching one of his closest friends die. It also adds a far more disturbing undertone to his line "Angel's voice is in my ear", going from merely missing a friend to outright traumatized]].

** Mimi's [[spoiler: DisneyDeath.]] Yes, it's not even close to realistic. However, it's still a very touching moment for many, and given the time period when it came out, [[spoiler: the defying of a disease that had countless people terrified]] can be considered quite powerful. And to be fair, nothing explicitly says she's [[spoiler: cured of AIDS and won't have any health issues in the future]] with the only real certain being that she [[spoiler: has at least a little more time with Roger and the others.]]

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: A lot of modern audiences, no longer familiar with the specter of AIDS as a death sentence due to advances in medicine and AIDS research, don't really appreciate the gravity of what the characters are going through. In the film, a lingering death from AIDS complications is graphically depicted to make sure the point comes across. The Fox production ''RENT Live'' also takes care to emphasize how bad it was. There's slides detailing the severity of the condition and a voiceover (from Anthony Rapp) during the transition to "Life Support" that explains it for anyone who doesn't know. It also takes a cue from the film and makes sure to highlight Angel's deteriorating condition during "Without You" and Collins' attempts to care for them still.

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* RetroactiveRecognition: The stunt team for the movie included Creator/DianaLeeInosanto, who later dueled Creator/RosarioDawson on ''Series/TheMandalorian'' and ''Series/{{Ahsoka}} (in which Dawson portrays Ahsoka Tano, and Inosanto portrays Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth).

* RetroactiveRecognition: The stunt team for the movie included Creator/DianaLeeInosanto, who later dueled Creator/RosarioDawson on ''Series/TheMandalorian'' (in which Dawson portrays Ahsoka Tano, and Inosanto portrays Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth).

* RevolutionariesWhoDontDoAnything: A common criticism of the play is that the characters seem to embrace some radical politics but don't seem to do much aside from squat in an apartment building and 'freak out' the 'squares'.

* EsotericHappyEnding: [[spoiler:Mimi is still alive by the end of the musical, and the friends circle in appreciation of each other's company. But given Mimi's health and the circumstances of everyone's living situation, it's really not likely Mimi, Roger, or Collins will have terribly much more time.]]
* FairForItsDay: The show was and still is highly regarded for its normalized portrayal of queer sexuality and the frankness in its discussion of AIDS, two things that the wealthy, theater-going crowds of the mid-90s weren't used to seeing. Nowadays, it's often accused of trivializing the AIDS crisis from an ''extremely'' brutal and blatantly homophobic battle for human rights, as well as homelessness itself, to somewhat-minor difficulties (squatters would not be able to afford AZT, even if it were sold secondhand like in the play). The fact that it [[BuryYourGays kills off the gay drag queen/gender-fluid Angel]], while {{spar|edByTheAdaptation}}ing the cishetero Mimi, whose ''Theatre/LaBoheme'' equivalent dies, has also been called into question. It also remains one of the few mainstream shows to feature an openly bisexual character... who perpetuates [[ReallyGetsAround their most hated stereotype]]. And due to author Jonathan Larson's death before the show opened, there's no way of knowing if or how his views might have changed with the times, despite Larson himself being both heavily associated with friends and acquatinces who were LGBT, and having multiple friends who ultimately succumbed to AIDS' grasp.

** In the movie version, while he, Roger, Mark, and Angel are on the subway train singing "Do You know the Way to Santa Fe?", Collins gets up on the handles and flips over it; when he "flips" back, it's just the same shot in reverse.