LAUREN MORTON-FARMER
Staff Writer
The lights are dimming. The doors are closing. The film is beginning. People are mooing. Mooing? Sure, why not. Moo, sing along and dance in your seat because when the newly adapted film version of Jonathan Larson’s musical “Rent” is playing Elkins this seems like the thing to do.
Many students were surprised at the thought of Pepperdine showing a film like “Rent” that deals with such things as living HIV positive, the perils of hard drug use, homosexuality and living a bohemian lifestyle. On the surface, it seems that everything this show stands for flies right in the face of what Pepperdine is about. But many feel it is just the opposite.
“I think that the message of “Rent” is a very clear Christian message actually,” said senior Elyse Simmerman. “‘Rent’ is halfway there.
They have the love concept … I think anything that contributes to this concept of loving one another is going to be good for anyone seeking how to further a Christian mission.”
Basing it on Puccini’s opera “La Boheme,” Jonathan Larson wrote the book, lyrics and music for “Rent” in the early 1990s, and it soon became the musical for a generation of men and women dealing with harsh blows in life. They live lives many can’t understand, but the root of the story may be just what God intended. A line from the song “La Vie Boheme B” in the musical shoots one notion right between our eyes saying, “Let he among us without sin be the first to condemn!”
Screenwriting professor Nancy Dodd holds true to the University’s Christian Mission. Though her schedule did not allow her to view the movie in Elkins with the students, Dodd had hoped she would be able to attend the screening. Still, she was a little surprised that the film was being shown.
“If Pepperdine had decided it was not appropriate to show this movie, I would have supported that decision,” she said. “I think the questions for Pepperdine would be, ‘Does the movie promote lifestyle choices that are not in keeping with the faith-based tradition … [or] does the movie show understanding and tolerance and compassion for people as they are, rather than as we wish them to be?”
Having just written a play dealing with controversial decisions, Dodd is familiar with work that might step on a few toes. But her view on this is admirable and something to take into consideration when we are tempted to judge others.
“…When you understand why [decisions are made], you see there is more
to life than the simple dos and don’ts.”
Justin Schneider, a 2003 Pepperdine graduate who now works as the Student Programming Board supervisor, said that when choosing a film to show on campus, the SPB has a set of guidelines that they aim to follow as closely as possible. Part of the process is to check how the film rates on kids-in-mind.com, a website that rates films in three categories: sex and nudity, violence and gore, and profanity. If the film rates below a six (on a scale of one to ten), Pepperdine will show the movie — “Rent” just made it.
“Film is increasingly a vehicle for social entertainment and enlightenment on our campus,” Schneider said. “When selecting films to show at public venues, the [SPB aims] to identify … films that are high-quality in substance.”
Sophomore Lindsay Tuggle, another excited Rent-head, fully supports Pepperdine’s decision to show “Rent” saying that it’s a big step toward tolerance on campus. She, like the characters in the film, believes that love (and more specifically Christian love) is something the world needs to remember.
“It’s what Christianity is all about,” said Tuggle. “Love each other and don’t judge too quickly.”
As Christians, we are taught to love one another and to not judge others lest we ourselves be judged. None of us are perfect, but Jonathan Larson strove to show us through “Rent” that there is “no day but today” and how important it is to “forget regret or life is yours to miss.” Enjoy life. Love others. Be who you are.
02-16-2006
