“Borders are set up to define the places that are safe and unsafe, to distinguish ​us ​from ​them​”

(Anzaldúa, 1987)

American belonging is volatile, easily altered by changes in popular sentiments, world politics,

and power. It fluctuates constantly between ‘rightful American citizen’ and ‘foreigner’; the latter

embodying the object of fear at the moment. This movement is accompanied, and often strengthened, by

the definition and re-definition of borders which tell the ‘rightful American citizen’ what is safe, true and

‘American’. In times of crises, these boundaries are presented as fixed and absolute, as if society has and

always will be ‘us’ versus ‘them’. What happens, however, with those who do not belong to either

arbitrary group, who just observe from the sidelines? At critical points in history, what can these

observers tell us about the borders and the marginalized group they are meant to keep out?

Jonathan Larson’s musical ​Rent is set in New York City during the 1990s. It centers on a group of

friends struggling with poverty, homelessness, love and AIDS. Mark, the only male character who isn’t

HIV-positive and the narrator of the story, uses his camera to document the lives of those around him.

Much like W.E.B Du Bois’ concept of ​double-consciousness​, Mark’s identity is split into two: the

​ in betweenness— that does not allow him to

outsider and the advocate. He is in a state of ​nepantla —

belong to the arbitrary groups of ‘us’ and ‘them’, thus becoming an outsider. However, through his

camera he becomes an advocate for those suffering during the AIDS crisis, breaking and questioning the

borders established at the time. In this essay, I will discuss the following question: How does Mark’s

character in ​Rent a​ llow the audience to define, explore and transgress societal borders while, at the same

time, rewriting the narrative of New York City’s AIDS crisis?

Throughout the musical, little is known about Mark’s personal life. Unlike the other main

characters, whose stories are thoroughly developed, Larson forgoes this with Mark, focusing more on his
work as a filmmaker. His camera becomes the lens through which the struggles of his HIV-positive

friends are showcased. Taking into account the era the musical is set in, this simple act of filming is

revolutionary, as it serves to break and question the borders established during the AIDS crisis. Vito

Russo, an HIV-positive American activist once said of the coverage of the epidemic:

“And, especially, if I'm dying from anything, I'm dying from the sensationalism of newspapers

and magazines and television shows, which are interested in me, as a human interest story — only

as long as I'm willing to be a helpless victim, but not if I'm fighting for my life”

Mark’s filming of his friends defies this sensationalism, as he focuses on the individual, not the disease.

In the song ​Life Support​, many minor characters are introduced as participants in a support group for

people with HIV. Instead of emphasizing their sexuality or portraying them as sex-crazed drug addicts (as

many newspapers would have done), Mark’s narrative focuses on their fear of dying and how they are

trying to come to terms with it. This same feeling is portrayed in ​Will I, when one of the participants asks:

“Will I lose my dignity? / Will someone care? / Will I wake tomorrow / From this nightmare?” (Larson,

1996, track 16). In a different song, ​Tune Up #3,​ Mark introduces the audience to Roger, his HIV-positive

best friend, explaining that “His girlfriend April / Left a note saying ‘We've got AIDS’ / Before slitting

her wrists in the bathroom” (Larson, 1996, track 6). The way Mark’s camera presents Roger is

humanizing, as it acknowledges his own story, making him an individual instead of another faceless

person silently suffering from AIDS. By giving Roger and all the characters in ​Life Support a chance to

tell their stories and gain individuality, Mark is transgressing societal borders. He is showing that the

group of ‘them’ is not unlike the group of ‘us’ at the moment; both feel pain, fear, hope. In this way,

Mark’s camera breaks the frontiers to show us all as humans.

 In ​cultivation theory​, George Gerbner proposed that “television viewers are cultivated to view

reality similarly to what they watch on television” (Oregon State University, 2013). This theory can be

further applied to other types of video, as the person filming is seeking to capture reality from a certain

perspective. Mark, for instance, wants his viewers to see a different truth through his film: the lives and

struggles of those categorized as ‘others’. As mentioned, the act of filming and the focus on individual

stories allows Mark to transgress societal borders. More importantly, however, is understanding ​who

Mark’s audience is. In ​Finale A​, Roger explains that Mark is screening his finished film to his friends,

most of them HIV-positive. Knowing that the film tries to showcase a humanized version of the ‘others’,

it is interesting that Mark believes his friends —often categorized in this group— need to watch it. During

the height of the AIDS crisis, many people took their own lives or hid their status for shame of what it

could imply and in fear of what others would say about them. The stereotypes that arose were degrading

and dehumanizing, portraying the victims as sex-crazed monsters that deserved the disease, that wanted to

spread it to everyone. This is why Mark’s selected audience is key. The fact that he believes his own

friends need to watch the film shows how strong the stereotypes were, and how effective they were in

making the victims believe them, thus strengthening the border trying to keep them out. Mark’s film

portrays a different reality, where those with AIDS are shown as individuals, as men and women

experiencing love, pain and death. In the film, humanity is the common link, not disease, breaking the

established borders .

The second facet of Mark’s character is that of the observer. As explained previously, little is

known about Mark; the development of his emotions is usually forgone in favor of the objective nature of

the filmmaker. However, there are moments when the audience gets a glimpse of his sentiments. In

Halloween, ​for example, Mark sings “Why am I the witness? / And when I capture it on film / Will it
mean that it's the end and I'm alone?” (Larson, 1996, track 36). Similarly in the follow-up song ​Goodbye

Love​, the audience is confronted with Mark’s loneliness:

“[ROGER]

You're always preaching not to be numb

When that's how you thrive

You pretend to create and observe

When you really detach from feeling alive

[MARK]

Perhaps it's because I'm the one of us to survive”

(Larson, 1996, track 37)

In these moments, the audience truly grasps the state of in betweenness Mark finds himself in. He

sympathizes with the struggles of his friends, but can never truly belong with them, as the established

borders keep him out. There are other moments, however, when Mark willingly builds up these borders,

distancing himself from HIV patients. For example, during ​Life Support,​ when he visits a support group

for people with HIV, he is careful to explain that he does not have AIDS: “Oh — I'm not — / I'm just here

to — / I don't have — / I'm here with — / Um — Mark / Mark — I'm Mark” (Larson, 1996, track 13).

Mark understands that lack of experience keeps him from belonging; he has seen, but has not felt, what

having the virus is. As an individual, he is stuck in the ​borderland,​ that “vague and underdetermined

place created by the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary” (Anzaldúa, 1987). Although his filming

looks to transgress the frontiers, Mark understands that he can’t claim to be just like his friends. A

different border emerges —one based on first-hand experience. Yet, even in his in betweenness and

loneliness, even in the face of new borders, Mark continues to treat his friends with empathy and love.

Even if he can’t truly understand what having AIDS is like, he understands that his friends deserve
respect. Maybe that was Larson’s hope with his musical; having not been HIV-positive, he still sought to

present complex characters that suffered from the disease in hopes of giving them the respect and

representation they deserved.

Rent i​ s revolutionary and timeless, brilliantly capturing the struggle of belonging. Larson is able

to induce the audience to reflect on what it means to be ‘us’ and ‘them’, on how frontiers divide and alter

reality. More importantly, however, Larson helps the audience understand that although some borders

can’t be transgressed, they need not imply disunity. That although some people are different to us, they do

not deserve disrespect or dehumanization. In the end, ​Rent is a love letter to humanity, showing the

unifying power of love. Far more than looking to transgress or establish borders, we must understand the

differences, and despite them “Remember the love / Measure in love / Measure, measure [our] life in

love” (Larson, 1996, track 26).

Bibliography

Anzaldúa, G. (1987). Borderlands: La Frontera (p. 3). San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books.

Larson, J. (1996). Rent (Original Broadway Recording) [Online]. DreamWorks.

Oregon State University. (2013). Cultivation Theory. Retrieved 22 July 2019, from
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/theory/cult.html