At least it's not based on some Disney cartoon.

I've never seen Rent, but it bugs me. Based upon Puccini's LaBoheme, this Broadway show portrays the lives of starving artists living in NYC's East Village (the neighborhood I currently live in).

I've overheard tourists, who've traveled from all over the world to NYC, talk about having seen this show. But I doubt they'll ever venture to the neighborhoods where the struggling artists this show depicts live and work - areas and artists which could really use tourist patronage. Why do these folks get dressed up in their best matching track suits, and come all the way here, just to see a sanitized version of - well - here?

Worse though, are those living in this neighborhood who are into this show. "Let's go from the East Village, to Broadway, to see a show about the East Village." Given our culture's fascination with ourselves, I imagine the next big Broadway hit will be INTERMISSION, THE MUSICAL. At show's break, people will mill around the bar commenting on how realistic it all seems. "God! I love this show! The way they ordered drinks - it's just like the way we just ordered drinks! Why aren't there more dramatic interpretations about people just like us, living in the here and now? We're fascinating."