When Rent, the rock opera about love in the time of HIV, rejuvenated Broadway in 1996, HAART was barely on the cocktail menu. (The HIVer heartthrobs set their beepers for AZT breaks.) On November 11, when the film version—directed by Chris Columbus—hits the megaplex, the couple’s dosing schedule is still, like, so ’90s. By keeping the tale a period piece—starring Rosario Dawson!—and overlooking miraculous treatment progress, what message will the film send mainstream America? “We don’t see Rent as a show about AIDS,” coproducer Michael Barnathan told POZ. “People are dying, but it’s about living for today.” Sing out.
