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what_the_heck013

Random Question -- Angel

After seeing RENT twice and upon my thousanth listening of the OBC soundtrack the following question popped up: Is Angel supposed to be a woman or a man in drag? I never quite understood. Or is (s)he (as they say) in the transition part of the surgery?
DramaRobin2002

Angel is a man in drag, but the rest of the characters constantly refer to Angel as a she. Actually, during "You Okay Honey?" and during Finale B, Angel is in regular clothes and not dressed in his drag and you see that he's actually a guy.

~~~Amy~~~
what_the_heck013

DramaRobin2002 wrote:
Angel is a man in drag, but the rest of the characters constantly refer to Angel as a she. Actually, during "You Okay Honey?" and during Finale B, Angel is in regular clothes and not dressed in his drag and you see that he's actually a guy.

~~~Amy~~~


Oh, oh yeah! I remember now. You're right.
EponineGiry

Mark actually corrects himself while giving an elegy; he says "and he...she!" blah blah blah.
Stratford girl

Lol my mom asked me the same question when she listened to the cr this weekend!
I noticed from the cr that the guys call Angel a guy wheras the girls call him a girl.
what_the_heck013

Stratford girl wrote:
Lol my mom asked me the same question when she listened to the cr this weekend!
I noticed from the cr that the guys call Angel a guy wheras the girls call him a girl.


No, they both say "she".
OzHair

Interestingly, the only one who refers to Angel as "he" at the funeral (not counting Mark's reference before he corrects himself) is Collins;

"I can't believe he's gone..."
jcstar

OzHair wrote:
Interestingly, the only one who refers to Angel as "he" at the funeral (not counting Mark's reference before he corrects himself) is Collins;

"I can't believe he's gone..."


Have we forgotten Roger singing, "His death is in vain!"

Just thought I'd bring that up.

Andy.
The Very Angry Woman

Re: Random Question -- Angel

what_the_heck013 wrote:
After seeing RENT twice and upon my thousanth listening of the OBC soundtrack


Cast recording.
OzHair

jcstar wrote:
OzHair wrote:
Interestingly, the only one who refers to Angel as "he" at the funeral (not counting Mark's reference before he corrects himself) is Collins;

"I can't believe he's gone..."


Have we forgotten Roger singing, "His death is in vain!"

Just thought I'd bring that up.

Andy.


Oops. My bad Embarassed Wink
RainbowJude

Indeed...

DramaRobin2002 wrote:
Angel is a man in drag, but the rest of the characters constantly refer to Angel as a she. Actually, during "You Okay Honey?" and during Finale B, Angel is in regular clothes and not dressed in his drag and you see that he's actually a guy.


And that is, of course, one of the central problems in RENT with regards to gay representation. You never get to see Angel and Collins together as a male couple, something that visually reinforces the male-female relationship paradigm that the show places above all others.

So the audience feels more comfortable because the man looks like he's with a women therefore it is easier to accept/approve of the relationship because Angel's "not really a man" and the audience can go away feeling very pleased with themselves for how tolerant they are when in fact their perceptions may not have been challenged at all.

Although I love many aspects of the show, this is one of the elements that I find immensely problematic.

Later days
David

Musical Pick of the Day: Assassins by John Weidman and Stephen Sondheim.
Wanksta757

Re: Indeed...

RainbowJude wrote:
DramaRobin2002 wrote:
Angel is a man in drag, but the rest of the characters constantly refer to Angel as a she. Actually, during "You Okay Honey?" and during Finale B, Angel is in regular clothes and not dressed in his drag and you see that he's actually a guy.


And that is, of course, one of the central problems in RENT with regards to gay representation. You never get to see Angel and Collins together as a male couple, something that visually reinforces the male-female relationship paradigm that the show places above all others.

So the audience feels more comfortable because the man looks like he's with a women therefore it is easier to accept/approve of the relationship because Angel's "not really a man" and the audience can go away feeling very pleased with themselves for how tolerant they are when in fact their perceptions may not have been challenged at all.

Although I love many aspects of the show, this is one of the elements that I find immensely problematic.

Later days
David

Musical Pick of the Day: Assassins by John Weidman and Stephen Sondheim.


Yes, but Angel isn't in drag when he's dying in the three bed sequence and Collins moves him from the hospital bed to elsewhere. They may not beign intimate, but from there it goes into "Contact", the funeral sequence and then "I'll Cover You (Reprise)". That's one of the most vulnerable parts of the show (I cried), and it's regarding their standpoint as lovers.

Just my input.



-Matt
RainbowJude

Indeed...

Wanksta757 wrote:
Yes, but Angel isn't in drag when he's dying in the three bed sequence and Collins moves him from the hospital bed to elsewhere. They may not being intimate, but from there it goes into "Contact", the funeral sequence and then "I'll Cover You (Reprise)". That's one of the most vulnerable parts of the show (I cried), and it's regarding their standpoint as lovers.


But by that time, he's sick and obviously going to die and that just validates every single prejudice about what happens to gay men who have sex: they get infected by HIV and die. And because the characters are such nice people individually, the audience can feel sorry for them and feel proud of how tolerant they are because - "look, we can empathise with the plight of the gay man in a contemporary world".

And this is all exacerbated by the fact that Mimi, when obviously dying, gets a song sung to her by Roger and comes back to life. What's that supposed to imply? That Roger and Mimi's love, which is actually far less emotionally profound than Collins and Angel's, is stronger - so much so that it can reverse the course of one case of the most heartbreaking epidemic that humanity has encountered. This reinforces the prejudicial notion that heterosexual love is deeper and more complex than homosexual love and also negates the whole point of the play. Why live as if there is "no day but today", when even death isn't a barrier? At least if you're straight.

Later days
David

Chicago by Fosse, Kander and Ebb.
Wanksta757

Re: Indeed...

RainbowJude wrote:
Wanksta757 wrote:
Yes, but Angel isn't in drag when he's dying in the three bed sequence and Collins moves him from the hospital bed to elsewhere. They may not being intimate, but from there it goes into "Contact", the funeral sequence and then "I'll Cover You (Reprise)". That's one of the most vulnerable parts of the show (I cried), and it's regarding their standpoint as lovers.


But by that time, he's sick and obviously going to die and that just validates every single prejudice about what happens to gay men who have sex: they get infected by HIV and die. And because the characters are such nice people individually, the audience can feel sorry for them and feel proud of how tolerant they are because - "look, we can empathise with the plight of the gay man in a contemporary world".

And this is all exacerbated by the fact that Mimi, when obviously dying, gets a song sung to her by Roger and comes back to life. What's that supposed to imply? That Roger and Mimi's love, which is actually far less emotionally profound than Collins and Angel's, is stronger - so much so that it can reverse the course of one case of the most heartbreaking epidemic that humanity has encountered. This reinforces the prejudicial notion that heterosexual love is deeper and more complex than homosexual love and also negates the whole point of the play. Why live as if there is "no day but today", when even death isn't a barrier? At least if you're straight.

Later days
David


Wow. I never thought of it that way. Confused

The only valid argument I have to make aqainst it is that Maureen and Joanne do end up together in the end, and both of them are without HIV or AIDS. So, they faced similar relationship challenges as the hetersexual couples in the show, and they make it out together and disease free. Maybe that was Larson's compromise in the prejiducial flaws of the show.

Other than that, I do have to say that it appears that you're right. Confused


-Matt
katie_did

Angel is obviously a drag queen, was there ever any question? Honestly, I always thought that was really obvious?
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