Fooling oneself and others

“Rent” the musical has a huge following of fans. It’s a rock’n'roll version of “La Boheme” with HIV instead of ‘consumption.’ The desire by some fans to identify with the characters in the show, some of whom are dying, lead one to construct a lie where she has a fatal disease. She leverages it to win the hearts and minds of fellow Rentheads and cast members alike. It’s the second story on this segment of “This American Life.” [ Real Audio ]

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This entry was written by Bill Humphries and posted on March 18, 2000 at 12:00 am and filed under culture, media. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the Atom feed for this post. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.