Abstract

A comparative analysis of two very different filmic texts, this thesis examines both the disparities and similarities between John Greyson’s Zero Patience (1993) and Chris Columbus’s Rent (2005). Both musicals set during the height of the AIDS epidemic, these texts are emblematic of the diverging cultural responses of Canada (Patience) and the United States (Rent) to HIV/AIDS. This project extrapolates on these incongruent socio-cultural and socio-historical responses through an autobiographical lens and a methodology focused on the adaptation of source texts in each case (respectively And the Band Played On [1987] and Scènes de la vie de bohème [1888]) and on the genre dynamics of the musical, while similarly assessing the filmmakers’ accountability in their representations of the scourge. Persisting into its fourth decade, the pandemic is rarely depicted in contemporary arts and cultural products; this omission and the consequences of such are furthermore addressed through this investigation.