As we juxtapose the themes and characters depicted in “RENT” with those represented in “GBF” and “Faking It,” we are struck by the lack of focus on marriage or many of the rituals that normatively precede it. As Farrow hints at in “Is Gay Marriage Anti-Black?” the institution of marriage rests on certain performances of gender, in many cases that of white-contructed masculinity (Farrow). In “RENT,” characters do not have the ability to focus on marriage, as it is maid distant and infeasible by one’s HIV/AIDS status, poverty, and performance of gender. These comparisons highlight the truth behind the analyses of Essig, Spade and Willse, and Farrow as we apply them to there popular pieces. Marriage increasingly seems to be problematized by the degree of access that people have to it which, in the case of RENT, is not a significant degree.