Thursday, October 21, 2010
Shakespeare Adaptations
We mentioned briefly in class right before the break of the many adaptations of Shakespeare in modern time. The one reference that immediately came to mind was the movie with Amanda Bynes She's the Man that is based on The Twelfth Night. This is just one of the many references to Shakespeare in pop culture, what other allusions can you guys think of?
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Wikipedia has everything, even references to Hamlet in popular culture! Take a look...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/References_to_Hamlet
Interesting examples include:
-Disney's The Lion King contains themes and plot elements inspired by Hamlet
-(500) Days of Summer contains a direct quote stating, "methinks the lady doth protest too much"
-SpongeBob SquarePants has an episode called "To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants" after the Hamlet quote "to be or not to be"
What about A Midsummer Night's Dream, which we mentioned briefly in class? I recall a (very silly) movie called Get Over It with Kirsten Dunst, Ben Foster, and Sisqo! The plot of the movie revolves around a love triangle which is (very) loosely based Shakespeare's play. However, the story proceeds with these three lovers actually performing in a school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream! The play-within-a-play device which Shakespeare so often used (Pyramus and Thisbe!) actually appears in a work based on the works of Shakespeare... the Matryoshka-doll layers are endless.
Another movie that is based on one of Shakespeare's plays is "10 Things I Hate About You" which is based on "The Taming of the Shrew." This is actually one of my favorite movies. Julia Stiles plays Kat Stratford, an outspoken feminist who represents "the shrew". Heath Ledger plays Patrick Verona, who is a rebellious guy who wants to woo Kat. I think it's really interesting how Shakespeare's works continue to influence our culture.
Another good one that I have been fortunate enough to experience is the adaption to The Merchant of Venice. My boy Al Pacino plays the controversial character Shylock and does wonders. Did'nt we all see this freshman year or in middle school?
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