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Here's a different spin on the Hamlet story - Hamlet (and his female pal Veronica Horatio) as modern-day ghost hunters.
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I love this story about the difference between memorizing things "by rote" versus "by heart". Although I don't see much reference to Shakespeare in the text, it's not hard to extrapolate. How often do we use the tired old example of your high school English teacher who forced you to memorize, just for the sake of memorization, the balcony scene? And the generation of students that can recite it but still hate it, or worse, hate it all the more because of that?
So there's a thought that if you learn by heart it means you take the poem right into yourself, it becomes part of you. And it remains with you, probably for the rest of your life. I think a lot of us can remember bits of poetry that we learned when we were very young. So it's something that lives with you forever.
Honestly I never thought I'd ask this question. Part of the life of this blog has been spotting every random tv commercial and sitcom that decides to mix in a Shakespeare storyline (hello, Cosby show...) and, in general, we come away with a "Hey, any exposure to Shakespeare is a good thing" feeling.
But lately I wonder. I've been reading the Giver series with my daughter lately. There's a scene in one of the later books where two children, both poor children in impoverished communities who were never given the chance to read, grow up in different villages. Both learn to read independently. When they meet up again after several years, the boy shouts, "I can read Shakespeare!" and the girl shouts back, "Me too!'
Come on, the author's not even trying there. I think I'd like to see Shakespeare's name invoked for a reason beyond just some generic "I'm smart now" measuring stick.
"Hey, see that 6 year old over there, he's really smart."
"Really, how smart?"
"Oh, he reads Shakespeare."
"Wow, that is smart!"
It's not really all that different from an episode of Cosby where Theo and his buddy don't want to do their homework, so they try to skip out on Julius Caesar by getting the Cliff Notes. The difference comes in the fact that the episode in question was full of the text, as well as Christopher freakin Plummer doing a guest spot pretty much solely so he could do some Shakespeare.
In The Giver books I see no use of Shakespeare other than the aforementioned "Look how smart I am" checkbox. Yes there's a quote about Macbeth, but it's thrown in so randomly that I can barely tell you which quote (something from Lady M, I believe) or even where it came up.
In a thread today on Reddit someone asked about your "Forever Project." That idea you have that on the one hand seems impossible, like the kind of thing that you wish existed but know never will...but, at the same time, it's the idea that won't go away, and you're always (at least, as an engineer/programmer/hacker) thinking, "Hmm....could I build that?"
It was only then that I thought of how to describe mine. I call it The Shakespeare Matrix.
We've all seen the movie The Matrix, right? All of humanity have been enslaved by aliens, hooked up to a giant virtual reality world so perfect that most of them spend their entire lives never realizing that they're inside a computer simulation. That is, except for Keanu Reeves and his band of ... pirates? Rebels? Who have discovered how to hack the system and program it to do the things they want it to do. Need to know martial arts? No need to spend years training - just alter the program so that your character simulation knows kung fu. I bring up this example as an excuse to link one of the best movie fight scenes ever filmed. (Everybody knows that this is the best movie fight scene ever filmed. WHO'S DA MASTER?) Once Keanu masters his talent he begins to see the world around him *as actual source code*.
Anyway, I get off topic. What I want is a Shakespeare Matrix. I want a virtual reality world where you can walk around and watch the plays in any number of ways - maybe as the audience, maybe as a character, maybe you interact directly with the characters. At any time you can summon Shakespeare himself and have a conversation with him as well. You can also pull up the original text, much like pulling up the source code to the matrix. And when I say original text I mean all of it - easy access to Folio and Quarto versions alike, along with all the glossary and reference materials that you might need.
There's been a whole bunch of people talking about this over the years. I notice that "Hamlet on the Holodeck" was published back in the late 90's. I'm not a big believer in the holodeck idea, I don't think that will ever meaningfully happen. But I do know that the Second Life universe had a Shakespeare group. And then there was the abandoned massive multiplayer universe "Arden" that I had high hopes for, but gives you an idea about the realities of a project of this scope.
Anyway, not really a question in this one, I just wanted to brain dump a little about the Matrix idea, because I just thought of it and I really like the comparison. As I think of the different kinds of software that could be used for browsing Shakespeare I always teeter back and forth between "Make something light and easy for the everyday user, like students doing their homework...make a game!" and "Make the ultimate reference guide so that the experts who need access to boatloads of very specific Shakespeare information have a single place where they can get it." Technically the latter is easier because manipulating pure information like that is easier than the visual work that needs to be done to make even the most basic game.
So, Bardfilm and I decided to help out. We've done chicken crossing the road jokes, light bulb jokes, knock knock jokes ... it was only a matter of time, wasn't it? It's time for
(* Ok, please tell me somebody gets that reference.)
I just read today that former Disney princess and modern day movie darling Anne Hathaway is signed on to a new Taming of the Shrew movie? How cool would that be? The article suggests that she'll of course play Katharina, which I suppose make sense given her star power -- I think the only other role would be Bianca, and that's very much just a supporting role.
But two questions spring immediately to mind. First, who should be her Petruchio? Obviously this movie's going to skew to a younger audience so I don't think we'll see any Russell Crowes or Ralph Fiennes' stepping up. How about Chris Hemsworth, the dude that played Thor? There's already a bit of ol' Shakespeare about much of his dialogue anyway. He's got the rough sound and look about him that he might be able to play Petruchio.
Second question - do we think that anybody's ever going to match Liz Taylor and Richard Burton? That wasn't just a haphazard hookup of who happened to be hot in Hollywood (see what I did there? Ha!). They were on a completely different level than that, and it showed. The fact that it was Shakespeare was really just a bonus -- wasn't that the first (and only?) Shakespeare that she ever did? Burton was a different story, of course.
When Kenneth Branagh or David Tenant (feel free to borrow some N's from each other, boys, I can never remember how to spell either of your names) makes with the modern Shakespeare, I think we see it differently. They are Shakespeareans, and decades from now students will discuss their interpretations alongside Olivier. But ... is Anne Hathaway the next Dame Judi Dench or Helen Mirren? Do young actors today have the Royal Shakespeare Company to fall back on, to produce the next Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen?
I love it when I trip over stuff. While searching my TV Guide for Shakespeare stuff today I spotted that on January 19, on the FOX Movie Channel, Prince of Players will be on. Richard Burton plays Edwin Booth during his stellar Shakespearean career, while his brother John Wilkes plots to .... well, we all know that story. This is, in many people's opinions, one of Burton's best performances (see JM's comments on the original review!) and one of the best interpretations of "A movie with Shakespeare in it" (as opposed to "A Shakespeare movie") that I've yet seen.
If you've got a DVR and you've got that channel, don't miss the opportunity. This one is rarely shown, not available on DVD that we know of, and you really should see it.
The book takes an in depth look at individual scenes from the plays. Specifically 50 scenes from less than 40 plays, which means some get doubles.
(First thought -- 37, actually. Noble Kinsmen left out, as is Double Falsehood / Cardenio).
It's a very nice book, well made. Hardcover, big (8.5"x11" sort of big). Each play is accompanied by pictures, such as Elizabeth Taylor's Kate, or Al Pacino's Merchant. Each play comes with a summary of what it's about, why Shakespeare wrote it (context, if nothing else), and then sidebars and insets describing little trivia tidbits like what "gleek" might have meant.
I've only just started flipping through it, but I thought it would be fun to look at what scenes the author felt were crucial to the 'essential bluffer'. Does Midsummer, for example, have the final play-within-a-play? Puck's "If we shadows have offended?" Oberon's "I know a bank where the wild thyme grows?" Decisions, decisions. Let's see, shall we?
Two! Two scenes. Act II Scene i right off the bat, with Oberon's "I know a bank..." quote highlighted on the section cover. And......(flip flip flip).....Act III, Scene i, the translation of Bottom into an ass.
I like it. There's lots of content to read through, and I don't have time at the moment to truly dig into every individual decision the author made, but I hope to periodically pick and choose a section for us to discuss.
Until then ... name a play, try to guess what scene or scenes he included, and I'll let you know in the comments! Hamlet's an easy one. Who wants to guess what scene is included from M4M, or maybe Pericles?
I would kill to see Cake Boss do an episode like this - a cake full of Shakespeare's most famous characters.
Of course, much like Cake Boss, making something out of cake technically means making it out of chocolate, sugar, rice krispy treats and then sitting the sculptures on top of said cake. But, still!
Here's your challenge, Shakespeare geeks! The opening picture in the article shows the entire cake. Then, each character is explained. So before you scroll down to read the whole article, see how many characters you recognize.
I just love that somebody's pursued by a bear. I want to meet whoever made this cake.
UPDATE : It appears that Romeo is being pursued by a bear? Although in fairness it could be a kangaroo. Also, who is the snowman looking royal dude on the lower level supposed to be, Hamlet's father's ghost? The rest seem pretty recognizable. Note the arras with the blade sticking out of it.
Lose some weight. Too many Falstaff jokes.
Try another comedy like King Lear--not sure everyone got how funny that ending is.
Move to new lodgings to avoid taxes.
Finally finish that biography. I owe it to my public to clear up some misconceptions.
Try to get that manuscript of Cardenio back from the Earl of Oxford. Note: Don't let him borrow anything else. He's always stealing other people's plays.
Three words: More cuckold jokes.
Write back to Marlowe. It's been hard keeping in touch since the whole faking his death thing.
Get an extra-large codpiece and try to be a bigger hit with the ladies this year!
Branch out a bit. Perhaps write something in that new form called "The Novel."
See if I can write another fairy play. Maybe this time on an island. Score more weed from Henslowe, being stoned really helped with that first one.
Seriously, lose some weight. People are starting to say, "How many pledges to Shylock have you got under that doublet, Will?"
Write dedication for the sonnets book I'm doing with Thorpe. Or just let him do it.
Give up the combover. It's time to face being bald. See if they can change that in the portrait with the earring. Note: Oh, that earring! What was I THINKING?
