First off, I would like to apologize for my lack of posting on this fabulous little online get together. It was due to technical difficulties and I’m excited to finally be participating. Let me begin with my reaction to ‘Looking For Richard’. My first reaction was surprise at the fact that I had never even heard of a movie with such a star-packed cast. The purpose, made abundantly clear from the start of the movie, is for this gang of Shakespeare bullies to get everyone to really see what the big deal is about this guy Shakespeare. Yes—everybody knows the “To be or not to be’s” or the fact that 10 Things I Hate About You was modeled after Taming of a Shrew, but this is not enough for Pacino and his boys (and girl). They need to bring Shakespeare to the streets and get people excited about William Shakespeare for the right reasons and not just because it’s hip or considered to be something that should be common knowledge.
Though people have tried in the past to make Shakespeare more accessible to the general public (i.e. through movies like 10 Things I Hate about You and the 90s remake of Romeo and Juliet), the unique aspect of Pacino’s mission seemed to lie in the fact that he was primarily concerned with the words of Wiliam Shakespeare and not his main idea. He wants people to see the beauty in these words that he, his actor friends, English teachers around the world, and general Shakespeare enthusiasts everywhere see; the elegance and magnificence of language that often gets thrown to the curb by our blog-obsessed generation. This was intriguing to me as I was really curious to see how he would approach it. Yes—the language and emotion in his words are extremely powerful, but I believe it’s more of something that one must develop their own interest in and pursue, more so than something that can be shoved in someone’s face. So intrigued I was and on I watched, and honestly, I was kind of disappointed.
Yes- bringing Shakespeare to the people! What could be better? Taking it down from his pedestal of eloquence and intimidation and served in a harmless McDonalds bag that people have been eating from since their childhood, right? Not quite. On this point, I agree and disagree with Sara’s feelings toward the movie. While watching it, all I was thinking about was how much I like Kevin Spacey, and I was really enjoying it. I think he’s fantastic and seeing him in the cast really did draw me in. Until I realized what was going on. Yes, the only way in which he really makes the play accessible to American audiences is by casting famous American actors. Now, realizing what was happening, I felt betrayed by the movie. I do disagree with Sara, however, when she says that he is underestimating Americans and not giving us enough credit. I will admit that when I signed up for this class I thought it was a class studying Shakespeare and his works and as the class has progressed I have felt more and more like I know nothing about Shakespeare and everyone else came in with an extensive knowledge of his life and works. I feel unprepared to say the least. So, obviously, it is possible that he was not giving us enough credit as Americans, but from my perspective it seems as though we really do have a very superficial understanding of Shakespeare’s works. I have studied a few of his plays and put on an 8th grade production of Romeo and Juliet, but I would definitely classify myself as having a “pop” impression of Shakespeare. Therefore, I think, for myself, I would classify Pacino’s mission as failed. I appreciate his effort, but all he really did was show us his passion for Bill and essentially say, “Get it now?” And no, Mr. Pacino, I’m afraid I don’t.
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