Hello and welcome back! It’s been what? A year (please laugh.) Anyways as it’s hardly two weeks into 2021, I’m beginning to realize 2020 put on a pair of sunglasses and disguised itself as a new year. With the storming of the US Capitol and Kim and Kanye breaking up within the first 6 days it’s very clear we’re in for one hell of a year. But all that aside, I’ve entered this year with a fresh, more optimistic mindset. Then again I said the same thing going into 2020 and look at how that went. But the ups and downs of my previous year and the resolutions I have going into the next are not today’s talking points. It’s been one week since returning to school after winter break and we’ve already studied almost half of Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet, as well as produced a co-hosted podcast discussing the topic as well as what makes a classic. I determined that a classic is a timeless something. I know, vague. But I will not apologize for that. A classic can be defined differently for everyone. As I said in the podcasts discussion, a classic can be anything that continues to hold its relevance year after year. It’s timeless and typically has a message that stays important enough for modern or younger audiences to understand. This is why Romeo and Juliet is such a good example of a classic. The story covers plenty of things I as a 15 year old can relate to. This and the fact that the storyline is easily adapted into new pieces of media allows for the story to stay relevant and well known.
Family Guy
If you happen to have grown up anywhere from 1995-2010 chances are you see the movie Shrek as a cinematic masterpiece. Something I realized in studying Shakespeare is that the storyline from the movie is distinctly similar to that of Romeo and Juliet. Two wavering groups with a star crossed lovers theme. Another fantastic example is the 1978 musical, Grease. The movie stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton John and the themes are extremely similar to Romeo and Juliet. Travolta’s character is the complete opposite of Olivia’s and their two cliques are constantly at each other’s throats. These films weren’t directly based on or remakes of Romeo and Juliet, but the common themes suggest that because of its classic storyline, Romeo and Juliet is often associated with movies like these.
In conclusion I personally think that observing the impacts Shakespeare’s writings have made on the film industry in a modern era is really fascinating. Seeing that the movies I’ve grown up loving are so similar to a play that before this week I didn’t really understand is really cool.
