Physiognomy of a Chick Flick: Shakespeare in Love
Subject: Physiognomy of a Chick Flick: Shakespeare in Love
Posted by Sarah White
I've often heard that the purpose of fiction is to explore characters, emotions and perspectives that are outside of the normal rhythms of our lives. By viewing a fictional film, we broaden our horizons and experience fantastic situations vicariously. In order for a film to fulfill its enlightening role, it should present some sort of topic for exploration.
In a romance, this topic is usually the relationship between two people. The foundation of any relationship is always the personalities of the people in it; their quirks and ideas shape its direction and intensity. So ideally, the fictional lovers are multifaceted, and the audience learns about and appreciates their depth as the tale evolves.
In the case of Shakespeare in Love, however, William and Viola are stereotyped and one-dimensional, making their relationship tedious and flat (not to mention horizontal). We learn nothing about the personal motivations of either Shakespeare or Viola; all we know is that they're both starry-eyed idealists. Neither are we given any justification for their bizarre attraction to each other; they meet once and are in love, with no transitional ground. Really, this is very similar to Romeo and Juliet: the characters clap eyes on each other and are "in love" for reasons incomprehensible to human understanding. Shakespeare in Love fails miserably as a film, since it provides no depthor perspective as a topic for exploration.
posted by Kirk Andrew Everist @ 11:22 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I think it is very difficult to define how individuals love. In this case, it is essential to try and look at it from their point of view. This romance may seem a bit flat or shallow to us gals of the 20th century, but don't be so quick to judge. I think that the star-crossed lover bit is very believable in their circumstances. There wasn't much of this get-to-know-ya business in Elizabethan England. The mere fact that she chooses to love this specific person even with the knowledge that it is a doomed relationship, suggests something more than a bizarre attraction.
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