When I recently endured and reviewed Anonymous, it occurred to me that I knew very little about any of the other characters in that film. Apart from Shakespeare himself, the only literary figures I know from then are the people who are accused of writing Shakespeare’s plays.
Shakespeare was respected during his time, but nothing like the reverence we hold for him now. Few of the people standing in the mud at the Globe would have known they were watching something timeless. You never know what’s going to crawl out of the popular culture and into history. Fingers crossed, Toby Keith!
What about the other 16th century playwrights? The Shakes-peers? Most of their names and works are lost, but there would have been fans standing at theaters screaming for them too, waiting for a live version of “buh-buh-buh Black Death Face buh-buh Black Death Face.” We might be better off not knowing.
Shakespeare can tell us a lot about the human condition. The popular culture of the day would have told us about living in the late 1500s. I’d love to hear an Elizabethan stand-up bit called “What if the deale withe alle the typhvs?” But we don’t have the option, maybe because everyone died from typhus. I blame Cromwell. Also I blame the habit of writing with liquified goose feces on what was essentially pre-chewed particle board in a distinctly moist climate.
Yet there is much to be gained by understanding ourselves. I’m a pop culture junkie because it connects me to modern life. In 400 years our offspring may still be reading Thomas Pynchon’s next novel (Gravity’s Rainbow 2: The Regravinating), but it’s not what everyone is talking about on Twitter.
What will we be talking about on Twitter?
Back atcha, Smiley
Ah, Kristen. I get the sense that you’re trying to convey the impression of a young woman flipping the bird. It’s not believable, but you have definitely improved.
Of course I’m not comparing Twilight to Shakespeare. Nor am I comparing it to Pynchon. I would compare it to eating yam flambe’ and forgetting to blow the fire out.
The popularity of movies like this can help us keep our finger on the zeitgeist, if that sort of thing matters to you. Taken by itself, Twilight may give some bleak outlooks — for example, that our teenagers confuse jealousy, possessiveness, and stalking with romance. Aren’t we better off knowing that?
Learning it is not easy. You have to work your way through a lot of poorly written dialog, delivered badly while advancing what can only be broadly described as a “plot.” But after seeing it, I’ll be able to talk to my niece. And not all of our shitty movies are such bummers — Zac Efron is still out there, you know. Can Junior College Musical be far behind? No sparkly vampires there! Probably!
Staying hooked into the popular culture, even the utter crap, has enormous advantages to those wanting to be part of the modern world. Shakespeare and Mozart and Monet can put you in touch with your innermost feelings. Twilight and Katy Perry and Grand Theft Auto can put you in touch with the people around you. There’s value there, even if you crack a molar when enduring it. And you never know which of our teen idols will still be studied in 400 years.
And I’m not just saying this because I want to feel better about having a ticket to Twilight on opening night. See you there!
Awww. I made her smile!