Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2005-12-11 10:23 am
rionaleonhart) wrote2005-12-11 10:23 am
Entry tags:
What Do You Love About Squid?
I am bored, and will therefore post an interview meme. Hooray or something!
Leave me a comment, in which you ask me five (or whatever; I'm not exactly going to go 'OMG YOU DID NOT THINK OF FIVE DO YOU REALLY EXPECT ME TO ANSWER A MERE THREE?') questions. I will try to answer them, as if you couldn't have guessed that. Maybe there is a meme somewhere where the point actually is to ask questions without having them answered, but this is not it.
Behind the cut, I'm going to ramble about what, exactly, it was that made me like the ShakespeaRe-Told Macbeth adaptation so much. I'll shut up about it eventually, Ipromise think. Maybe.
I think that what I really like about the ShakespeaRe-Told adaptation is the fact that they've really taken the time to make Macbeth a likeable character.
You see, I love pre-insanity Macbeth. Absolutely adore him. I love it when he's reminiscing about eating sparrow, and when he's rambling about the origin of squid, and when he's randomly snogging Banquo in the corridors. I love all that. Before he goes insane, I really couldn't adore him more.
And because of that, it's not just a case of 'oh, look, Macbeth's going crazy'. It's that Macbeth is going crazy, and I really don't want him to go crazy, I want him to stay this character I love, and I know that he won't, and it is horrible to watch in a kind of brilliant way.
It's also nice that, while he is called something along the lines of 'that hated tyrant' in the original play but the audience sees very little of why people would think that of him, in the adaptation it's much more clear why people might resent him.
The other thing I love is the relationship between Macbeth and Banquo (OH MAN I BET YOU NEVER SAW THAT ONE COMING). Y'see, in the original play the two of them don't seem to be especially close - using the formal 'you' when speaking to each other, et cetera. In the adaptation, however, they are quite clearlymadly in love very close friends, and so when Macbeth has him killed it has much more pathos.
On the downside, there are aspects that jar: the 'milk of human kindness' line does not fit in a modern setting, and the 'I have given suck' speech that Lady Macbeth gives makes so much more sense in the original:
ORIGINAL:
LADY MACBETH: I would have killed my own child for you - why won't you kill Duncan for me, you wimp?
ADAPTATION:
ELLA: We had a child. He died. LET'S KILL DUNCAN HOORAY.
Gripes aside, I really do love the adaptation, although I'm starting to get a bit worried about the fact that I've applied to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fanfic100 for it, for the following reasons:
- Cooking is a pretty major part of Macbeth's life.
- I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT COOKING.
Possibly I should try to learn to cook, which would have the dual advantages of a) making me more knowledgeable about what I am writing, and b) my gaining a skill which is pretty important in order to, y'know, live. Hmm.
Leave me a comment, in which you ask me five (or whatever; I'm not exactly going to go 'OMG YOU DID NOT THINK OF FIVE DO YOU REALLY EXPECT ME TO ANSWER A MERE THREE?') questions. I will try to answer them, as if you couldn't have guessed that. Maybe there is a meme somewhere where the point actually is to ask questions without having them answered, but this is not it.
Behind the cut, I'm going to ramble about what, exactly, it was that made me like the ShakespeaRe-Told Macbeth adaptation so much. I'll shut up about it eventually, I
I think that what I really like about the ShakespeaRe-Told adaptation is the fact that they've really taken the time to make Macbeth a likeable character.
You see, I love pre-insanity Macbeth. Absolutely adore him. I love it when he's reminiscing about eating sparrow, and when he's rambling about the origin of squid, and when he's randomly snogging Banquo in the corridors. I love all that. Before he goes insane, I really couldn't adore him more.
And because of that, it's not just a case of 'oh, look, Macbeth's going crazy'. It's that Macbeth is going crazy, and I really don't want him to go crazy, I want him to stay this character I love, and I know that he won't, and it is horrible to watch in a kind of brilliant way.
It's also nice that, while he is called something along the lines of 'that hated tyrant' in the original play but the audience sees very little of why people would think that of him, in the adaptation it's much more clear why people might resent him.
The other thing I love is the relationship between Macbeth and Banquo (OH MAN I BET YOU NEVER SAW THAT ONE COMING). Y'see, in the original play the two of them don't seem to be especially close - using the formal 'you' when speaking to each other, et cetera. In the adaptation, however, they are quite clearly
On the downside, there are aspects that jar: the 'milk of human kindness' line does not fit in a modern setting, and the 'I have given suck' speech that Lady Macbeth gives makes so much more sense in the original:
ORIGINAL:
LADY MACBETH: I would have killed my own child for you - why won't you kill Duncan for me, you wimp?
ADAPTATION:
ELLA: We had a child. He died. LET'S KILL DUNCAN HOORAY.
Gripes aside, I really do love the adaptation, although I'm starting to get a bit worried about the fact that I've applied to
fanfic100 for it, for the following reasons:- Cooking is a pretty major part of Macbeth's life.
- I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT COOKING.
Possibly I should try to learn to cook, which would have the dual advantages of a) making me more knowledgeable about what I am writing, and b) my gaining a skill which is pretty important in order to, y'know, live. Hmm.
Re: there is a mispelling in this icon
Macbeth:
Witches: You are Thane of Glamis!
Macbeth: So I am!
Witches: You are also Thane of Cawdor!
Macbeth: Wait, what?
Witches: You shall be King!
Macbeth: You're barking mad, you are.
Witches: And also all your sons are going to be King, Banquo, but nobody cares about you.
Messenger: Hey, Macbeth, you've just been made Thane of Cawdor!
Macbeth: Hey, cool. Maybe that being King thing will work out as well.
Lady Macbeth: Kill the King.
Macbeth: No.
Lady Macbeth: Kill the King.
Macbeth: Seriously, no.
Lady Macbeth: KILL THE KING, YOU WIMP.
Macbeth: FINE. (kills the King)
(interlude in which Macbeth and Banquo shag) *
Macbeth: You know, I'm not entirely comfortable with this whole Banquo's-sons-being-kings thing. I don't like to think that I've killed Duncan just for them to rip the crown from me. Also, Banquo is intelligent and generally a threat. (has Banquo killed)
Banquo's Ghost: Hi.
Macbeth: ...OKAY, WHOEVER'S DOING THAT, THAT IS SO NOT FUNNY. (generally flips out)
Macbeth: Hey, witches, what's going to happen?
Witches: Beware Macduff! Also, nobody born of woman can harm you.
Macbeth: I'm getting mixed messages here.
Witches: Also, a huge line of Banquo's descendents are going to be kings, one after another.
Macbeth: ...oh.
Witches: Well, we did tell you.
Macbeth: I'm really not happy about this.
Witches: (dance)
Macbeth: Although Macduff is in all probability born of woman, I think I'll have him killed anyway. Just to be safe.
Murderer: Well, he's not here, so I can't kill him for you, but I sure can butcher his family!
Malcolm: Y'see, Macduff, although I'm really the rightful King, it's probably best that I'm not the ruler, because I shag everything that moves.
Macduff: ...I see.
Ross: Hey, Macduff.
Macduff: Hi! So, how are my wife and children?
Ross: Oh, they're absolutely fine.
Macduff: Well, that's good.
Ross: Also, I have awful news.
Macduff: ...yes?
Ross: Awful news! Awful, awful news of awfulness!
Macduff: ...yes?
Ross: You know that wife and children that I said were fine? Well, actually, they're all dead.
Macduff: My children?
Ross: Yes.
Macduff: My wife too?
Ross: Yes.
Malcolm: Well, that's okay, because we can take similar revenge!
Macduff: (who seems inexplicably to know that it was Macbeth, despite it not having been mentioned)
He has no children - All my pretty ones?
Did you say all? - O hell-kite! - All?
What, all my pretty chickens and their dam
At one fell swoop?
Ross: YES. ALL. Also, who the hell comes up with a spontaneous extended metaphor like that at a time like this?
Lady Macbeth: Although I outwardly show little remorse, I wash my hands obsessively and talk to myself in my sleep about the bloodstains that will NEVER BE WASHED AWAY OH NO. I am generally going crazy. I think I'll kill myself now. (does so)
Seyton: Your wife has killed herself.
Macbeth: I so don't care about that.
Macduff: You are not my favourite person in the world right now.
Macbeth: Ha! You can't hurt me, you're born of woman!
Macduff: Ha! I was delivered by Caesarian section!
Macbeth: I swear that doesn't count. (gets killed)
Hamlet:
Ghost: Hi. I am doomed to wander the Earth because I didn't have time to repent before I died.
Hamlet: Alas, poor ghost! **
Ghost: I am also your father, the King of Denmark. I think. Riona's knowledge of this play is a little sketchy. Anyway, your uncle murdered me so that he could become King.
Hamlet: I SHALL AVENGE YOU! (does nothing for a really really long time)
Everyone: (dies)
...these summaries are just slightly unbalanced length-wise, mainly because I adore Macbeth and haven't actually read Hamlet properly yet.
* This may not be in your version of the text.
** This line is actually in the play. I find it absolutely hilarious, and I don't know why.