Shakespeare was seriously into slapstick, people.

[deird1]

Because my internet browsing goes off on weird tangents, I somehow ended up on the Wikipedia page for She's The Man. Apparently, the critical consensus for the film was:

"Shakespeare's wit gets lost in translation with She's the Man's broad slapstick, predictable jokes, and unconvincing plotline."

…I mean…

…err…

…it's an adaptation of Twelfth Night. TWELFTH NIGHT! Which means that, in this case, the broad slapstick, predictable jokes, and unconvincing plotline are ALL Shakepeare's!



I mean, the movie's kinda dumb. But it actually does a pretty good job of convincingly putting together Twelfth Night's plot.

Comments

[gillo]

And that is far from the only or even the most slapstick of the plays - Comedy of Errors has to win there, but even the tragedies contain some.

Criticise the film if you don't think it works. But don't drag Will into it.

[deird1]

Indeed. Shakespeare was a master of words, but also damn good at the silliness.

[conuly]

Somebody never read - or understood! - Shakespeare.

[deird1]

Totally!

I think they're probably aware of Shakespeare by reputation – and yes, he was definitely witty – but think of him as important, hallowed, and therefore somehow serious and "above" all that broad humour. (Much in the same way that people were scandalised by the play version of Amadeus, because it accurately depicted how much Mozart liked dirty jokes.)