Roméo et Juliette

Dearest shadow,


I honestly cannot make up my mind about romeo and juliet. I think its really cool and really overrated at the same time and I cant stand people who think that reading R&J constitutes having "done shakespeare"...I think I must have read the play at least a hundred times. There is really something about it. or maybe something to it.


I did my shakespeare in film paper focusing on Pastiche in the 1996 remake. The same movie that sky rocketed leo di caprio to super stardom. I remember very vividly....I watched that movie in 1997. My drama teacher played it for us and told us to stop making weird noises if we saw the kissing scenes. And of course there were a lot of those.


I've watched far too many love stories based on romeo and juliet. Franco Zeffirelli's classic, the west side story, chicken rice war and more blahs....but something about the combination of images in the 1996 version makes my heart rejoice and sink. At the same time.


I mean the actual play itself, even when it first opened in the globe theatre, started with the prologue which tells you of the star crossed lovers. You know right from the beginning that they are going to die. Their parents are fighting. And c'mon...Romeo's 18. She's 14. This is puppy love! There is no maturity or depth to that relationship. And shakespeare is playing on dramatic conventions to lull you....He temporarily suspends your disbelief to the fact that it is a construction on stage. He is using tragedy to play with your emotions!! All of this is blank verse...rich in imagery but it's just ink on paper. Your brain is telling you all of this....


But why!...why does my heart sink just to read that play. I admire even the cheesiest lines. I smile, hold my breath and gasp at lines I can recite just off the top of my head.


maybe its the blank verse, maybe the rich imagery. My insatiable obsession over mr william, or leo di caprio for that matter. It could be the charm of yellowed pages, faded ink and the musty smell. And though I'd rather not admit it -- for fear of being categorized as another one of those "i've-done-shakespeare" people,



There's really something about that play which tugs at my heartstrings. It makes me feel all pensive, moody and wish for a happily-ever-after ending.


So what has the amateur lit critic decided about the masterpiece? Has she finally made up her mind? Yes. She has made up her mind, never to write off (pun intended) any written work just like that aaaaaand she has also made up her mind NEVER to pick up romeo and juliet for some light bedtime reading if she ever has trouble falling asleep.



n-e-v-e-r.




That is, until I famously subvert myself.