To clarify...

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: This was in response to Alferd's negative appraisal of Shakespeare on the last board. That should've been clearer at the outset. : : : [Shakespeare] was a mediocre writer of the time. : : I'm not sure that I agree with this. Mediocre? You do not believe that there was any manifest talent there? : : : [Shakespeare] scratched out a play every week for cash. : : Who doesn't, man? For this, he sucks? : : : If he was writing today, for movies, EVERYONE on this board would say he's a sellout motherfucker with no talent. : : They probably would, but that doesn't mean that they would be right. : : : Why don't we try and relate him to today? Shakespeare's tragedies were full of violence. Sex. Naughty language. Shit that was pretty shocking for the time. This makes him ... Quentin Tarantino. : : I've actually made that comparison myself, though more favorably than you're doing here. : : Think of the scene in "Jackie Brown" in which Jackson laments about DeNiro popping Fonda to Forrester. That outward expression of, what would otherwise be interior monologue owes quite a lot to "The Bard." : : I guess I can understand if you get no pleasure from a Shakespeare narrative (they *are* dated, after all), but his work is most *popularly* known for setting the standards for narrative structure through dialogue (um, does that make sense?). : : : For the record, Marlowe had talent in his fucking pinky finger than Shakespeare had all over. : : Of course, to debate Shakespeare and Marlowe is to debate Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in my book. : : : Okay. His comedies. All were based on relationships. All had pretty shallow characters (fuck you, they WERE shallow). Underdevelopment. A situation which is resolved happily by the end. This would be a sitcom writer. He wrote situation comedies. : : I've once read a critic describe "Chasing Amy" as a sitcom. I'd submit "American Beauty" as a sitcom as well. Does this mean that they are shallow (and therefore suck)? : : People praise Shakespeare because of his masterful use of dialogue. That's all he had...(with the archaic English language)... : : Yes, but haven't you just described Kevin Smith? : : You also didn't mention the tragedies (or the sonnets which are quite nice). Olivier put it best when he said that "Hamlet" is the tragedy of a young man who couldn't make up his mind. : : I think we can all relate to that. : : --an unpronouncable symbol that was formerly the current name of the artist formerly known as Prince

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