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I got my first disclaimer on a tv/movie today.

posted 4 years ago by tcrum (31669)
17 replies | jump to latest

I'm not familiar with a lot of Shakespeare works, so I started up a free version of Othello from BBC britbox. Here is the disclaimer that comes up at the beginning. I had no idea what it meant, as I said, I don't know Shakespeare's works well at all. I wiki it, and I see what they're going for but, really??

Shakespeare:Othello 1981..Here is how the movie starts

One of the more controversial productions in the BBC Television Shakespeare cycle, Othello has the dubious distinction of being the last British Television production of the play with a white actor in the title role.

Then page 2 comes in...The following program is a product of its time. While not condoning the racial insensitivity involved in the production, removing it from the series would be tantamount to claiming it never happened.

Wow, just wow. Really?

On a side note, I've been watching a few Shakespeare movies lately and they are so hard to understand. Anyone who says, oh you just aren't smart enough to understand the language is crazy.

[–] sslssg (34566) 4 years ago

I get it, I mean Othello is moorish, so not white. Was the white actor in black face?

[–] tcrum (31669) 4 years ago

No, I was completely lost with that disclaimer. Whose whiter than Shakespeare?

[–] sslssg (34566) 4 years ago

Also, don't worry about having issues with the language. I don't know if it would help to read it along with the movie or not. Sometimes reading Shakespeare is more difficult than listening.

[–] tcrum (31669) 4 years ago

oh I had the subtitles on, that did nothing, nothing:)

[–] brodee (467) 4 years ago

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082861/

They made a black role a white role... and yeah, seems like he wore a little black face too, but not enough to hide that he was white.

[–] sslssg (34566) 4 years ago

Yeah, Hopkins is really white.

[–] brodee (467) 4 years ago

The loonies want to claim this stuff isn't happening, that it's "concern trolling" to acknowledge that these people are completely insane.

Sure, Othello, the moor of Venice is supposed to be black so Shakespeare can make constant racial jokes about how the big black bull is banging the delicate white lamb... but I'd imagine this crowd would have an even bigger problem with that than white washing him.

[–] nyctc7 (43907) 4 years ago

Disclaimer: We are woke but still want to make money

[–] tcrum (31669) 4 years ago

Did they really need the disclaimer if I had to look up the plot on wiki....I'm assuming anyone watching this wouldn't need that disclaimer, unless you know some really boring 15 year olds who think old bad bbc productions are the bomb:)

[–] MonStar (13218) 4 years ago

During one of Xfinity's free access to movies on demand, I recently saw "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993). That was pretty easy to follow, and entertaining, for a Shakespeare play made into a movie. Denzel Washington and Keanu Reaves both had small roles in it, and both were effective! Kenneth Branagh directed and starred along with Emma Thompson.

I saw the National Players do a Shakespeare comedy on stage, the day after the same troupe performed "Of Mice and Men" on stage. I was flabbergasted that the small cast could remember all the lines and stage directions for both plays, especially with the Shakespeare dialogue.

[–] tcrum (31669) 4 years ago

I'll check that out. I hate being in the dark about major players, so I try to constantly check stuff out, but Shakespeare has always been kind of boring for me.

[–] Kowalski (76825) 4 years ago

EVEN WHEN HE IS IN LOVE?🤔

[–] tcrum (31669) 4 years ago

yes..I was talking about serious stuff like Othello, Hamlet, King Lear...I'm embarrassed that I don't know more about his plays.

[–] Kowalski (76825) 4 years ago

I HAVE READ MANY...I HAVE NOT VIEWED MANY FILMS BASED ON THEM...HAMLET IS PROBABLY MY FAVORITE...I DO NOT LOVE ANY OF IT THOUGH...ITS OUTDATED AND BORING MOST OF THE TIME.

[–] MonStar (13218) 4 years ago

The old English in Shakespeare is hard for me to follow. Before Covid, Shakespeare would be performed for free outdoors annually in one or two locations. I only went to a few of them.

James Earl Jones became famous for playing Othello, so the race disclaimer does not surprise me.

Henry V (1989) was acclaimed when Kenneth Branagh directed it, but I've never seen it.

[–] DarkHorse (297) 4 years ago

And yet it's perfectly ok to recast white characters with POC actors.

[–] brux (14774) 4 years ago

Othello is a black character ...so having a white person play it is problematic. What is so hard about that to understand?