I know this is an adaptation from that Shakespeare play, but...?
How true to life is this? Nice black guy trying to get along w/ everyone and a manipulative white person comes along and destroys not only that black person, but destroys many lives.
Personally I found this a really weird/unrealistic film. All the white guys were really just carrying on like girls in my opinion... I've never seen guys act so sneaky and manipulative while conspiring to ruin a schoolmate's life in a school setting, that's usually something I see girls do! This felt like watching a more serious version of Mean Girls with boys as the majority of the characters... I'm not sure if this is how white people act in general, lol... but probably not.
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Hey Jin! You better not be cheating on me!!
In a way, that's like me coming on this board and asking if all white ladies who get black boyfriends will likely find themselves raped and strangled. Then again, coming from a mostly white town (and I'm white myself), I can testify that some white people are malicious and are content to make others miserable. But, I don't think that's an attribute of whites particularly, just people in general, especially if they have rough backgrounds.
shareyami...exactly one of the main problems with this film. The characters were TOO young. This story has no business being told in a high school setting. The stakes aren't high enough, nothing makes sense because the setting and the actors were ridiculous and WAY TOO YOUNG to be portraying what the meaning of this story is actually about.
For both the OP and Yami--In the Shakespearean play it takes place in a royal court and Othello is the only African person in the entire court. He is King. I cannot remember exactly how he got where he got--i.e. if he was adopted etc--but most people in the court are fine with this. Except a few..and one of those is Iago (Hugo). Iago is notioriously one of Shakespeare's most motiveless villans. There is really no reason for his actions aside from the pure fact of racism. There's been suggestions that Othello took advantage of friends of Iago and Iago on the court (i.e. in O that's the basketball court) but really Iago plots the entire thing by himself and manipulates everyone. Yes, Othello does have the pretty princess but it's never shown one way or the other if Iago has any feelings for Desdamona (Desi).
One of the reasons why Hugo doesn't work in this conext is because they try to give him motive. Exporing drug use and parental abuse is interesting but neither the writing nor Hartnett's acting was at all able to stand the compexity of the role and or the story. AND becuase we are past the civil rights movement. There is definitely still racism today, much of it, but this adaptation doesn't hold up.
And in terms of white people being this way, they are no more or less malicious or *beep* up than black people. But really, this story doesn't quite work in a modern setting. It's been adapted in certain plays where Othello is the only white person in an African Village...however, again, this doesn't quite hold up as the white person ultimately has more power, even when he is being taken advantage of, because of the history that's defined the white person's fear of the 'other' minority.
I didn't read this but this paper may be a good one to read to become acquainted with some of the discussion surronding Iago and his motives.
http://fportfolio.petra.ac.id/user_files/86-012/IAGO.DOC
vanity
I mean this in all due respect but are all black ppl in general willing to murder someone they love over jealousy without giving them a chance to either rectify or confirm that they cheated on them in the first place?
Seriously, I love this movie but even I have to agree that setting it in a private school is pretty rocky simply because, when we are teens, we are going to cheat on our girl/boyfriends because we can. Its not like we're married. Its a completly different set of circumstances. We're all young and having these types of intense emotions are confusing to us.
Why is that so surprising Yamichik? Boys can be just as vicious and mean too. Trust me, I had to deal with a lot of "mean boys" when I was in high school. This movie is not farfetched when dealing with this aspect.
shareThe person who stated that in the play Othello, Othello is an African is incorrect. The subtitle of the play is The Moor of Venice. Moor is a very old term for Arab,still used in expressions like the Moorish architecture in Spain from when that country had been conquered by Arabian people. When Othello is referred to as black this is a reflection of Elizabethan english people calling everyone not white, black. Now,whether the actor is made up to appear to be a somewhat darker complected Arab or played by a black actor( I've seen it both ways) I think it works equally well because it's still about an outsider and racism. Just thought someone might be interested. If not,OK. Sicerely, a former student of Shakespeare. P.S. Agree with poster who said high schoolers too young for such heavy relationships, 'tho an interesting concept and well acted.
shareJust a bunch of white devils we are.
You are gonna like these tacos boy, they taste just like steak.
There are evil white people and evil black people. Manipulators can be men too.
share