The B.L.A.C.K. Oaks

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Othello, "O" was better!

Othello is one of Williams Shakespeare greatest plays, written in 1603 and based on the Italian short story Un Capitano Moro. "O" is a 2001 film which is a modern day film from Othello. "O" I believe is a film young adults probably can relate too because of the time periods versus Othello. "O" is about a high school basketball player who's the only black guy. He attends a private white school and is the MVP on his team. He's been dating a white girl for about four months and her father was not aware of it. Her father was told that O was raping her or being to aggressive with his daughter. She finally told her father what was going on. However, O friend Hugo told him that Desi, his girlfriend, has been hanging out with another one of O friends and told him to be careful and watch. O has been seeing that but haven't said anything to Desi about. She believes everything is good between the between when its not. O pretends there nothing wrong and continue to spy on them. When its all said in done, O kills Desi and also kills himself. That also happened in Othello. Now, Why I say "O" is better then Othello is because Othello is the Literature virgin and "O" is the move recent so young adult my age can find it very interesting then watch Othello.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Othello

The Othello adaptions were very interesting to watch. My favorite was the one by Lawrence Fishburne. It was created in 1990 by the Royal Theater. The movie as a whole was very frustrating to me as the viewer. Some times I could feel what they were going through. Other times I felt so angry that characters did not know the truth. I hate lies and deceptive people. It angered me almost the whole movie to see Lago the villain deceive Othello. Just seeing him appear in general was angering to me. Lago's sneaky self should rot in the bottom of the earth. I would not have had that Kind of mercy on him if I was Othello. Over all I did like the movie but was quite agitated by the story line itself. The ability to foreshadow what is going on next was very well put together by the director. Even though the language barrier between the British English and the American English was a little different I could get the gist of it and watch what was going on. I might recommend this movie to people.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Othello

It intrigues me that William Shakespeare borrowed the story of Othello from an Italian story. I wonder if William Shakespeare would have written a play of his own invention, that showcases a black man as a proud and prominent figure. I would also love to see a "reverse" Othello, where a white man is the single minority and the Blacks are the majority.

Othello A seed is planted....

I thought Othello was interesting because in showed the negative aspects of jealousy and betrayal. What started with the pride of one person (Iago) led to the death of many people and families that were hurt. This mindset is still seen today and we can learn a lot from this theme.

-Mitchel Daniel

O. is only better to us because it was designed for us

The films O. and Othello are both great representations of the Shakespeare play, Othello. It seems that most people in my class enjoyed the O. version of the play more than the Othello version. While I enjoy the O. version immensely, I enjoyed the original play more. The only reason my class enjoyed the O. version is because that version was made for our age group, and represents a more contemporary setting. I enjoy films that are closer to the original play, so I enjoyed the BBC version much more. I also believed the acting in the BBC version was superb, but then again, classical acting is usually better than film acting.

Othello

I believe the story of Othello transcends time. That is essentially proven by the 3 reenactments of the play that reflected a then modern interpretation of the play. The BBC version that we viewed in class was the closest version to the original play. The main themes in Othello are jealousy, pride, manipulation, and deception. Those themes are still relevant to this time as shown in the movie O. Most viewers of the film would be able to relate to them. It may not necessarily be the exact events but something similar. There will always be someone who feels snubbed or that they received the short end of the stick in life and with those emotions comes a possibility of jealousy and deception.

Marlon Barrows

Othello Blog "O" is better

Shakespeare's Othello has been recreated many times through film and on stage live, however I believe the best version for young adults to watch it in is "O". The movies "O" is a great way to show the extreme emotions that shakespeare was trying to portray. I watched the "Theatre Night" and the Lawrence Fishburne version of Othello and both showed great emotion however O's added elements make the story more real and personal to young adults of this generation. I think the raw emotion that skaespeare wrote about in this story and the emotion being the sole reason for the killings don't identify with young viewers. The use of drugs in Jugo and Oden make their decision a little more viable and believable. Also the use of profanity envokes more emotion in a younger audience than the old english words.

Othello = ME!

Othello was a probably my favorite work for this entire semester. The themes really captivate me because they are not uncommon for today's society. I think that a tragedy like Othello could happen today. And as you see in the movie O, which was produced in 2001, it's even something that could have happened to 13 years ago. To me, it is the most relatable text of the semester. I feel like I could be Othello. Someone who was tricked into believing that my lover was cheating and was driven to rage through manipulation and greed.

Othello- Human Condition

Othello has proven to be one of my favorite literary works by Shakespeare. The themes of jealousy, love, and reputation come together to create a strory that is both entertaining as well as informative about the realities of the human condition. As Iagos spins his lie we see the transformation of Othello from a loving husband to a broken and jealous villain. Othello swears to obtain justice for the wrong done to him by killing Desdemona. Although Othello believes that he is righting a wrong that was done to him he doesn't realize that he is only sealing his own fate. Likewise we often times follow the same path as Othello. We endure pain in life and often seek to remedy this pain by taking revenge on the source. We feel that our problem will be solved if we rid ourselves of whatever has caused the issue in the first place. However, after doing so we realize that we are left just as empty and hurt as we were before. Just as Othello died, something inside of us dies too.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Othello

William Shakespeare ties together romance and tragedy in the play Othello. As we watched each film in class, the overall themes remained the same - love, jealousy, and death. Each film brought different aspects of how the love between Othello and Desdemona blossomed, how Iago's lies began, and how lies brought heartbreak and death in the end. Some re-makes of plays differ completely from the original version, therefore, I appreciated how the films kept the overarching theme of the original Othello. I enjoyed watching all three of the films, because I took something new out of each one. However, because O is the more modern adaptation of the story, through language and scenery, this film kept my attention more over the others. I feel as though O really helped me understand more clearly what challenges each character was really facing. No one wants to feel unrecognized, as Iago did, or betrayed as Othello did, or heartbroken as Desdemona felt. However, through the lies told in the story, no one gained any happiness in the end.

For the last couple of weeks we had the privilege of watching three adaptations of the legendary William Shakespeare play Othello. This play was about a man who was tricked by his "friend" into believing that his wife was unfaithful to him. He was forced to believe that his friend was being adulterous with his wife behind his back. As a result, he murdered his wife and later took his life when he realized that he was lied to and his wife was innocent. The more traditional version of the play was very hard to comprehend because of the language barrier that was created. The second adaptation was a little easier to understand, but the most comprehensive version was O because it showed the play in a more modern and relatable way. The language was much easier to understand and we were able to see the events of Othello unfold in a more contemporary way. I appreciated O the most because it showed me how something so ancient can still apply to society today. I enjoyed viewing the three filmed versions of this play because it made me appreciate Shakespeare in a way I never had in the past.

Othello

William Shakespeare famous play Othello has many reenactments. The play deals with a black man named, Othello. He is betrayed by someone who he entrusts and believes his wife is cheating on him. He now suspects the person who is supposed to have his back; is the same one going behind it, sleeping with his wife. In the end he murders his true love and then commits suicide. We watched three movie versions of the play. The Othello 1952 shows the play, but it was hard to follow. There was a barrier in understanding what was being said during the movie. The reenactment of Othello 1995 made it easier for me to follow. The story from the 1952 Othello was slightly different. Despite this, they both portrayed the same message. The movie O 2001 shows a more present day display of the movie. This was the best modernization as it relates to young people. After watching the different movies of Othello I have gained a deeper appreciation of William Shakespeare literature.

-Lorenza Carey

Othello

We watched three movie adaptations of William Shakespeare's literary classic Othello. This story centers around the passionate love shared between Desdemona and Othello, that is ultimately broken by Iago, who is hell bent on destroying Othello. I can honestly say that when I found out we would be viewing the movies and learning about Othello, I was indifferent. I didn't have an opinion about the story or the films, but I figured it would be boring. I now know that Othello is the furthest thing from boring. I appreciated every movie adaptation more than the last and I believe there are many layers and perspectives to the characters. I'm glad that I was exposed to this remarkably interesting and exciting story. The best adaption in my opinion was O. Because it took place in modern day it was relatable and it reminded me that even though Shakespeare wrote this long ago, a situation similar to this situation could very well occur today.

-Eryn Peeler