December, 1996
Mission Valley Cinemas, Raleigh, North Carolina
Carrie, Deanna, Meredith, and Kim
You know what? It's time to go back to college. When I was stateside, I lived with four other girls. No way would I live with that many people now. Three kids is enough, thank you very much. I met them Freshman year and we stayed together-probably because the other girls we went to college with couldn't stand our obnoxious personality disorder.
For Christmas, we didn't buy each other gifts. We just spent time together. No boyfriends allowed!!!
December during finals, we had to decide what to do, I'll go into dialogue mode now....
Page: So, it's Christmas time-shall we order in or go out?
Kim: I have to study these cat bones, will you hold them up for me?
Deanna: (ignoring the cat anatomy) Where's the Spectator Magazine?
Mer: Got it! The movies are out...
Carrie: OK, so what movie?
Deanna: Romeo + Juliet looks cool....
Kim: I read that!!!!
Me: I heard about it in Spain! Kim read it, let's go!
Kim: Yes, Page-I took British Authors-everyone leaves Meredith College with British Authors. Can we go to the matinee? I don't pay full price.
(Collective eye roll) All of us: Yes darling.......we know that.
Everyone must then wait in line to use the phone to call their significant others to tell them we are going to the movies, girls only. We couldn't just whip out the droids or the iPhones and text it in less than a second. Ha! We told them we would see them in the morning.
Carrie: OK, who's driving?
Page: Me? (Collective laughter)
Meredith: We want to get there today.
Deanna: Me?
Carrie: We don't want to get a speeding ticket either.
Kim: For God's sake I'll drive.
We get to the theater:
Page: What is Help Wanted? I haven't heard of that movie before?
Mer: That isn't a movie, they have job openings...
Carrie: Are we getting popcorn?
Deanna: Do you know how fattening that is?
Page: Yes, you could feed a village with one bucket.
Kim: Well if we shared that would cut the calories...(We know she will pick at five kernals and be full.)
Mer: Can we get seats please?
Page: Because you know the studio is packed and everyone is knocking down the door to see this instead of Ransom.
Kim: You know, it isn't too late to go see that...
(Collective Scream): KIM!!!
Kim: Just saying...Mel Gibson and all.
Page: Well, Mel was Hamlet..
Carrie: I AM NOT PAYING FOR THAT!
In the theater:
Meredith: We are going to sit in the middle right?
Page: Of course...
Movie Starts:
Newscaster woman at the beginning of the film:
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
Page to Deanna whispering: You mean, it's the actual language?
Deanna back to Page: That was the entire point!
Page thinking-How cool is this????
Overall memory of the play/movie:
Rosaline? Juliet? Rosaline? Juliet? Really Romeo-you can't turn it on and off that quickly can you? I doubt it... and Claire Danes is just precious, but she isn't Olivia Hussey. I had a male English teacher in 9th grade-he accidentally re-wound the balcony scene twice..yeah right.... accident. I'm so old he had to rewind a video....
Meredith: OK ladies, if we are going to fake kill ourselves, we are going to make sure the guys know the plan, right?
Collective agreement: AGREED!
Kim: Was that Chaucer or Shakespeare?
Page: Let's go home, after dinner, I'll help you with the cat bones....Miss Biology major....and that was the tale from the Prioress, head nun and all.
Deanna: Don't do it Page...
Women don't need Romeos...they need girlfriends for movie nights....
This one gets such a bad rap from English teachers. I think it's an example of the "if it's not at least 30 years old, it can't be any good" school of teaching. When I've taught R&J I use both the films; I think they've both got good things going for them. For the intro, the Luhrman one is much better; the newscaster approach is just like the chorus. But the opening scene battle is much better in the Zefferelli one. Although the gas station setting is cool, those guys really do a horrible job of making their lines comprehensible. Except for Tybalt, of course. John...can't spell his last name was great for that part. And the balcony scene in the Luhrman version is so much better than the Zefferelli, so much more dynamic and not...boring. It uses the capabilities of film (different angles and shots) much more than the older one. I don't care for some of the ways the Luhrman one cut up some of the scenes, and the whole gun suicide thing raises more hackles on some parents' heads than good ol' poison, but it's also more accessible to the younguns. I also keep meaning to get a copy of Shakespeare in Love to show how the audience reacts, to give an idea of how people might react if they hadn't been told from the very beginning what was going to happen...
ReplyDelete