Trepidation

[Fellfrosch]

I really loved "Clueless," and I thought that "10 Things I Hate About You" was at least above average, so I was pleased to hear that someone is making a modern retelling a Twelfth Night: http://www.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/shestheman/

I was similarly pleased to see that it had Amanda Bynes, who can be a genuinely funny actress (this movie screams "Lindsay Lohan vehicle," and would have died horribly if they'd gone that direction). The trailer is even pretty funny.

What disturbs me, however, is the overall impression that the story and the humor are getting lost under the weight of a tacked-on teen sex movie a la American Pie. When you're working with Twelfth Night you don't need that kind of stuff, but I suspect they added it in anyway just to appeal to hooligan kids these days. I guess we'll see.

[Shrain]

Holy cow, that made me laugh aloud--esp. the end w/ the soccer to the groin. Yay, this one looks fun yet not overly teeny bobber-ish. Though I agree w/ Fell that it's been "sexed up" quite a bit.

[Tink]

I agree. I was in Twelfth Night in high school, so I was excited to see a remake, but I hope they stay fairly true to the plot. I have to say, though, her face is like so feminine, and her supposed guy voice is so not guy-like, that I hope it's more believable in the actual version.

[Fellfrosch]

Yes, Shrain, the soccer bit at the end made me laugh out loud as well.

[House of Mustard]

While I haven't seen the trailer (my work computer blocks movies) I must say that I'm reticent.  I've always blamed Twelfth Night for the imbecilic Hollywood idea that all troubles can be solved by dressing up like someone of the opposite gender.  Whether or not this movie is based on Shakespeare, the idea is still ridiculous.

[Fellfrosch]

The idea is ridiculous, and carries with it a suspension of disbelief that is harder to swallow than most fantasy movies. And I'd be willing to bet that our modern use of gender-switching plots can be traced directly to Twelfth Night and its companions.

The irrefutable theme of every modern gender-switching movie is that a man dressed up as a woman is inherently more attractive and competent than a normal woman, which I find stupid and insulting to watch. For some reason, though, stories about women dressed up as men (as is the case with Twelfth Night) tend to be more balanced.

[Skar]

Everybody remember "Tootsie"?  Not so attractive.

[Nessa]

Not so attractive.

But that was part of the story. Everyone comments on how masculine s/he looked.

[Tage]

So, I usually hate groin humor, but that was a funny twist that I wasn't expecting, so I'll admit, I laughed.

This movie does look like it's bordering on sucking, though, so trepidation is a good word for it.

[Fellfrosch]

Tootsie was not attractive, but manged to get hit on by two men and proposed to by one, not to mention becoming a national icon for feminism and women's rights. I happen to love the movie, but there's that theme again: a man dressed up as a women is inherently better at it than an actual woman.

edit: the best part of the soccer thing is her little "oh right," at the beginning. Very funny, and great comic timing.

[MsFish]

The gender issue worked in the Shakespeare version of the play because Viola pretended to be a eunich when she was in disguise.  It didn't matter that she wasn't masculine.  I doubt they used the same excuse here, which makes the whole thing harder to swallow.  

[Mad Dr Jeffe]

Fell, I think your take on Shakespeare is slightly amusing given the way the plays were done in Shakespeares day. They were performed with a lot of tacked on sex humor and it wasnt untill later more prudish folks came along that a lot of the sex was bled out of the plays.

[Fellfrosch]

Oh, his plays are loaded with sex, it's just handled differently from the way we do it now. I'm not holding up Shakespeare a paragon of Victorian sensibility, by any means.

I do want to point out, though, that all we know about the actual performance of his plays is conjecture. I mean really--we can't even confirm that he wrote them, so we're a far cry from knowing exactly how the performance (the one aspect that cannot be preserved for posterity) was handled.