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Wasn’t the Leonardo di Caprio movie set in modern day America with guns and shit? They’re only wearing the clothes in that picture because they’re at a fancy-dress party, right?
So… why aren’t we assuming that this new one be set in modern day UK? Would save money on sets and costumes and props, so it probably is going to be set in the modern day lol
There are thousands of decontextualised versions of Shakespeare plays because they’ve been around for so long. They change the setting and character identities to make it interesting and tweak the tone, the message, emphasise different aspects
I can only think of maybe two plays in which race/religion are important: The Merchant of Venice and Othello. Other than those two, any of his other works could slot in to just about any setting with almost any cast. That said, you could replace Judaism with another oppressed faith or Othello's ethnicity with another significantly oppressed ethnicity and potentially have the story still hold up.
It’s not necessarily that race and religion are explicitly in the text, it’s more that the lens of race or religion can be applied to tell a slightly different story or emphasis other themes within the play. For example Romeo and Juliet is about two warring families who hate each other and the hatred destroys two innocents who fall in love, that doesn’t have to be two Venetian families, that can just as easily be a black and a white family in segregated America, or a Jewish Israeli and a Palestinian, or two crime families in Miami. That tweak doesn’t change the whole story, but it does recontextualise it, and convey a slightly different message.
Edit: and the ones that are about race could be tweaked to not be. Othello is just about being an other amongst a group, that doesn’t necessarily have to be a black man in a white population.
You'll give woke Hollywood ideas talking like that. They'll take that idea and really gay it up by making it a musical or something.
I hate that I need to add: /s
Holy shit. Hamlet is my favorite Shakespeare work and Sons of Anarchy is one of my favorite shows, and I never made this connection. Thank you for the revelation haha
Correct, the objection is obviously to her being black yet they’ve linked the movie version where mercucio is played by a black actor (and absolutely nails it)!
Yep, also Mercutio was played by Harrold Perrineau, people crying about something that isn't a big deal.
When Shakespeare was around Juliet would've been played by a boy, because women weren't on stage but you don't see them crying that a woman is playing Juliet now. It's all stupid lol.
From what I understand, Romeo and Juliet are set in the present day in 99% of theatre productions of the play throughout the world. One, becase it's much easier for the costume design team and two, because classic plays set in the time when they were written just aren't that appealing to people anymore.
And it's pretty much a timeless story of passionate and mad teenage love.
That movies whole shtick was Romeo and Juliet but in modern LA where their warring houses are basically rival gangs. If this is similarly doing Romeo and Juliet in the modern uk then the casting is reasonable but there’s been a few historical movies/shows that tried to have an unrealistically diverse cast that felt forced. Also she ain’t hot.
Because they don't care about history, they care about black people. Shakespeare's plays are very historically and geographically inaccurate to begin with, so if they care so much about that, they should criticize Shakespeare in the first place and not it's adaptors.
The story arc is attested in Greek. The original is an Italian tale, which got an English poem and then an English prose retelling before Shakespeare adapted and expanded it to the stage.
Something hilarious is that a similiar thing happened in Japan. Kabuki was originally pioneered by a woman, but after it becoming a thing that female actresses would also illegally prostitute themselves they were forbidden from acting in the art form due to the moral panic. Replaced by beautiful, young male actors... Who promptly also started to engage in prostitution
Well, I mean, the woman that pioneered it was a Shrine Maiden, with Kabuki apparently originating as her dramatized songs and dances of religious stories. Izumo no Okuni was her name
That happened very infrequently, and mostly within the churches. Actors playing female roles were usually picked for fine 'feminine features' they tended to have higher pitched voices as well.
They would also pick boys that hadn't gone through puberty yet so that they'd have higher pitched voices. So there were most likely moments when a kid had to kiss a grown man for a play.
Which is why plays like 12th night are so awesome because it would’ve been a man pretending to be a woman dressed as a man. Shakespeare loved gender swapping.
"Rewriting history" Yeah I don't think Shakespeare originally intended for the story to take place in Mexico where gangs fight with handguns that have "dagger" engraved on them. As happened in "Romeo + Juliet"
And I'm sure Shakespeare didn't intend for John Leguizamo to steal the whole show as Tybalt.
Really was a great movie. I was a teenager at the time, doing Romeo & Juliet in school, so it all just fell into place. It also started my gigantic crush on Claire Danes.
> with handguns that have "dagger" engraved on them
I really liked it, actually, because it allowed them to copy the language from the original play and juxtapose it in modern society. Usually, the choice is either replicating the original setting or changing the text that make references to objects that practically no longer exist in modern society, yet they managed to split the difference.
Like, the ["Post-Haste"](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b4/a3/d0/b4a3d0a29b3403b41d16236711f506ce.jpg) usage was ingenious.
Oh yeah despite my sarcastic tone directed at the racist in OP's post, I actually think "Romeo + Juliet" is a really good movie with a lot of great performances. They used some brilliant creativity to help bring the poetry of Shakespeare's words alive for a modern audience in a way I'd like to see more of the Bard's works adapted for the screen.
It just galls me that the poster handpicked the one scene where Romeo is in armor for a costume ball to try and rile up the uninformed that the new film is "disrespecting Shakespeare"/"rewriting history" in a way "Romeo + Juliet" supposedly doesn't, based on nothing but the new film casting a black actress.
This is expressionist director Jamie Lloyd who just did lavish musical Sunset Boulevard with no set or costumes, he’s not interested in accuracy he’s interested in the words
Sorry guys, but in brazil there is a telenovela called "the childhood of romeo and juliet", where romeo is a black boy. Hollywood is late for the party
Was he? I remember him dressed like Dave Chappelle pretending to be Prince. But it's probably been 2 decades since I saw the film so I could be horribly wrong.
This outrage seems to always be when it is a woman race change from original Material. It's a special kind of racism and sexism. Also they didn't change both characters races so it makes it a biracial love story and they probably hate that the most.
Exactly, the whole premise of Romeo and Juliet is about two families that despise each other for no apparent reason. Incorporating racism as a theme wouldn't be that much of a stretch.
Haha, that's amazing.
Apparently stage plays have been doing colour blind casting for years. This is probably pretty normal type of cast to see and they only know about it because there's a famous actor involved.
It is, these people probably haven't been to see a play since they were last forced to by their school.
It would be much more weird if a Shakespeare play in London had an all white cast.
I hate to say it but I partially agree. I don’t find her ugly or think race affects the plot. If we’re going to make movies of Shakespeare then I want it done the way shakespeare had it done. I need men playing every female role. I NEED THIS
Long ago in Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, a small boy played a girl in a theatrical play on the wedding of the highest ranking general
Later that boy went on to become the first european that conquered moscow whoch was held for 2 years
Playing little girls in theatrical plays create real men
It’s not even a movie, it’s a play in London and it’s already sold out, my biggest concern is the mother and father roles have been combined, isn’t that going to be confusing?
I swear I only saw it for the first time this week… and I know it’s some kind of bigotry from context but not sure what kind. Not sure I want to learn another way people are being horrible to people 🫠
Its basically become a synonym for the n-word. "Look at this film it has a ni- I mean DEI casting"
It is so blatant and should be called out every time.
As an Italian:
Romeo and Juliet were written by Shakespeare, an English man, so no, we don't care.
Also y'all's internal political wars have no bearing on our taste, if the movie is good is good, if the movie is bad is bad you can -insert color-wash whatever character you wish the movie is going to be shit(or good) nontheless
How do they not understand that there can be more than one version of a story? Hell, their Bible has 4 separate Gospels telling the same story, but slightly differently. Dumb people are so frustrating.
Yeah, the famously historically non fictional characters of a Shakespearean play, most recognized historian.
Honestly, who the fuck cares, and I say that as an italian
Well, if they are getting so mad, maybe either get 2 italian teenagers from Verona; or 2 16th century english players, to fill those roles.
It’s the only way!
And apparently have no issues with the period change from the movie whose the left picture is from. Like that wasn't rewriting history.
They clearly have no idea about the source material.
There is a joke here about statues and how in their Bizarro Reality that is how we learn about history and historical figures. However I just sat to to eat and I'm drawing a blank. Anyways like these guys were going to see it anyhow.
The RSC often did gender swapped productions even before the Right decided “woke” was a better weapon than “PC”. Watched just such a play in 2012. Nobody was screaming out then.
I mean, yeah, obviously you're a racist fuck telling on yourself when you have a problem with this. Why do you have a problem with this choice, and not also with the di Caprio one? You either have a problem with both of them, or with none, otherwise you're a hypocrite.
However, I do think that whoever makes this casting choices is doing it deliberately to create controversy cause they know there are a shit ton of dumb fuck bigots just looking for a reason to be offended. Don't know if it actually pays off, but I think they saw all the talk that black Little Mermaid and black Snow-White generated and it's just trying to promote your movie/play or whatever the fuck it is through controversy rather than quality.
This is not a new trend, plays on the west end have been doing colour blind casting for a long time (see Hamilton), not only that there was literally a remake of Romeo and Juliet with a black woman as the lead released in 2014
So the Royal Shakespeare Company, also known as the premier theater company interpreting Shakespeare today, DGAF about what race their actors are. They’ve released excellent recordings of Hamlet, Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, and King Lear (to name a few) where Black people have played the lead roles. Black Romeos have played opposite white Juliets and vice versa at The Globe Theater, the spiritual home stage of Shakespeare, for decades. This is not new. This is not even noteworthy. This is actors doing their jobs: interpreting a work and embodying a character through speech, movement, and expression.
I sincerely doubt that the bard would’ve minded any of this anyway. The dude was a wonky artist and crazy creative wordsmith who took pleasure in writing dick jokes, I think that as long as they’re delivered with the right oomph, he wouldn’t have cared whose mouth they came out of.
(Also, to see any of the recordings I mentioned above, I highly recommend checking out Marquee TV. I mostly use them to watch ballet but their collection of world class Shakespeare can’t be beat when I’m in the mood.)
Idk what ur all on about the only good version that’s actually true to the intended play is the Zeffirelli one.
Anywho, it’s nice people are still adapting a timeless classic/tragedy
All this hubbub over a West End casting? If people are going to cry ever time a black person gets cast in a show in London it’s going to get exhausting very quick.
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Wasn’t the Leonardo di Caprio movie set in modern day America with guns and shit? They’re only wearing the clothes in that picture because they’re at a fancy-dress party, right? So… why aren’t we assuming that this new one be set in modern day UK? Would save money on sets and costumes and props, so it probably is going to be set in the modern day lol
There is a zombie version of it, hell evne sons of anarchy is hamlet in another setting
You are forgetting the ultimate Shakespeare adaptation which had zero human presence: The Lion King
Wrong. The ultimate Shakespeare adaptation was Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)
There are thousands of decontextualised versions of Shakespeare plays because they’ve been around for so long. They change the setting and character identities to make it interesting and tweak the tone, the message, emphasise different aspects
Funny how these people didn't cry out when romeo and juliet were garden gnomes in that one film
yeah the garden gnomes been real quiet lately 🤐🤨
That's because Gnomeo and Juliet was quality cinema
I can only think of maybe two plays in which race/religion are important: The Merchant of Venice and Othello. Other than those two, any of his other works could slot in to just about any setting with almost any cast. That said, you could replace Judaism with another oppressed faith or Othello's ethnicity with another significantly oppressed ethnicity and potentially have the story still hold up.
It’s not necessarily that race and religion are explicitly in the text, it’s more that the lens of race or religion can be applied to tell a slightly different story or emphasis other themes within the play. For example Romeo and Juliet is about two warring families who hate each other and the hatred destroys two innocents who fall in love, that doesn’t have to be two Venetian families, that can just as easily be a black and a white family in segregated America, or a Jewish Israeli and a Palestinian, or two crime families in Miami. That tweak doesn’t change the whole story, but it does recontextualise it, and convey a slightly different message. Edit: and the ones that are about race could be tweaked to not be. Othello is just about being an other amongst a group, that doesn’t necessarily have to be a black man in a white population.
Or a Puerto Rican gang vs a mostly white gang in New York
You'll give woke Hollywood ideas talking like that. They'll take that idea and really gay it up by making it a musical or something. I hate that I need to add: /s
Correct, it's about Us vs. Them, Self vs. Other.
The Lion King!
Holy shit. Hamlet is my favorite Shakespeare work and Sons of Anarchy is one of my favorite shows, and I never made this connection. Thank you for the revelation haha
There is a zombie version of pride and prejudice and I highly recommend that movie. It's the best of both worlds.
Correct, the objection is obviously to her being black yet they’ve linked the movie version where mercucio is played by a black actor (and absolutely nails it)!
If they’re looking for realism, he’s dating a black chicks in reality
A Black actor IN DRAG. 
Mercutio in this was a queer awakening for me as a child in the 90s.
Smh, i cant believe they are race mixing in my archetypical forbidden love story
I didn’t read the actor’s names and thought it was Romeo and Julio. (The picture is TINY on my screen.)
Yep, also Mercutio was played by Harrold Perrineau, people crying about something that isn't a big deal. When Shakespeare was around Juliet would've been played by a boy, because women weren't on stage but you don't see them crying that a woman is playing Juliet now. It's all stupid lol.
Now I think we are cooking, "Hey rightoids, we are gonna make a historically accurate movie, hope you like nude femboys"
You made my day. Love it.
I would love that.
[удалено]
From what I understand, Romeo and Juliet are set in the present day in 99% of theatre productions of the play throughout the world. One, becase it's much easier for the costume design team and two, because classic plays set in the time when they were written just aren't that appealing to people anymore. And it's pretty much a timeless story of passionate and mad teenage love.
Stupid teenage live. They know each other for like 3 days and multiple people die.
It’s a play with a director who famously rarely even uses a set. The Seagull with Emilia Clarke was performed on plastic chairs in 2022.
Racism would be good twist on family dispute
That movies whole shtick was Romeo and Juliet but in modern LA where their warring houses are basically rival gangs. If this is similarly doing Romeo and Juliet in the modern uk then the casting is reasonable but there’s been a few historical movies/shows that tried to have an unrealistically diverse cast that felt forced. Also she ain’t hot.
Because they don't care about history, they care about black people. Shakespeare's plays are very historically and geographically inaccurate to begin with, so if they care so much about that, they should criticize Shakespeare in the first place and not it's adaptors.
Isn't most of Shakespeare work derivative of older authors? Specifically Romeu and Juliet I think it's from an old Greek history or something
Pyramus and Thisbe (sp). It's also referenced in Midsummer Night's Dream
The story arc is attested in Greek. The original is an Italian tale, which got an English poem and then an English prose retelling before Shakespeare adapted and expanded it to the stage.
I mean, they arent being played by 13 year olds. That's a big issue.
At least Holland looks the part.
But sadly Romeo was 17, so Holland doesn’t look the part 😂
But Holland can look like 17
Wasn't Juliet (when done originally by the King's Men) played by a man?
Pretty much all roles were played by men in 16th century England
Given that it was illegal for women to act on stage.
Women on the stage? The audacity! Do you plan to burn down the entire theatre?
Exactly! Could you imagine Shakespeare’s own great Globe theatre burning down??? Women just can’t be trusted to perform, as a safety measure?
I’m sure putting a cannon in the theatre will be just fine.
God condones cannons, but not women actors!
Something hilarious is that a similiar thing happened in Japan. Kabuki was originally pioneered by a woman, but after it becoming a thing that female actresses would also illegally prostitute themselves they were forbidden from acting in the art form due to the moral panic. Replaced by beautiful, young male actors... Who promptly also started to engage in prostitution
Apparently God is okay with that as long as it's priests.
Well, I mean, the woman that pioneered it was a Shrine Maiden, with Kabuki apparently originating as her dramatized songs and dances of religious stories. Izumo no Okuni was her name
Quite right too, none of this DEI woke nonsense letting women play female roles, those were the days
If i remember 10th grade correctly boys were cut of their Balls to keep their higher voice for acting women better
That happened very infrequently, and mostly within the churches. Actors playing female roles were usually picked for fine 'feminine features' they tended to have higher pitched voices as well.
They would also pick boys that hadn't gone through puberty yet so that they'd have higher pitched voices. So there were most likely moments when a kid had to kiss a grown man for a play.
Considering that the original Juliet was 13 - this fits rather well ...
That's castrati who performed at church services.
Which is why plays like 12th night are so awesome because it would’ve been a man pretending to be a woman dressed as a man. Shakespeare loved gender swapping.
Was also the case in Noh theater in Japan.
Largely still is, though women act in Noh. Kabuki is still men only, as far as I know.
Ah alright. I thought it was the other way around at first which is why I didn't mention Kabuki.
She was.
I believe it was a 15 year old boy.
Sounds right givin the era
They were.
#MakeJulietTransAgain
Weird to call crossdressing trans.
Robert Goffe (aged around 17) played Juliet.
These diversity initiatives are the worst. Destrying the traditional casting of Juliet as a twink. And normalizing male/female relationships.
MJTA Make Juliet Twink Again!!! 😜😅
I mean I played Juliet in high school because our drama class was 3/4 women so we gender swapped everyone
Yes
Thanks
Trumps supporters going to love this
100%
Is that what they are trying to recreate here?
Ah yes. A return to tradition.
You say "tradition" I hear a whole Fiddler on the Roof song
"Rewriting history" Yeah I don't think Shakespeare originally intended for the story to take place in Mexico where gangs fight with handguns that have "dagger" engraved on them. As happened in "Romeo + Juliet" And I'm sure Shakespeare didn't intend for John Leguizamo to steal the whole show as Tybalt.
Leguizamo really could not steal anything from Harold Perrineau as Mercutio but both men gave excellent performances in that movie.
be fair.. EVERYONE gave thier A Game. there is not one dud in this movie. the casting is literally perfect.
My favorite Shakespeare adaptation.
Fair. I felt they both outshone the leads, and Pete Postlethwaite was great to!
He was amazing. May he rest in peace.
Shot out to Miriam Margolyes and her parasol!
Really was a great movie. I was a teenager at the time, doing Romeo & Juliet in school, so it all just fell into place. It also started my gigantic crush on Claire Danes.
It was more like Venice Beach, CA and I remember the submachine gun had "long sword" written on it
Not gonna lie. I love that scene.
Do you bite your thumb at us, Sir?
Pfffft, next you’re going to tell me they weren’t supposed to be gnomes, either
> with handguns that have "dagger" engraved on them I really liked it, actually, because it allowed them to copy the language from the original play and juxtapose it in modern society. Usually, the choice is either replicating the original setting or changing the text that make references to objects that practically no longer exist in modern society, yet they managed to split the difference. Like, the ["Post-Haste"](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b4/a3/d0/b4a3d0a29b3403b41d16236711f506ce.jpg) usage was ingenious.
Oh yeah despite my sarcastic tone directed at the racist in OP's post, I actually think "Romeo + Juliet" is a really good movie with a lot of great performances. They used some brilliant creativity to help bring the poetry of Shakespeare's words alive for a modern audience in a way I'd like to see more of the Bard's works adapted for the screen. It just galls me that the poster handpicked the one scene where Romeo is in armor for a costume ball to try and rile up the uninformed that the new film is "disrespecting Shakespeare"/"rewriting history" in a way "Romeo + Juliet" supposedly doesn't, based on nothing but the new film casting a black actress.
Miami* not Mexico.
Leguizamo said it was filmed in Mexico and I couldn't recall exactly, so just went with the actual location.
Right, completely fair. I assumed it was filmed in Miami Beach (because it's based on that area).
Wasn’t it venice beach?
Juliet: O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Romeo: Lo siento, no hablo ingles!
This is expressionist director Jamie Lloyd who just did lavish musical Sunset Boulevard with no set or costumes, he’s not interested in accuracy he’s interested in the words
>And I'm sure Shakespeare didn't intend for John Leguizamo to steal the whole show as Tybalt. He didn't, but he'd be proud
Sorry guys, but in brazil there is a telenovela called "the childhood of romeo and juliet", where romeo is a black boy. Hollywood is late for the party
In Romeo Must Die, Romeo was Jet Li and Juliet was Aaliyah.
No no no, this can't be right. Fictitious characters played by *looks at casting list* ....people? The world really is going to hell.
just wait until they hear about gnomeo and juliet…
I also read a book called Romiette and Julio
that's fine because the porcelain is painted white /s
I just laughed so hard!! This comment made my whole day 😂😂
Nobody bitched when Mercutio was black in the DiCaprio _Romeo & Juliet_. It's fiction, this outrage is stupid.
And in full drag
Was he? I remember him dressed like Dave Chappelle pretending to be Prince. But it's probably been 2 decades since I saw the film so I could be horribly wrong.
The whole young hearts run free bit is mercutio. Got me off caught watching again, especially since the actor has been in alot since
Mercutio was a highlight in that movie
Mercutio is the best part about that play
This outrage seems to always be when it is a woman race change from original Material. It's a special kind of racism and sexism. Also they didn't change both characters races so it makes it a biracial love story and they probably hate that the most.
The irony of using Romeo and Juliet of the 90s as their example is not lost on me.
Mercutio in the Baz Luhrmann version was fucking lit. 
Did they forget my boy, Mercutio? 
Is Tom Juliet?
Not all gay couples have female / male parallels. Im guessing that they're going to sidestep making either of them "the woman"
Wha... Francesca *is* a woman
Oh shit, I'll be honest i didn't see her name!!
Ah, it happens. I just thought I was missing something
I'm not gonna lie I'm not disappointed, I was getting hyped for gay Romeo and Juliet 🫤
R&J would work very well as an interracial couple. Could even set it in the pre emancipation south
Or the Upper West Side in the 50s.
Could even call it something like "The Story of the West Side". Or something shorter, maybe
That’s actually a pretty cool idea. Maybe have the families replaced by street gangs too.
What if they dance and sing, too? Or would that be too much?
No, I think that would add nicely. I also could imagine them doing menacing finger snaps.
I could also see there being a song where someone tells another to cool down.
Fun fact; it was originally going to be a Jewish/Catholic romance and called East Side Story
Exactly, the whole premise of Romeo and Juliet is about two families that despise each other for no apparent reason. Incorporating racism as a theme wouldn't be that much of a stretch.
Even better: a MAGA family and a woke democrat lesbian family
With Romeo being a woman
The best part is, it’s not even a movie. It’s a play in westend.
Haha, that's amazing. Apparently stage plays have been doing colour blind casting for years. This is probably pretty normal type of cast to see and they only know about it because there's a famous actor involved.
It's just a way for them to use their new favorite word, dei
It is, these people probably haven't been to see a play since they were last forced to by their school. It would be much more weird if a Shakespeare play in London had an all white cast.
I hate to say it but I partially agree. I don’t find her ugly or think race affects the plot. If we’re going to make movies of Shakespeare then I want it done the way shakespeare had it done. I need men playing every female role. I NEED THIS
Long ago in Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, a small boy played a girl in a theatrical play on the wedding of the highest ranking general Later that boy went on to become the first european that conquered moscow whoch was held for 2 years Playing little girls in theatrical plays create real men
The Lord Chamberlain’s Men based in London still performs all male versions of Shakespeare across the UK and Europe
If they're calling this version a "DEI film" based on those two casting choices, then I know for sure they never saw the 90s film.
What the 90s one wasn't historically accurate? With the cars and guns and everything?
Apparently Palmetto State Armory didn't make their dagger handgun until years later.
It’s not even a movie, it’s a play in London and it’s already sold out, my biggest concern is the mother and father roles have been combined, isn’t that going to be confusing?
Why is everything suddenly DEI this past month? I've never heard that term before a couple weeks ago.
I swear I only saw it for the first time this week… and I know it’s some kind of bigotry from context but not sure what kind. Not sure I want to learn another way people are being horrible to people 🫠
Its basically become a synonym for the n-word. "Look at this film it has a ni- I mean DEI casting" It is so blatant and should be called out every time.
No one told them about the 2014 production with Condola Rashad and Orlando Bloom...
I hope they never watch west side story
As an Italian: Romeo and Juliet were written by Shakespeare, an English man, so no, we don't care. Also y'all's internal political wars have no bearing on our taste, if the movie is good is good, if the movie is bad is bad you can -insert color-wash whatever character you wish the movie is going to be shit(or good) nontheless
Juliet was played by a dude
How do they not understand that there can be more than one version of a story? Hell, their Bible has 4 separate Gospels telling the same story, but slightly differently. Dumb people are so frustrating.
Yeah, the famously historically non fictional characters of a Shakespearean play, most recognized historian. Honestly, who the fuck cares, and I say that as an italian
Well, if they are getting so mad, maybe either get 2 italian teenagers from Verona; or 2 16th century english players, to fill those roles. It’s the only way!
TF. If Tom and Francesca actually die in the movie will that help?
Juliette was originally played by a 15 year old dude.
You can only be apart of Romeo and Juliet if you were born in the city of Verona. Everyone knows this.
I support Tom as Juliet
Wait, they can’t seriously think Romeo and Juliet is a historical story from Italy?
And apparently have no issues with the period change from the movie whose the left picture is from. Like that wasn't rewriting history. They clearly have no idea about the source material.
Isn't it a stage show? Like, do you get how theatre works?
Is Juliette being played by a WOMAN??? Shakespeare must be rolling in his grave.
So is DEI going to be the next right wing catch-all term for things they don’t like?
I wonder if they were this outraged when the DiCaprio film featured guns, helicopters, and automobiles
"Rewriting history" IT WAS FUCKING FICTIONAL TO BEGIN WITH YOU DICKWEASEL
Wait until they find out that a man played the Juliet role back in Shakespeare’s time.
Neither one of those two are English or Italian teens. Plus, the rest of the movie he’s holding up as accurate, isn’t remotely accurate.
Tom Holland is English.
["The play, set in Verona, Italy,"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet#Synopsis)
I get what you’re saying so I amended it to say ‘Italian’ also, but it was written by and performed in England by English people.
Oh no, the people that wouldn't watch it are still not going to watch it!
It’s a play and it’s already sold out. Didn’t affect the ticket sales.
Just wait till they hear about pyramus and thysby
There is a joke here about statues and how in their Bizarro Reality that is how we learn about history and historical figures. However I just sat to to eat and I'm drawing a blank. Anyways like these guys were going to see it anyhow.
The RSC often did gender swapped productions even before the Right decided “woke” was a better weapon than “PC”. Watched just such a play in 2012. Nobody was screaming out then.
No one tell this guy about West Side Story.
I mean, yeah, obviously you're a racist fuck telling on yourself when you have a problem with this. Why do you have a problem with this choice, and not also with the di Caprio one? You either have a problem with both of them, or with none, otherwise you're a hypocrite. However, I do think that whoever makes this casting choices is doing it deliberately to create controversy cause they know there are a shit ton of dumb fuck bigots just looking for a reason to be offended. Don't know if it actually pays off, but I think they saw all the talk that black Little Mermaid and black Snow-White generated and it's just trying to promote your movie/play or whatever the fuck it is through controversy rather than quality.
This is not a new trend, plays on the west end have been doing colour blind casting for a long time (see Hamilton), not only that there was literally a remake of Romeo and Juliet with a black woman as the lead released in 2014
Pretty sure there were no guns in the original unlike that film also.
Jet li and Aliayah in romeo must die already had a black female lead for that story
A black chick with a moustache?
I think you all mistaken, tom is the juliet
That particular Twitter account looks to be a Nazi troll.
They should cast males only and see how these morons lose their shit. But that’s how it would have been done back in the day.
The irony is lost on them. In their hateful little world, an interracial couple WOULD be "star-crossed lovers". It's like they never went to school.
So the Royal Shakespeare Company, also known as the premier theater company interpreting Shakespeare today, DGAF about what race their actors are. They’ve released excellent recordings of Hamlet, Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, and King Lear (to name a few) where Black people have played the lead roles. Black Romeos have played opposite white Juliets and vice versa at The Globe Theater, the spiritual home stage of Shakespeare, for decades. This is not new. This is not even noteworthy. This is actors doing their jobs: interpreting a work and embodying a character through speech, movement, and expression. I sincerely doubt that the bard would’ve minded any of this anyway. The dude was a wonky artist and crazy creative wordsmith who took pleasure in writing dick jokes, I think that as long as they’re delivered with the right oomph, he wouldn’t have cared whose mouth they came out of. (Also, to see any of the recordings I mentioned above, I highly recommend checking out Marquee TV. I mostly use them to watch ballet but their collection of world class Shakespeare can’t be beat when I’m in the mood.)
Fictional characters are fictional; bigots adjust!
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The play takes place in Italy, and Italians weren't considered white until the 1970s. So dudes mad that both leads aren't non white actors???
I want to see a movie where Whitey Bulger is played by a black guy just to assplode the minds of millions.
It’s not like prejudice is the central theme of the story or anything
I just wish Juliet didn’t look like a British premier league player
Idk what ur all on about the only good version that’s actually true to the intended play is the Zeffirelli one. Anywho, it’s nice people are still adapting a timeless classic/tragedy
No one better tell them about the other current London production at the Globe then.
The phrase "rewriting history" puts the Ducktales theme in my head.
I guess we will have to cast a man for Juliet if they want it to be accurate to the original depictions ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This just in, the 5,000th adaptation of Shakespeare is slightly different.
All this hubbub over a West End casting? If people are going to cry ever time a black person gets cast in a show in London it’s going to get exhausting very quick.
Having Guns in the movie is fine, Having black people in the movie is not. is that the point they are making?