Dear Dish on Shakespeare
Dear Dish:
I've gone to watch many a "Shakespeare in the Park" several times in my life. I don't know why. And this behaviour has gone on in several cities, so it's not an isolated incident.
But here's the problem: I just don't like Shakespeare. I feel there's a social pressure that exists in society to pretend to like it and, hence, I wind up at various Shakespeares in the Park.
So, is it okay to not like Shakespeare? Do you like Shakespeare? How do I deal with the inevitable snootiness of the pro-Shakespearean lobby? I acknowledge its brilliance, but want nothing to do with it.
Sincerely,
The uncultured, and not in a non-yogurt kind of way
Dear Yogurt Lover:
Dish has nothing against Shakespeare, but she does not feel that people should be pressured into seeing Shakespeare plays for the sole purpose of keeping up appearances.
Cultured schmultured. Dish sees no reason to spend your time doing something you despise just to give the appearance of being well-bred. A love or pretended love of Shakespeare is not nearly enough to vault you into the upper class anyway. For that, you need the four Bs: Beauty, brains, breeding and bounty. You must also avoid using vulgar jazz words and wearing hysterectomy pants. (For more information on this topic please watch Cry Baby, a fabulous musical starring Johnny Depp.)
Nevertheless, there are a few valid reasons for going to see Shakespeare in the Park even if you don’t like Shakespeare:
1. A friend who LOVES Shakespeare and is dying to see Shakespeare in the Park has no one else to go with. These are the types of things that good friends do. You are under no obligation to attend if the friend in question already has at least one other person to go with or if the friend is attending merely to appear cultured and not because he or she actually enjoys Shakespeare.
2. You are in school and the play just happens to be the one you are required to read for class. Watching the play in the park is a much more effective use of your time than actually reading it.
3. They are giving out free hot dogs or other delicious treats at the Shakespeare in the Park presentation. In this case, please feel free to get the free treats and then sneak away without actually watching the play.
As for dealing with the fall-out from refusing to attend Shakespeare in the Park, try pointing out to these so-called cultured individuals that you prefer to form your own opinions rather than following blindly along with the rest of the herd.
You go girl!
Dish
posted by Dish @ 4:35 PM
1 Comments:
Hmmm....the Shakespeare lobby has been awfully loud lately. This is probably a good idea.
Homer: Lisa, if I didn't have this gun, the king of England could walk right in here and start pushing you around.
[Homer starts pushing Lisa around]
Homer: D'you want that? Huh? Do ya?
Lisa: No...
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