Much Ado

Opening scene of Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing. Loved it. It’s one of Shakespeare’s plays that I haven’t read, so it was a chance to see how my English-major self did without having the text and footnotes in front of me.

I always feel super sophisticated when I go to the Artsy Fartsy theater in town. They have cocktails named after characters in whatever the current big movie is, and you can buy gluten-free cookies and tiny gourmet chocolate bars for $4.99. I usually just eat whatever I've hidden in my purse, but I have the option to buy expensive Artsy Fartsy food, and that's what it's all about.

Anyway, so yes, I was being obnoxious and had my cell phone out in the theater, but only for the first couple seconds. I wasn’t a huge fan of Alexis Denisof when he played Wesley on Buffy and Angel, but I loved him in this. He and Amy Acker mixed sarcasm and longing in a way that made you remember that it’s so easy to let love get warped into resentment and verbal jabs. I should remember that the next time Michael eats something that was mine.

I also liked that Whedon used Shakespeare's language and did the entire film in black and white, but it was set in contemporary times. Interesting juxtaposition, as the artsy fartsies might say. Seeing the play in a modern setting also pointed out the sexism, which I have to admit took me out of enjoying the movie a bit. I also couldn’t help but focus on the fact that everyone was acting like children. So you’re really going to wish your daughter were dead because she supposedly had sex before she was married? So you’re going to publicly shame and berate your fiancée based on rumors? And yes, it’s a good idea to build a marriage between two people who have to be tricked into communicating, or to have your friend tell the girl you like that you like her instead of manning up yourself.

But I don’t think any of that is the point. It’s a comedy. And it was entertaining. But now I’m going to have to read the play to see how well it was carried over so I can talk more about interesting juxtapositions and all that shiz.