Archive for the ‘Culture’ Category
Method Madness
Hamlet is not a very Danish name. Maurits, King or Prince of Denmark, would be more like it.
Anyway with Claudius, Polonius, Ophelia, and Horatio Shakespeare really fucked up his linguistic geography. This is Denmark, old boy! Not Verona!
And a guy named after a tiny village, doesn’t make much sense either.
Might as well have called him Boardwalk. Bo, for short.
Shakespeare borrowed a lot from the Greeks Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides and their treatment of the Oresteia, but Hamlet was no Orestes. Just like in a different context the Wizard’s Dorothy is no Alice in Wonderland, any more than Dan Quayle was John F. Kennedy by Senator Lloyd Bentsen’s stern yardstick.
And I know this is blasphemy but as story lines go Hamlet is a terrible play, neither head nor tail, for a normal spectator at least to follow, or else an endlessly convoluted plot with the dark Danish Prince stricken with grief, going mad, suicidal or simply cunningly paranoid. If not clarity, beauty only in its exquisite language. But even something that is said beautifully must make sense to someone like me.
Here’s the thing as Directors go, it’s dramatically very hard to demonstrate someone apparently normal, slowly going potty. It’s easier to show someone normal conniving his revenge, by faking he’s going potty. But what then is totally incongruous is his doubt about what he should do, commit suicide or not, murder or not, how and when, staging one thing, then the other, with whose help etc etc. For if there’s one thing true in this world or any other, highly motivated and morally ‘just’ counter-conspirators by temperament cannot and will never be pussy-footers or procrastinators. And that’s exactly what Hamlet’s made out to be.
And even Laurence Olivier’s steeply abbreviated cinematic version unable to cut all the fat or for that matter pass any muster. A terrible movie that refuses to fascinate and hypnotise, delivered around a dozen classic one-liners everyone knows by now. But no number of grave diggers, hip friends and ghosts, ooh, aah, woe, the fleet, the fleet…ah yes the completely redundant fleet, making this thing work.
A psychological play avant-la-lettre, dealing with moral and mental illness at the same time? Don’t you believe it, this is theatre for theatricality’s sake, sustained by overly reverent Shakespeare worship.
Growing prematurely bald himself, Hamlet could easily have looked up at the sky, sunk on one knee, stroke an even balder skull, and sigh: Toupée or no Toupée, that is the question! And be just as credible.
- And what’s this Laurence bit, Larry? It’s Laurent old boy, if you want to go French all the way, and with your Norman Olivier, instead of Oliver. Laurence’s a girl’s name, so be a good sod and from eternity… change it back to Lawrence, old man. I mean, we did win at Agincourt, didn’t we? And don’t you remember the Hank Cinq you did? (Henry V)
God Save America
Me and my fellow murderers, psychopaths, hate mongers,
deranged fantasists and obscene attention seekers able to count
on self-fulfilling media coverage, wish to thank the NRA for their
unwavering support, allowing us to live our dreams and defend
ourselves against despicable monsters like fellow students, toddlers,
Catholics, Jews, Blacks, Latinos, or in general people with an accent,
or people who are brighter, work harder, have more success, and all
those others whose face we cannot stand.
Because the NRA understands that the gun is our brain, just like it is theirs,
especially the semi-automatic one. And that no regulation will stop us, for as
long as we can just borrow one, except when the oppressor cleverly bans
not the gun, but the bullet. In which case I guarantee you bullet trafficking will
outdo drug trafficking within months.
With the NRA’s unconditional support we have averaged the elimination of
30.000 enemies a year, over the past decade. But with help and devotion
there is no reason we cannot vastly improve on this number.
So God bless the morally corrupt and certifiably insane, because we have
what it takes.
Testimonial signed and agreed on between
Anthony Steyning & pals
CASTING
STARLITE TALENT AGENTS CORP.
11000 WHITESHIT BOULEVARD
HORRORWOOD CA
CATTLE CALL
For a new police/detective CSI type action show, we seek talent that
-Must look 22 yrs old and not break up laughing when addressed as Doctor or Chief Pathologist
-Must have hair remaining in place come rain, shine, crashed, shot, burned, bombed, near drowned or whatever
-Must have characterless, photogenic facial features with the emotional depth of a frying pan
– No acting technique required, with the body language of a lumberjack, and please don’t stammer: Stanislavski was a Methodist
-Be able to state the understood over and over again, explaining the obvious to a counterpart who plays the apparently stupid expert
-Submit your résumé, including photograph and contact details if you think you have what it doesn’t take.
-Auditions are planned for early June.
-Remember our mission statement: The dumber the better: Good Luck
DERISORY GIRL
I’ve never been so fucking happy in my life, existence too kind to me.
I went out to celebrate deep into the night. Everyone suspicious of me buying rounds:
who is this nutcase? But I just couldn’t help myself, wanting to share my joy, spreading it.
It is not often I get this privilege, the last one when WWII ended, the event of a lifetime,
a kind I and so many others pray for every day.
And thanks Media, thanks for breaking the news, for carrying the announcement,
for obeying your selfless inner-voice, distributing not only catastrophic but also glorious news.
The only cruelty in all of this is, having to wait 2 full hard years before becoming part of the epiphany.
I don’t know what I’m going to do till then, mope, starve, stamp, bang my head against the wall,
but I’ll try and remain courageous, as you must.
Barbra, Barbra, bar-bra, I know, modesty your name, but do you really have to wait till 2017
with your autobiography.
After all, there’s so very, very little to tell…
TEARS
Most of us get tears in our eyes when we listen to Rachmaninoff.
Putin, the poor, impoverished sop, gets tears in his eyes when a motorcycle gang drives by, with a large Russian flag on board.
Bolero
CLAUDE DEBUSSY totally unRAVELled poor MAURICE
HOLLYWOOD
Chavez was so anti-American, and to think Simon Bolivar’s brother Sunset became a successful rancher in southern California, where they even named a street after him.
Brain Disease
It’s a modern affliction. When the cerebellum protrudes from the asshole and thinks of itself as beautiful. Identical to shamelessness, apparently there’s no cure but others walking away from it.
Monty Python Redux
Whereupon these Taliban, Al Qaeda and Isis fun guys were having a party
and spontaneously sang and whistled:
Things will turn out for the best
Always look on the bright side of…. death
(Whistle)
Yes, always look on the bright side of…. death
Tedumm
Tedumm
Tedumm
And their audience just died!