Upon second thought, I'm not so sure if I had seen "O" before. But that doesn't make it any less interesting. We've covered some interesting aspects about the movie in class. One of the things that has caught my attention the most that I don't think was brought up in class is the color contrast between Julia Stiles and Mekhi Phifer. Obviously, casting had their choice of who they would put in that role, but the choice of the two really highlights the difference between white and black. Phifer is exceptionally black; and Stiles is exceptionally pale, though not as bad as Winona Ryder, but close enough. I don't want to sound racist, but like white people, there are different shades of black. If we were to compare someone like Barack Obama and Mekhi Phifer, there would be an obvious difference. And I think this choice was done on purpose because we have covered in class all the imagery and associates of white and black from the black and white birds all the way down to the location of the movie. It seems like everything was done deliberately to emphasize that main aspect of white versus black.
The question was also brought up in class about Shakespeare being universal. I really do think that he is and I think movies like "10 Things I Hate About You" and "O" are good examples of how not only universal Shakespeare can be, but as well as timeless. The things that Shakespeare wrote about, such as love and deception and as we have in "Othello," even racism. Movies like the ones that I have just mentioned prove that Shakespeare can be adapted in so many different ways, even a setting so mundane as high school. Shakespeare isn't necessarily the easiest thing to read, but the things that he writes about once one gets through the language is definitely relateable to just about any person on Earth.
