To all my adoring fans out there, sorry this is late. Had some weird Yahoo/Google issues going on as far as gettin' here. Anyhoo, we're still talkin' Othello (although I know not in what regard) so that is once again my subject.
I'm doing a little presentation for a class assignment where we enact various scenes from selected Will S. works. Of course, I'm in the Othello group. I am Othello (said in a deep, dramatic voice).
Our learned director (and classmate) felt inclined to update this classic w/a contemporary twist which is cool. However, I am hard pressed to determine how I should portray such a complex character as Othello.
Our group has chosen to give the work a Law and Order energy. I'm Homicide Division Capt. O. Thello (cute, eh?). I am head honcho and thus control the destiny of one Junior Detective Iago, much the same as in the original work. Now, here's where it gets sticky.
As in the play, I am the Other. Here, I am a brown-skinned, female in a male controlled world. I am the leader of men and women, who is respected, served, and yet manipulated by another's hatred and jealousy. I give my trust freely only to have it corrupted by deception. In the end, I fall to these lies and my naive trusting of the world around me.
Was Othello naive? I believe so. Wanting so much to fit into a world which only used him left him blind to the potential for attack. He trusted too freely. But what could he have done? Not only words but proofs presented enriched the poisons being dripped into his ear. Maybe there was nothing he could have done to avoid his downfall. Besides, Iago was just too slick in his maneuverings.
That said, I guess there is only one thing left for me to do. I must play the role of naive, trusting fool as it is presented. I am the leader - proud of my position and determined to give the best service I can to my superiors. All the while, there is a dagger aimed at my back of which I am unaware. My naivety, in fact, pushes the dagger through my flesh deep into the muscle within. I will fall and take others with me and as I go, what lesson have I learned in my final hour? That my trust of a world, in which I could have never really been a complete part of, was my doom.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
What is the Fear of the 'Other' in Power? - Othello and Obama
The old saying, "There is nothing to fear, but Fear itself" should be amended to state, "There is nothing to fear, but Fear of a black man in charge". Many people in these tumultuous times would concur I'm sure. The question I put forth begs to understand: what is this fear when considering Senator Obama (the 'Other') in a position of great power? It is only fitting that I should attempt an answer within the context of Othello.
As the Other, Othello was feared because of his difference; namely his skin tone. While he professed in his address to the Senators that his speech was "rough", he was articulate. His military expertise was highly valued and gloriously utilized by the country. And yet, Othello's relationship with Desdemona was a source of intense consternation to her father, and his authority and judgment were despised and envied by Iago.
In regard to Obama, or any other black in America, it is highly evident that this man is just as capable of running this country as any white man. Throughout American history, many blacks (male and female alike) have more than dispelled the various myths which early on abounded regarding the supposed inferiority of blacks. Countless blacks have excelled in the fields of medicine, military, education, business/finance, athletics, etc. And yet, the fear remains.
Obama's intellect is unquestionable. His ambition falls in line with that of any white male of his stature. The only obvious, yet highly illogical, reason to fear Obama's possible leadership of these supposed United States would be his skin color.
His skin represents a drastic change; a magnanimous shift in the assumption of just who is to have ultimate control in America. This nation was not founded by black and white men together, unified in the fight against oppressive English domination and manipulation. This nation was not constructed by the collective idealism of black and white men together, unified in the pursuit of freedom of idea, religious belief, and prosperity. White men started it and by God, they're supposed to be in charge of it regardless of the numerous sacrifices, contributions, and advancements of every marginalized Other who has tread the soil of this land. What a crock!
The bottom line - Obama's skin, like Othello's, represents the Fear; the fear that many in white society would be hard pressed to ignore. He would be the "head N***** in charge". He would be calling the shots and passing the laws. So are they afraid that there will be a Chicken and Waffle House and a liquor store on every suburban street corner? Are they afraid that he'll pass a national law requiring all black men to have their way with pure, virginal white girls? Are they afraid that the National Anthem will be rewritten into a rap? Of course, if any would think these far-fetched suppositions, then they are resoundingly ignorant; PERIOD.
Obama has, in numerous declarations and presentations, stated his intentions as president of this country and while he may not achieve them all, they are far from involving liquor stores or rap music, and echo the dreams and aspirations of any white male Democrat in pursuit of the highest office of this land. That said, I ask again , what is this Fear of a black President of the United States of America? Or of a woman? Or of a Jew? Or of any other aptly qualified Other who has assisted in the growth, development, and maintenance of this nation? Is white-protestant-male dominance so perfect and great that none Other can match or succeed it? Perhaps if I were steeped in an illogical irrationality of the persistence of ignorance, priviledge, and tradition I'd understand. Thank goodness I'm not.
As the Other, Othello was feared because of his difference; namely his skin tone. While he professed in his address to the Senators that his speech was "rough", he was articulate. His military expertise was highly valued and gloriously utilized by the country. And yet, Othello's relationship with Desdemona was a source of intense consternation to her father, and his authority and judgment were despised and envied by Iago.
In regard to Obama, or any other black in America, it is highly evident that this man is just as capable of running this country as any white man. Throughout American history, many blacks (male and female alike) have more than dispelled the various myths which early on abounded regarding the supposed inferiority of blacks. Countless blacks have excelled in the fields of medicine, military, education, business/finance, athletics, etc. And yet, the fear remains.
Obama's intellect is unquestionable. His ambition falls in line with that of any white male of his stature. The only obvious, yet highly illogical, reason to fear Obama's possible leadership of these supposed United States would be his skin color.
His skin represents a drastic change; a magnanimous shift in the assumption of just who is to have ultimate control in America. This nation was not founded by black and white men together, unified in the fight against oppressive English domination and manipulation. This nation was not constructed by the collective idealism of black and white men together, unified in the pursuit of freedom of idea, religious belief, and prosperity. White men started it and by God, they're supposed to be in charge of it regardless of the numerous sacrifices, contributions, and advancements of every marginalized Other who has tread the soil of this land. What a crock!
The bottom line - Obama's skin, like Othello's, represents the Fear; the fear that many in white society would be hard pressed to ignore. He would be the "head N***** in charge". He would be calling the shots and passing the laws. So are they afraid that there will be a Chicken and Waffle House and a liquor store on every suburban street corner? Are they afraid that he'll pass a national law requiring all black men to have their way with pure, virginal white girls? Are they afraid that the National Anthem will be rewritten into a rap? Of course, if any would think these far-fetched suppositions, then they are resoundingly ignorant; PERIOD.
Obama has, in numerous declarations and presentations, stated his intentions as president of this country and while he may not achieve them all, they are far from involving liquor stores or rap music, and echo the dreams and aspirations of any white male Democrat in pursuit of the highest office of this land. That said, I ask again , what is this Fear of a black President of the United States of America? Or of a woman? Or of a Jew? Or of any other aptly qualified Other who has assisted in the growth, development, and maintenance of this nation? Is white-protestant-male dominance so perfect and great that none Other can match or succeed it? Perhaps if I were steeped in an illogical irrationality of the persistence of ignorance, priviledge, and tradition I'd understand. Thank goodness I'm not.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Iago: Othello's Example of the Secret Racist In All of Us
The question was recently raised regarding what deeper motivation could W.S. have intended when presenting Iago as so racist and hateful of Othello. The facts as presented in the play only show Iago serving under Othello for so very long, passed over for a lucrative appointment in favor of another, and then... well, you know how it goes.
Let's say you have a boss. You've worked diligently and loyally for your boss. You have requested and expect a raise. You're confident you'll get the raise not to mention the boss leads you to believe that you'll get it. But you don't; your boss gives that raise to the new guy. You're pissed. How do you react if you and your boss are White males? You curse him under your brother, etc. Now, consider, in the REAL world how you'd react if your boss is a White female and you're male? Or, as in this case, your boss is black and you're not.
Most people will lie and say that they would not be racist, that this is not an issue of race but of fairness. But we must be honest with ourselves folks in order to know ourselves - we may not intend to be racist but when the buttons are amply pushed, I believe that the average human being is going to negatively attack the differences of their attacker as an emotional self-defense mechanism.
If Iago had not initially harbored some illogical misconceptions regarding Moors/Othello, then where would they have come from? Iago had served under Othello for years and, presumably, never encountered a reason to hate his superior until the beginnings of the play. Bear in mind that W.S. starts us off at this point as a catalyst for the action. If Iago had just been angry, he may have made a few slurs, seethed for awhile, and then moved on. Once Iago's inner racist demons had been released, this fueled the fires of his irrationality, hatred, and resentment; that he'd taken so much off a Moor for so long, that he should have to serve under a beast like Othello, etc. How can we know what W.S. has left unaddressed for us in regard to the beginnings of their relationship or Iago's attitude toward Othello when Othello wasn't around?
What is done/kept in the dark, is eventually brought into the light. We all have a secret door within our selves labeled "discriminations". While our tongues may not speak it, our minds, and even our actions (or lack thereof) will. This is not an indictment against humanity. This is an observation of our humanity. The indictment lies in our individual refusal to acknowledge our truths - yes, that door exists, yes, it's been opened a crack in this instance or that... The indictment lies in the fact that so many of us keep our backs pressed against that door attempting to prevent the big reveal of what lies within for fear of facing ourselves or being labeled. But rather than label or fear, why not examine the discriminations that lurk in there, waiting to come out and be free? Not just that, but by accessing what the discriminations are, we can also LEARN why we've tucked them away. Once the knowledge is there, there's no need to keep them. We can then choose to clean out the closet and truthfully live with one another and ourselves.... that is until the next Other comes along for us to fear!
Let's say you have a boss. You've worked diligently and loyally for your boss. You have requested and expect a raise. You're confident you'll get the raise not to mention the boss leads you to believe that you'll get it. But you don't; your boss gives that raise to the new guy. You're pissed. How do you react if you and your boss are White males? You curse him under your brother, etc. Now, consider, in the REAL world how you'd react if your boss is a White female and you're male? Or, as in this case, your boss is black and you're not.
Most people will lie and say that they would not be racist, that this is not an issue of race but of fairness. But we must be honest with ourselves folks in order to know ourselves - we may not intend to be racist but when the buttons are amply pushed, I believe that the average human being is going to negatively attack the differences of their attacker as an emotional self-defense mechanism.
If Iago had not initially harbored some illogical misconceptions regarding Moors/Othello, then where would they have come from? Iago had served under Othello for years and, presumably, never encountered a reason to hate his superior until the beginnings of the play. Bear in mind that W.S. starts us off at this point as a catalyst for the action. If Iago had just been angry, he may have made a few slurs, seethed for awhile, and then moved on. Once Iago's inner racist demons had been released, this fueled the fires of his irrationality, hatred, and resentment; that he'd taken so much off a Moor for so long, that he should have to serve under a beast like Othello, etc. How can we know what W.S. has left unaddressed for us in regard to the beginnings of their relationship or Iago's attitude toward Othello when Othello wasn't around?
What is done/kept in the dark, is eventually brought into the light. We all have a secret door within our selves labeled "discriminations". While our tongues may not speak it, our minds, and even our actions (or lack thereof) will. This is not an indictment against humanity. This is an observation of our humanity. The indictment lies in our individual refusal to acknowledge our truths - yes, that door exists, yes, it's been opened a crack in this instance or that... The indictment lies in the fact that so many of us keep our backs pressed against that door attempting to prevent the big reveal of what lies within for fear of facing ourselves or being labeled. But rather than label or fear, why not examine the discriminations that lurk in there, waiting to come out and be free? Not just that, but by accessing what the discriminations are, we can also LEARN why we've tucked them away. Once the knowledge is there, there's no need to keep them. We can then choose to clean out the closet and truthfully live with one another and ourselves.... that is until the next Other comes along for us to fear!
Friday, October 3, 2008
The Simpsons in Tights: A Reading of Hamlet; A Truly Dysfunctional Family
If you were asked to consider the story of Hamlet and articulate it in a single phrase, what would probably come to mind is 'extremely dysfunctional'. If you're one of those elitist, intellectual types and you prefer to describe Hamlet as a study of the Oedipal themes or some other rot, let me break it down as I got it and then you tell me if the story is not about sheer dysfunction.
Let's recap. Hamlet's uncle poisons his daddy, the king, and kills him. Uncle Psycho marries lonely Queen Gertie, Ham's mama, before daddy's body even hits the ground. Hamlet, despondent and grieving, chats with poor poppa's ghost and learns the truth. Hamlet takes up dear old dad's command to "remember me" (in English, "get payback boy! Only, leave your dear ol' ma out of this") and feigns schizo to trap King Uncle/Daddy. In the process, Hamlet can't help but harbor twisted psycho-sexual aggression and anger against Queen Mama for bed hoppin'. Hamlet produces a play to rub King Uncle/Daddy the wrong way (and does), accidentally kills busy-body Polonius, and screws over (possibly literally) Ophelia, his girlfriend, because she's female and thus weak like Queen Mum. She goes nuts (for real) because she got the shaft (then again, maybe she didn't and that made her mad) and possibly because her daddy got whacked. So far, sounds pretty dysfunctional to me. But we're not done yet.
King Uncle/Daddy sends Hamlet and a secret letter to England hoping he's killed while there, but schizo boy finds it, forges another letter, and has his buddies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern knocked off instead. Ham returns home just in time for the funeral of his one-time girl Ophelia (who drowned herself) and clashes with her extremely pissed off big brother, Laertes. Laertes is so hot about his dead sister and pop that he plots with Ol' King Killer to "accidentally" kill Ham with poison. King Killer has to make it look like an accident so that he doesn't lose favor with Queen Mama Gertie. So, King Uncle/Daddy/Killer sets up a sword contest between Hammy and Laertes, who poisons the tip of his sword, and poisons the wine, which Ham's mama accidentally drinks. In the end, flights of angels send Hamlet, his mama, the Killer King, and Laertes to their rest via poison and deception. Sounds pretty twisted to me.
But the most disturbing aspect of the entire tale is how our pal Willy S. had utilizes sex as the underlying driving force behind most of the action of the tale. The uncle kills his brother, not so much for the thrill of ruling, but because of how bad he coveted his brother's wife (a big Biblical no-no!). Hamlet despised his mother and Ophelia because he connected women with a weakness for sexual gratification. Mother jumped in the sack all too quickly with the uncle so therefore, as the prime woman in his life, women, in general, are thus represented by her model. Ophelia lost her mind because she wasn't getting any from Hamlet. Then again, others may contest that theory and argue that he and Ophelia had been intimate. His sudden and unexpected turn toward lunacy, and away from her, was the actual catalyst that sent her mind into a tailspin. In either regard, sex was the overall reason Ophelia lost it.
In this context, Shakespeare sounds very Freudian - everyone is sex-crazed and thus driven to desperate acts of violence and illogical behavior. So, rather than a stuffy and pretentious assessment of the thematic meaning behind the Oedipal relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet, or some other antiquated high school English subject, how about we look at what old Willy S. was really saying in Hamlet; too much or too little sex can drive you mad!
Let's recap. Hamlet's uncle poisons his daddy, the king, and kills him. Uncle Psycho marries lonely Queen Gertie, Ham's mama, before daddy's body even hits the ground. Hamlet, despondent and grieving, chats with poor poppa's ghost and learns the truth. Hamlet takes up dear old dad's command to "remember me" (in English, "get payback boy! Only, leave your dear ol' ma out of this") and feigns schizo to trap King Uncle/Daddy. In the process, Hamlet can't help but harbor twisted psycho-sexual aggression and anger against Queen Mama for bed hoppin'. Hamlet produces a play to rub King Uncle/Daddy the wrong way (and does), accidentally kills busy-body Polonius, and screws over (possibly literally) Ophelia, his girlfriend, because she's female and thus weak like Queen Mum. She goes nuts (for real) because she got the shaft (then again, maybe she didn't and that made her mad) and possibly because her daddy got whacked. So far, sounds pretty dysfunctional to me. But we're not done yet.
King Uncle/Daddy sends Hamlet and a secret letter to England hoping he's killed while there, but schizo boy finds it, forges another letter, and has his buddies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern knocked off instead. Ham returns home just in time for the funeral of his one-time girl Ophelia (who drowned herself) and clashes with her extremely pissed off big brother, Laertes. Laertes is so hot about his dead sister and pop that he plots with Ol' King Killer to "accidentally" kill Ham with poison. King Killer has to make it look like an accident so that he doesn't lose favor with Queen Mama Gertie. So, King Uncle/Daddy/Killer sets up a sword contest between Hammy and Laertes, who poisons the tip of his sword, and poisons the wine, which Ham's mama accidentally drinks. In the end, flights of angels send Hamlet, his mama, the Killer King, and Laertes to their rest via poison and deception. Sounds pretty twisted to me.
But the most disturbing aspect of the entire tale is how our pal Willy S. had utilizes sex as the underlying driving force behind most of the action of the tale. The uncle kills his brother, not so much for the thrill of ruling, but because of how bad he coveted his brother's wife (a big Biblical no-no!). Hamlet despised his mother and Ophelia because he connected women with a weakness for sexual gratification. Mother jumped in the sack all too quickly with the uncle so therefore, as the prime woman in his life, women, in general, are thus represented by her model. Ophelia lost her mind because she wasn't getting any from Hamlet. Then again, others may contest that theory and argue that he and Ophelia had been intimate. His sudden and unexpected turn toward lunacy, and away from her, was the actual catalyst that sent her mind into a tailspin. In either regard, sex was the overall reason Ophelia lost it.
In this context, Shakespeare sounds very Freudian - everyone is sex-crazed and thus driven to desperate acts of violence and illogical behavior. So, rather than a stuffy and pretentious assessment of the thematic meaning behind the Oedipal relationship between Gertrude and Hamlet, or some other antiquated high school English subject, how about we look at what old Willy S. was really saying in Hamlet; too much or too little sex can drive you mad!
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