Modern Shakespeare

The movie, O, is an obvious link to the play, Othello. The advantages of portraying the play as a movie give O the opportunity to show visual symbols that the play lacks. The opening scene shows a whole flock of white doves. Directly after the scene of the peaceful doves, the director shows one lonely black hawk. This symbol alone could have multiple meanings. Very directly, it compares the obvious racial difference between Othello and the other main characters. It introduces race as a major theme. Also, doves generally represent peace. The black hawk acts as the interrupter of this peace, which serves as a symbol of foreshadowing to the disruption Othello causes towards the end of the movie.
The idea that Othello was a moor was a main point in the play. The director of the movie had to find a way to suggest that race was a main theme without the ability to directly say he was a moor. The birds in the beginning were an opening symbol, but racial suggestions were constantly brought up. Rap music is the only genre used throughout the whole movie. The camera angles made sure to show the direct contrast of skin colors as they touched each other. Also, the opposing basketball team, the Bulldogs, consisted of only African Americans. I found this to be a huge symbol. A moor has the connotation of being Muslim, just like the Turks (the enemies of the Venetians). This gave Othello a major tie to the enemies. Just in the same way, that specific basketball game gave Oden a direct tie with his team’s enemies.
I thought it was very interesting how Julia Styles (Desi Brable) and Andrew Keegan (Michael Cassio) were both casted to play the roles of two of the main characters. They were also casted to play two of the main characters in 10 Things I Hate About You, another modern movie based off of a Shakespearean play. Before I watched O, I thought it would be very similar to the other Shakespearean modern adaptations I had seen such as 10 Things I Hate About You and She’s the Man. However, I feel like the other movies I had previously seen had plots which were enjoyable to watch, and it was simply a bonus is you understood the symbols and second meanings. O is not like that to me. My main enjoyment in watching this movie is to pick out the symbols and correlations, not to follow the story line and sympathize with the characters.