Absurd untruths, the poor Bard may be spinning in his grave

Rating: 3/10 (10 April 2006)

First, I'll admit to not being a fan of sheer fictional tales about famous historical figures, who aren't around to defend themselves. Poor Shakespeare may well be spinning in his grave. True, there's free speech, but just because he's the foremost bard of the English language does not give Hollywood the moral right to fabricate whatever drivel desired in order to entertain an audience and make a buck. Were the literary historians not outraged at the time? They should have been. It's difficult to believe this absurdity won an Academy Award for Best Picture.
This film concocts a purely fictional story wherein Shakespeare experiences writer's block while working on his new play 'Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter'. Meanwhile, the wealthy Viola, who's a fan of Shakespeare's plays and is engaged to marry the (quite predictably cold hearted) Lord Wessex, has always dreamed of becoming an actress herself. As acting is unacceptable in that era for a woman, she disguises herself as a boy to audition for the part of Romeo on stage. Thus begins a romance between the Bard and Viola, who is his inspiration for the immortal play we now know as Romeo and Juliet.
First of all, it's not exactly an original concept, the poor oppressed woman who's downtrodden because of her gender and not free to assume her desired profession, in this case acting. Rather an overworked theme. (I'm a woman, by the way). Gwyneth Paltrow is a lovely young actress, so it's nothing personal. Also, there are wonderful Oscar winning costumes. Really, however, this movie is basically a bedroom frolic about Will. I notice a few are claiming that a more appropriate title might be Shakespeare in Lust.
It really isn't right to concoct these fictitious tales, and for those who found it amusing & romantic...well, your entertainment was at the expense of an actual human being nearly four centuries deceased. He may or may not have appreciated it, but is not around to express his views. For those who claim that Shakespeare would be proud, I question these supernatural powers of discerning the attitudes of the long deceased. Instead of wasting time on this foolish movie, it might be better spent reading or viewing one of Shakespeare's plays on stage, or watching Franco Zeffirelli's beautiful 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.
My son (now a college freshman) was shown this silly Shakespeare in Love during an enriched high school English class a couple of years ago. He could never quite fathom what possible educational purpose this nonsense was intended to serve. Perhaps, as one reviewer suggested, the purpose of this film was to inform the modern world that Shakespeare had sex. Or if it's intended as an irreverent view of Elizabethan England, as some claim, we could well have managed without.
My favourite of all the comments read is that this movie has nothing whatsoever to do with Shakespeare other than to steal his good name. And sorry, I guess I'm just not one of those who can get much of a laugh out of the title 'Romeo and Ethel the Pirates's Daughter'. I find it quite a pathetic and juvenile attempt at humour, most definitely not Oscar caliber.