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William Shakespeare is transported to modern day Hollywood (insert Trek technobabble here, if you must) and is set up with his own studio. Upon seeing the trash that Hollywood produces, Shakespeare makes it his goal to make quality entertainment that will appeal to the general public (this means that people will like at while at the same time not being dumb Hollywood, lowest-common-demonator BS). Over the next few years he writes, directs and produces a comedy, a tragedy, a drama, a sci-fi flick, a war movie and an action movie (what the hell, he gets to work with Arnold...). Mean while, the Hollywood execs are cranking out everything they can and constantly try to buy out Shakespeare.

So, does Shakespeare flatten Hollywood at the box office or does he end crushed by the village idiots?

He's crushed as no one will understand his scripts.

If Shakespeare was raised in this time period, he would have been very successful indeed. However, he was an Elizabethan through and through and would be completely out of touch with 21th Century tastes.

Which is why I said "appeal to the general public" - he has to be able to communicate with his audience, so he has to know modern culture. So, his comedy might revolve around a football team. Or his drama could be a gangster movie. This more about his skill than the language of the time he wrote in.

Half and half. I think he would bomb at the war movie, the sci fi, and the action. But in the others, he would crush hollywood. Sure his comedy my be a little of for us but I would just think of it as some old school Python.

The only area where Shakespeare would be out of touch would be in using archaic language. After all, his plays are chock full of sex, violence, insanity, and all kinds of appealing fun.

Frank Hipper wrote:The only area where Shakespeare would be out of touch would be in using archaic language. After all, his plays are chock full of sex, violence, insanity, and all kinds of appealing fun.

Fun for the whole family, eh?

Shakespeare would've written poetic scripts for Hustler's Barely Legal or (if they had one) Barely Female series

Shakespeare appealled to the lowest common denominator of the time. Hence tranvestitism, knob gags and oh so gruesome deaths.
If eh was working today, he'd be writing for the soaps.

innerbrat wrote:Shakespeare appealled to the lowest common denominator of the time. Hence tranvestitism, knob gags and oh so gruesome deaths.
If eh was working today, he'd be writing for the soaps.

Thank you.

Not to mention (for whatever reason) recurrent insanities and clinical depression cases...

~ver