MovieChat Forums > The Merchant of Venice (2005) Discussion > A Disgrace

A Disgrace

posted 12 years ago by shaq34643464
1 reply | jump to latest

The Merchant of Venice (play) was an anti-Semitic comedy. You could make a weak argument that it wasn't anti-Semitic (I actually feel the humanizing monologues of Shylock make it MORE anti-Semitic as instead of all that happens happening to a caricature, it's happening to a person), but you cannot make an argument that it was not a comedy/intended to be a drama.

Really, let's make Romeo and Juliet a romantic comedy starring Steve Carrell or Will Farrel! Let's make King Lear a slapstick comedy! Let's make a Midsummer Night's Dream a gritty cop drama set in New York City, circa 2045!

If you want to borrow from Shakespeare, do so, and acknowledge it as such. Don't say you're making a film from a Shakespeare play and then feed us something so off base so as to be almost unrecognizable.

[–] Blueghost 11 years ago

It seemed to have a strain of antisemitism in it. If you look at the character list Shylock is listed as "a Jew", and nothing else. It also forced him to become a Christian at the end, ignoring the fact that Christianity is partially derived from Judaism, all the while incorporating ideas from India.

As to the rest of your post, well, I think you're nuts.