A series of pieces worth reading on the movie “Anonymous,” opening this weekend.
1) James Shapiro, in the NYT Op-Ed section, takes on director Rolan Emmerich.
This bit in particular jumps out at me as worthy of note (especially at a contemporary moment that is witnessing the Occupy movement, protesting the sense that the privileged 1% get to make the rules):
“The case for Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, dates from 1920, when J. Thomas Looney, an English writer who loathed democracy and modernity, argued that only a worldly nobleman could have created such works of genius; Shakespeare, a glover’s son and money-lender, could never have done so.” (Bold face type mine.)
2) News that The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, in Stratford-upon-Avon, is protesting the film by pasting over Shakespeare’s name, wherever it appears, all over town.
— and a bit more on this from the BBC.
3) Some more background from the NYT.
4) A snarky little piece that made me laugh.
5) The great historian/thinker/critic Simon Schama takes up the pen over at the Daily Beast.
Finally…
I wish I could find these study guides for English teachers that Sony Pictures is alleged to be handing out in concert with this movie. If anyone finds them online, post ’em.
One Comment
kmjiang posted on October 28, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat. Is this real life.