'Tis the season to kill Romeo

As an English teacher, seasonal movies mean something completely different to me. Because I always end the first semester with Shakespeare, I usually am living, breathing, talking, thinking Shakespeare when Christmas rolls around; so, when everybody else thinks about Charlie Brown's Christmas, I think about Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, or Hamlet. This became really difficult one year when my drama students were performing The Taming of the Shrew while I was teaching three grades, so I was reading The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, and Much Ado About Nothing. Yeah, that was brutal.

What I have learned, though, is how much I can remember from the movies of each of the plays. The soundtrack to the Franco Zeffirelli version of Romeo and Juliet sounds like Christmas carols to me, and the dialogue and the soliloquies get stuck in my head like how other people cannot get "Frosty the Snowman" out of their heads. Today, I showed my drama students soliloquies from different productions of Shakespearean plays, including Zeffirelli's version of The Taming of the Shrew when I realized the guy playing Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet plays a suitor (with blond hair!) in this movie. It was awkward seeing him trying to woo Bianca after I had seen him saying, "Peace, I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee."

Probably the most disturbing side effect of watching these movies way too much is the irresistible urge to give a Mystery Theater commentary through some of the most serious scenes. There is a priceless moment during Juliet's funeral when Friar Lawrence looks down and smiles, then remembers he's at a funeral and looks sad again. I just want to say in a funny voice, "Look! She has a funny hat on! Wait, I'm at a funeral - look sad!" but I can't because the students are trying to learn and I'm the teacher, after all.

Now, the Christmas season is in full swing: we just started the Baz Luhrmann version of Romeo and Juliet today, which is so much fun, and in the Sophomore's class, they are almost done with Julius Caesar. Besides, I never tire of seeing Marlon Brando, even if he is wearing a skirt as Marc Antony no man should ever wear. At least I don't have to hear the comments about the tights during this movie.