# Shakespeare rolls over in his grave: She's The Man **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 15, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105 "2006-01-15T18:35:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/21 "2006-01-15T22:17:52Z")
Also, the 70’s fast-food version of the Scottish play: [Scotland, PA.](http://imdb.com/title/tt0265713/) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/22 "2006-01-15T23:00:41Z")
> [@Campion](#): > > Shakespeare rolls over in his grave To the contrary, if Shakespeare were still alive, this is exactly what he would be doing. Almost all of his plays retell a story originally written by someone else. (The exception is **The Merry Wives of Windsor** , where he just reused his own characters from **Henry IV**.) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/23 "2006-01-16T00:25:57Z")
> [@Baine](#): > > Wasn’t there a movie from the 80’s with that same premise? I believe it was called _Just One of the Guys_. JOOTG was about a female journalism student who went undercover as a boy to another high school. She does fall in love with someone who knows her only as a boy but thre’s no one who goes missing, no pretending to be an existing other person, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/24 "2006-01-16T00:44:18Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > To the contrary, if Shakespeare were still alive, this is exactly what he would be doing. Almost all of his plays retell a story originally written by someone else. (The exception is **The Merry Wives of Windsor** , where he just reused his own characters from **Henry IV**.) And The Tempest, although I think it’s slightly influenced by writings about a contemporary shipwreck. > [@lissener](#): > > If you can set \*Hamlet \*in a pride of cartoon lions, you can set \*Twelfth Night \*in a modern highschool. I always thought the resemblance to Hamlet in The Lion King was overstated. Once you get past the beginning, I don’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/25 "2006-01-16T00:44:25Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I would pay to see the teen version of _Titus Andronicus._ Not with teens. But add automatic weapons, & set it in an unnamed jungle nation, & you have that Stallone/Schwarzenegger script everybody wanted in the late 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/26 "2006-01-16T01:12:54Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > > [@Colibri](#): > > > > I would pay to see the teen version of Titus Andronicus. > > Not with teens. > > But add automatic weapons, & set it in an unnamed jungle nation, & you have that Stallone/Schwarzenegger script everybody wanted in the late 80’s. Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of _Kill Bill_ or _House of 1000 Corpses_. Titus Andronicus seemed to be Shakespeare trying to be as utterly brutal as possible and pretty much disregarding any logical character development to get there. As for Twelfth Night, it seems ready-made as an adaption into a teen movie, unlike say, Othello or Hamlet. I’ve often though that MacBeth could easily be transferred into the “teenage angst drama” genre as well, but I fear that I might find myself at the wrong end of a character defamation suit should I too closely portray someone from my past history in the role. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/27 "2006-01-16T01:44:12Z")
> [@August West](#): > > Don’t forget the slightly muddled retelling of Hamlet in _Strange Brew_ > > [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086373/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086373/) “Shakespeare horked our script, eh?” ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/28 "2006-01-16T03:53:55Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > That could be cool. I’d call it “Summer Vacation”. A hot teen, Dane (Ryan Reynolds), comes home from studying abroad and finds that his dad (John Lithgow) has died and his mom (Jennifer Coolidge) has married his dad’s brother (John Lithgow- this time with a moustache). Only Dane can see his dad’s ghost hanging around the house, and his dad’s guardian angel (Morgan Freeman) tells him he can’t get into heaven unless Dane makes his lookalike brother admit to murdering him, so Dane makes his mom and stepdad/uncle watch a DVD of Mel Gibson’s _Hamlet_, but it doesn’t work because the Blockbuster made a mistake and gave him _Madagascar_. Dane pretends to have severe adult ADD and OCD which causes hijinks when his psychology major girlfriend Ophelia (Alicia Silverstone) tries to diagnose him, and Dane’s friends Rosenberg (Adam Goldberg) and Stern (Jason Ritter) are secretly working for the evil uncle because he’s agreed to finance their porn film if they get Dane medicated and put away. Throw in Joe Pesci’s dad as mob boss family friend Jimmy “Polo Pony” Pollonari and a wacky gay houseboy (Jai Rodriguez) and, of course, a happy ending, and I think you’ve got a hit. Copyright this premise. NOW, dammit! BTW, Alicia’s got to over 25 by now, so they’d have her playing Gertie. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/29 "2006-01-16T08:12:44Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Throw in Joe Pesci’s dad as mob boss family friend Jimmy “Polo Pony” Pollonari and a wacky gay houseboy (Jai Rodriguez) and, of course, a happy ending, and I think you’ve got a hit. Capo, and matrone, to run your mouth about what being a boss is about, what duty is, why day is day and night is night, why we got time and all that, that’s nothing but a waste of night, day and time. Since wiseguys talk straight, and I don’t want to wear myself out, I’ll get to the nut: your bright boy is _oogatz_: I say “oogatz,” because what’s oogatz? It’s just _oogatz_. Fuggetaboutit!" ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/30 "2006-01-16T08:41:41Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I would pay to see the teen version of _Titus Andronicus._ How bout the grade school version of _Henry V_? ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/31 "2006-01-16T10:00:40Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > Well, we’ve already had the teen comedy version of [The Taming of the Shrew](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0147800/). And [Othello](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0184791/). Yeah, but this one loses points for not having Julia Stiles to distract me. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/32 "2006-01-16T16:39:51Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > That could be cool. I’d call it “Summer Vacation”. A hot teen, Dane (Ryan Reynolds), comes home from studying abroad and finds that his dad (John Lithgow) has died and his mom (Jennifer Coolidge) has married his dad’s brother (John Lithgow- this time with a moustache). Only Dane can see his dad’s ghost hanging around the house, and his dad’s guardian angel (Morgan Freeman) tells him he can’t get into heaven unless Dane makes his lookalike brother admit to murdering him, so Dane makes his mom and stepdad/uncle watch a DVD of Mel Gibson’s _Hamlet_, but it doesn’t work because the Blockbuster made a mistake and gave him _Madagascar_. Dane pretends to have severe adult ADD and OCD which causes hijinks when his psychology major girlfriend Ophelia (Alicia Silverstone) tries to diagnose him, and Dane’s friends Rosenberg (Adam Goldberg) and Stern (Jason Ritter) are secretly working for the evil uncle because he’s agreed to finance their porn film if they get Dane medicated and put away. Throw in Joe Pesci’s dad as mob boss family friend Jimmy “Polo Pony” Pollonari and a wacky gay houseboy (Jai Rodriguez) and, of course, a happy ending, and I think you’ve got a hit. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. Bravo! ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105/33 "2006-01-16T20:33:50Z")
> [@amaranta](#): > > And [Gnomeo and Juliet](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377981/). It’s hard to forget it when it hasn’t even come out. Unless, of course, Bob Iger can travel through time and has already realized it failed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shakespeare-rolls-over-in-his-grave-shes-the-man/340105.md?page=1)