Diqs

These were invented a year ago by me, dexlabsceo and eddyeddyneddy!!

Fights are fun!

1. Stupidity

2. Pretentiousness

3. Solipsism

4. Self-deceit

5. Herd conformity

6. Lack of perspective

7. Forgetfulness of past orthodoxies

8. Counterproductive pride

9. Lack of aesthetics

1: Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked

2: Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them

3: When in another’s home, show them respect or else do not go there

4: If a guest in your home annoys you, treat them cruelly and without mercy

5: Do not make sexual advantages unless you are given the mating signal

6: Do not take which does not belong to you, unless it is a burden to the other person and they cry out to be relieved

7: Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it to successfully obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will loose all you have obtained.

8: Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.

9: Do not harm young children.

10: Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.

Most of the guns being used by the main characters are modified Taurus PT99 pistols, the different types of which are often named after specific types of knives and swords, thus enabling them to not have to change the Shakespearean dialogue, but to also manage that specific visual pun. 

So Shakespeare would have absolutely been 100% all over that shit.

For example, Tybalt’s gun is a modified 9mm “Rapier” (from the Taurus PT99 Series ‘R’) and is actually one of my favorite visual aesthetics of quite probably any weapon in movie history to date. 

While everyone else seems to be using a much more heavier and “powerful” version of pistol, his is sleek and light in frame, making it much easier for him to fight the way that he does. Which is undoubtedly Extra™ in comparison to everyone else, but also intended to mimic the dueling stance of actual rapier swordsmen of the time who relied on speed rather than brute force. They were Gentlemen after all. If you were going to cut someone down you ought to do it with some finesse.

If you look closely at his hand you’ll notice that with the exception of his middle finger on the trigger, he’s actually holding it the way one would a sword hilt. He’s also got the poise of a honed duelist. 

This is someone who has been brought up with a very strong sense of Family Honor, and is expected to fight to defend it, but not as a common foot soldier (who carry “longswords” which are modified shotguns in the film), but as a Gentleman. 

A gentleman who suddenly finds himself having to fight in the streets with people carrying “daggers”.

Like Mercutio’s modified pistol, which while beautiful and (importantly thematic) transparent in its function, is also heavy and cumbersome in comparison to Tybalt’s rapier, which also has a much further range, something he also makes better use of with the addition of a quick release mount for a c-scope, which allows him to either be slow and accurate, or to forgo accuracy for speed during say, a one on one duel vs a street brawl.

Which means even if he can’t make as many quickfire short range movements as Mercutio can, he’s still going to fucking obliterate him with the practiced ease of someone who has been training for duels their entire life.

Most of his plays are designed specifically to do something attention grabbing in the first scene to get the audience to SHUT UP and Watch.  This production does that with noise and action and glorious visuals.  It grabbed everyone in the theater, and the production did what the original was meant to do: bring in all walks of life.  The showing we went to had as many teens as adults and they were all really enjoying it.  As we were leaving, the gaggle of teens in front of us were planning to come back and see it again.

Which was kind of the point.  These plays survived because they drew in audiences over and over.  They could remount Romeo and Juliet next year and people would want to see it again.  Before we labelled them high art and dissected them, they were crowd pleasures full of slang and dirty jokes and swordfights as well as the poetry and characters and themes that gave them staying power.  They work best when all those things are still in there and accessible so people can experience all of those things.

This version captures that better than any other Romeo & Juliet I’ve seen.  Romeo + Juliet is alive and brash and still grabs me every fucking time.  This version is the closest I’m likely to get to what it felt like to watch it the first time, even if the outfits are different and as the poster points out Luhrmann has carefully translated the swords and fighting styles into modern weaponry.  I know next to nothing about firearms, but I could see that Tybalt moved right, like a swordsman.  I could read the body language in the fights just as clearly.

so this annoying douchebag kid was on his phone and the teacher went “you have to give it to me now you signed the contract” and the kid didn’t even look up and said “contracts signed by a minor are not legally binding” and continued to text. and i hated that kid but…..dare i say iconic

It was a literal issue of them struggling with English, and it was an honest mistake by them, as they didn’t know it was offensive.