SHAKESPEAREAN DOTH PROTEST TOO MUCH
Says movie Anonymous is “hogwash”
Dan Decker, Director of the Las Vegas Shakespeare Company, called for a worldwide protest against the upcoming film “Anonymous” directed by Roland Emmerich and released by Sony Pictures.
Why this protest, we asked?
"The movie is based on the premise that because Shakespeare did not go to college he could not have written the great works. This is just elitism,” says Decker. “The elitist scree that drives this movie idea goes on to say that if Shakespeare didn’t go to college, then who really wrote the great works? Steven Spielberg, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln didn’t have the benefit of college, so now we have to ask who really directed ET, who really invented the light bulb, and who really wrote the Gettysburg Address."
And what is so bad about De Vere?
“Now the elitists want to bring forward a candidate for who really wrote Shakespeare. They cooked up a conspiracy theory that names a horrible man named Edward De Vere, an Earl. The thing about conspiracy theories is that they require there be no evidence. Unfortunately De Vere actually wrote poetry and it has survived to this day. It not only bears no resemblance to Shakespeare’s writing, it is the absolute opposite in terms of language, structure, and content."
“The authors of this film are really clueless about the life and time of Shakespeare. Shakespeare was comedy writer until the latter part of his career. The movie depicts a very serious and respected De Vere (also not a supportable view as he was neither) intoning about how words can change the course of a kingdom. The words he would have been writing were the silly comedies of “Two Gentlemen,” “Love’s Labours’ Lost,” “Comedy of Errors,” “As You Like It,” “Taming of the Shrew,” and on and on. Shakespeare’s works are mostly comedies. How these silly things were supposed to change the course of a kingdom is the real mystery in the film.
“This movie is just another example of someone who starts with a conclusion and then forces a limited view of some facts into the conclusion and disregards the rest. It’s the worst kind of disingenuous self delusion intended to shore up a weak ego.
“Actor Derek Jacobi supports the theory. He’s been punked, too. However, just because he fell for a senseless elitist conspiracy theory does not mean he’s a bad actor. He’s a good actor. But I got this bridge I want to show him.
“All the evidence, and I mean ALL the evidence, historic, anecdotal, literary, points away from De Vere and toward Shakespeare. Ultimately there was no authorship requirement in those days anyway, so the whole idea is anachronistic. Until any other evidence surfaces, I’m going with Shakespeare as the author Shakespeare. Duh."
Will you join us in this battle, will you defend the name that be, or will you blindly watch the movie and cheer?
And as the news of the hour speak of many horrible events happening around the world, the Shakespeare news watch will record the protests to come all over Las Vegas and perhaps the country.
