When thinking of the 2000s, what comes to mind might be low-rise jeans, body glitter, and butterfly clips. An unappreciated aspect of the Y2K era, however, is campy and modern Shakespearean adaptations.
Plenty of classic late-nineties, early 2000s teen films are either subtle or direct retellings of classic novels. “Clueless?” That’s Jane Austen’s “Emma” in a different coat of paint. “Get Over It?” is “Midsummer Night’s Dream” with basketball.
These movies have been cemented in the cultural zeitgeist since their initial release, and for good reason. They are relatable, funny teenage romps and just generally a good time. But are they faithful, or even good, adaptations of the source material? I would argue yes.
While there are some obvious key differences between a novel set in 12th-15th-century England and a movie about a 1999 American high school, the core messages and themes remain the same.
For example, “She’s the Man” is an adaptation of “Twelfth Night”, in which Viola pretends to be her twin brother, Sebastian, to join his school’s soccer team. The film tackles the same concepts as the text: gender, romance, and mistaken identity, but updates them to be more relatable to the teen audience.
Reliability is the keyword here; having these characters experience things similar to what the audience might, allows for the message of the original work to be passed to a new modern teenage crowd.
Shakespeare’s plays were groundbreaking works of fiction, and their popularity at the time could stem from their authenticity. Most of his works were set either in his time period or the past, making it easier for the audience to project themselves onto and empathize with the characters. The same concept applies to modern adaptations.
Lots of classical works also contain dated or out-of-touch elements. “10 Things I Hate About You” is a beloved rom-com that’s based on one of Shakespeare’s most controversial works. “The Taming of the Shrew” is a play that’s, to be frank, misogynistic. The “shrew” the work gets its namesake from is a young woman effectively bullied into submission by her new husband. This act is treated more as a punchline than genuine abuse and is framed by the play as a net positive.
It’d be unfair to say “Taming of the Shrew” has nothing good to say. It has some, for the time, novel observations on gender roles, marriage, and identity. By taking the core story but trimming the sexist fat, movies can still maintain the insights of the original text, and “10 Things I Hate About You” does just that.
Modern adaptations are and will always be controversial, with some more recent ones having been poorly received (ahem, “Wuthering Heights”), but as long as the core themes and messages are maintained, they can properly represent the original work in all its glory.
