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Please do not use at Ohio Northern University. This is a reaction to A Midsummer Don? t Blame the Artist The first time I was exposed to A Midsummer Night? s Dream was in the movie Dead Poets Society. I finally learned how powerful a piece of literature could be in this movie. This made me very excited to get the chance to read and interpret this play in class.
The most memorable scene for me in Dead Poets Society was the young man reciting the beginning of Puck? s final speech, ? If we shadows have offended, think but this, and all is mended, that you have but slumbered here, while these visions did appear. ? At the time this play was written, I would believe that it was somewhat controversial. Some of the topics still are today.
Hermia goes against her father? s decision for her to marry Demetrius, thus breaking the law. Demetrius has sex with the best friend of the woman he wants to marry. This part of Puck? s speech seems to be a place where Shakespeare was trying to tell the audience that he knows some of the actions in the play are wrong and that he is not responsible for the interpretation of the play and for those who mimic it? s situations.
This shows me that even hundreds of years ago people must have believed that life imitates art. This reaction was caused by an event my senior year of high school. I was watching a news show. The segment was about how video games caused the murders and suicides in Columbine.
The people on the show said that games like Duke Nukem- 3 D and Quake taught adolescents and children that killing is okay. The news program did not address the feelings of alienation and depression that occur during the high school years and how they sometimes are let out through violence. These video games all have warnings on the box that state their violent nature. Video games are not the only things that fall prey to these hollow accusations. According to numerous articles and television segments, Marilyn Manson was the reason teenagers decided to mutilate their bodies. Eminem is also responsible for hurtful actions including, but not limited to: suicides, drug use, hate crimes against women, and hate crimes against homosexuals.
Sadly, they are only responsible for making bad music. All of the albums put out by these artists contain a warning on the cover. Society always looks for a scapegoat to project blame. Shakespeare was apparently well aware of this even in the sixteenth century, just as Marilyn Manson and Eminem are today.
Yet another form of entertainment affected by this disease is the motion picture industry. The only hate I have ever felt for a person came when I saw John Grisham talking about how Oliver Stone? s Natural Born Killers glorified violence thus causing people to go on killing sprees. Regardless of the interpretation, Oliver Stone should not be held responsible for the interpretations other people might have of his art. The movie was rated? R. ?
The people that wrote these video games, movies, and songs know that killing is wrong, just like Shakespeare knew that it was not right for Hermia to defy the wishes of her father and break the law or for Demetrius to seduce Helena. All of these people did know what is entertaining. This just goes to show how far we have not come in intellectual evolution since the Renaissance, and possibly how far we will not go in the future. Nights Dream
Free research essays on topics related to: hate crimes, video games, dead poets society, oliver stone, marilyn manson
Research essay sample on Dead Poets Society Marilyn Manson