Culture in Romeo & Juliet

The film Romeo + Juliet was directed by Baz Luhrmann and released in November of 1996. The film is based off of the Shakespearean play under the same name.  The film shows the tragic ending to the lives of Romeo and Juliet who are two young lovers from feuding families who hate one another. As only a few days pass from Romeo and Juliet's meeting they get married, get separated, and end up killing themselves because they don't want to live without the other person.

This film acts as a modern interpretation of the traditional love story. The film attempts to link the language of the original play with modern-day themes such as violence in society, love in dangerous situations and the cult of personality. Seeing as the film is set in the fictional city of Verona Beach, which is a sexy, violent world neither set in the future, nor the past. This opened the door for Luhrmann to explore some of the major themes in Romeo + Juliet in the modern day.

The violence and hostility between the privileged and wealthy Capulets and financially unstable Montagues is the main source of conflict in the film. The two families get into a gun fight early in the film, there is a strong resemblance to the gang violence that occurs everyday in urban areas. The two sides hate one another so much, that they are willing to kill others, or die themselves, to let out their anger and frustration. Luhrmann also makes a valiant effort to show the differences in culture between the Montagues and Capulets.

In the opening scene, we see the Montagues who represent the poorer, lowbrow society members. This is apparent by their attire of large, baggy clothes and over the top dyed hairstyles. We also see the Capulets who represent the wealthier, highbrow members of society. The Capulets have their hair slicked back and they are wearing professional attire. The Capulets also gave off the vibe that that they felt they were above the Montagues. It is a very interesting scene and it sets the tone for the rest of the film.

In his 1958 journal entry, Raymond Williams proclaims that “culture is ordinary”. This means that every human society has its on shape and form. According to Williams, a culture has two aspects, known meanings and observations, and new observations and meanings. Throughout the course of the film, the Capulets and the Montagues hate one another and they believe that they know everything there is to know about the opposite side. They just see each other as competition and they embrace the hatred that they have.

This view is changed when the two families that they have lost two loved ones to suicide. The two families are forced to coexist and come together to mourn the deaths of the young Romeo and Juliet. The two families were able to set their differences aside and change the views and opinions that they had built up over the years. There was new meaning to this rivalry and the Capulets and Montagues agreed that the fighting needed to stop. Romeo and Juliet are singlehandedly responsible for proving Raymond Williams to be correct.

 In "Shakespeare and the American People: A Study in Cultural Transformation" by Lawrence Levine, he discusses the cultural hierarchy that occurs every single day in society. In his journal, he discusses the concepts of highbrow and lowbrow.  Highbrow is synonymous with the intellectual while lowbrow is relating to, or suitable for a person with little taste or intellectual interest (Levine). Both of these cultures are represented in this film.

The highbrow culture is reflected well within the Capulet family. They are a very wealthy family and they act in such way that makes their high ranking social status easily recognizable.  The lowbrow culture is represented by the Montague family. This family is more carefree and enjoys living life. This carefree lifestyle is frowned upon by those in the upper class as it perpetuates laziness.

As we discussed in class to Dr. Larry Grossburg introduced four key concepts that define cultural studies, materialism, conjuncture, popular, power. The popularity of the two families is obvious. Their names are plastered all over Verona Beach on billboards and signs, and as shown in the opening sequence, their names are also in the newspapers and local television news cycles. They also have a lot of power. As referenced in the film, both the Capulets and the Montagues are fighting for power in the city. They both have political connections and they both have the money to control whomever they want within the city.

All in all, the film Romeo + Juliet (Luhrmann) covers a lot of the culture that we have been covering in class. Everything that we have done from Fiske to Grossberg has had a very important role. This film is a wonderful example of the many themes in society at work.

Bibliography

Levine, Lawrence. "Shakespeare And The American People". N.p., 1984. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.

Williams, Raymond. "Culture Is Ordinary". N.p., 1958. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.