Still Star-Crossed

I'm not a fan of Shakespeare but after watching this show all I could think about is DAMN, its really good. The actors are completely invested in their characters and it shows on screen. I love it. The first episode was good and then the second one, OMG it was intense. I am intrigued and completely on board with this drama. I really hope I can see it all unfold.

In reading some of the reviews, I was rather surprised by some of the snooty remarks about the racially mixed cast. Especially, given that all the actors did an extraordinary job. Truly, they exceptional in their respective roles. I am, however a HUGE Anthony Stewart Head fan girl. He was so very dreamy as Giles. The set, costumes, and cinematography were absolutely gorgeous. In my opinion, the script adaption was done rather well for a TV series. The only reservation that I have keeping me from becoming fully invested is it's uncertainty regarding staying in production. I never fully recovered from NBC's dick move in canceling Constantine, (seriously I truly hate them for that). That all being said, I do hope for it to become a regular, especially with Scandal coming to an end, I will need something from ShondraLand to appease my broken heart.

I love this. It makes no attempt to pretend that its some kind of historically accurate representation - costuming for example is all over the place! But the fact that the cast is diverse - and its not an issue, it just simply is - is really refreshing.

Still star crossed is the post Romeo and Juliet story, focusing on the Montague's and the Capulets in the aftermath of the teenagers' deaths. Rosaline and Benvolio are forced into an arranged marriage in an attempt to unite their families and as you can imagine, there is a rocky road ahead as these two figure out they actually DO like each other.

I've seen this show get some heat, which I don't understand. Its not the best thing on television. But its certainly not the worst. Its fun, its a period drama and thus far, the cast seem great.

I'm definitely watching.

Some of these reviews are really mean. The show wasn't that bad, maybe dramatic yes but it is Shakespeare. I really enjoyed the romance in it and was getting into the mystery before it was cancelled. It wasn't my favorite show but it was still entertaining to watch another version or loosely based show of Shakespeare's. I think some take any version very seriously and may be upset if it's not exact. I didn't have a problem with it. Some reviewers were not a fan of the diverse cast. Everyone who is familiar with Shonda knows she doesn't cast based off race and appearance. You should expect a diverse cast from her, which is something I admire about her. She doesn't let race dictate her casting. One reviewer went as far as to say that the protagonist wasn't the most attractive, I don't know what they were looking at but I thought she was beautiful and even if she wasn't that's just very superficial and sad to expect the main characters to be drop dead gorgeous. But I know that's Hollywood's fault too. I know I personally want to see a cast with regular people, all shapes and sizes, that's just more realistic.

Well done for a first episode. It wasn't perfect and did have its faults, but the casting is superb despite, perhaps, being a little inconsistent in terms of family lines (as a personal desire, it'd be nice to have consistency there for immediate families). But the actors and actresses themselves, do a great job capturing their character perspectives, particularly when one takes into consideration the plot, time period, and what would have been their ages. They also did fairly well with the writing they were given, which was lacking at times, but that, of course, wasn't their faults.

And for all of those making claims that this "turns Shakespeare on its head," or that it's pushing "political correctness" or pushing unnecessary diversity, such are knee jerk reactions from uneducated individuals who cry about authenticity, but usually have no problem with the fact that women are acting in the productions, even though authenticity would mean men playing the women's parts; it's selective outrage that's usually R.W.S.-based.

Please don't let negative reviews that have no legitimate criticisms of the show itself persuade you from watching it, especially if you're like me and have a personal interest in Shakespeare anyway which has pushed you to do your proper due diligence, leading to the truth of yes, there being Black people around at the time (as if Othello didn't make that obvious, anyway). For those still not convinced and in need of visuals, a page online titled, "People of Color in European Art History" (the pg is: medievalpoc) proves it, too.

Besides, let's be honest, if nothing else, it's a great breath of fresh air from what we usually see with such renditions. In Leo DiCaprio's version of R+J, for example, it was nice to see Harold Perrineau, Vondie Curtis-Hall, etc, but the production was still pretty boring in terms of lead character casting, and bland in terms of their performances. It is nice to see TV branching out to cover more period pieces, and as far as diversity goes, I hope things like this continue, as they promote what is a more genuine sense of authenticity and truth, ignoring what is popular belief about the time period in question.

So... based on the first episode, at least, I hope the show's given room to grow into another season or more, allowing it to continue improving and continuing to surprise me. Much like one of my fav shows, "Reign," I have a feeling this, too, will end up blossoming into a wonderful show if it's given a chance/time to.