Wednesday, December 14, 2011

"Anonymous"

Anonymous has come and gone, so now is probably the best time to release a belated counterpoint podcast

To sum up, it's bad writing and bad history.

The next episode is Antony and Cleopatra, vote for what you want to see after that!

EDIT/CORRECTION:
Our next episode is going to be about Julius Caesar, partially because it's before A&C, but mostly because it's going to be playing later this month, and we want fresh memories.

10 comments:

  1. Another fine episode, guys - haven't seen the movie, but I've read up on the whole 'authorship question' and agree that it's based on non-existent scholarship. I honestly don't know why you kept getting so many votes for A&C for the next show - meh. Anyway, always enjoy your podcasts - my vote for the one after A&C is more Hamlet!

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  2. You guys are hilarious. I'm always excited when a new podcast shows up. Keep up the good work.

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  3. Hello!
    I am a tattoo artist from the south suburbs of Chicago, and I listen at work when the shop is slow. I have been listening to the podcast for a few months, but have been moved to comment on Joss Whedon, Nathan Filion and Shakespeare: squee!

    Also, I was in London last week and toured the Globe and kept referencing your podcast on what life was like during Shakespeare's time.

    As a life long Shakespeare dork, I am totally thrilled with your podcast. Thanks!

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  4. Alastair Morley JaquesDecember 31, 2011 at 5:23 AM

    Not nearly as scholarly or in depth as previous episodes, all the same, this is one of my favorite BardCasts so far. Anything that serves to further besmirch that excrementitious film is a service to the cause of scholarship and humanity as a whole.

    I'm an actor (mostly Shakespearean) and BardCast is, far and away, my favorite podcast.

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  5. You wouldn't happen to have, by any chance, a transcript of this episode?

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  6. Glad you took on the bad history in this movie.

    I was a theater major in college and am still an avid theater patron. I've seen a great deal of Shakespeare at a couple of the great west cost venues, California Shakespeare Theater and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

    I love your conversational style.
    Keep up the good work. Can't wait for your next podcast.

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  7. Thought you guys would appreciate this article:

    A hilarious and insightful skewering of the film ANONYMOUS by Grove Speaker Kaya Oakes:
    http://www.theatrebayarea.org/editorial/Chatterbox/Anonymously-Yours.cfm?cs_forceReadMode=1

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  8. After listening to your podcast on Anonymous I actually watched it on cable recently out of curiousity.

    If one views it strictly as a piece of fiction it was actually entertaining to watch and was actually well acted and filmed.

    Of course as far as it having anything to do with reality, it was quite a stretch, especially the way they portrayed William Shakespeare as a total buffoon, not to mention all the other things about de Vere and Elizabeth having a child and Elizabeth having other children that no one knew about. That just scratches the surface of questionable things in the movie.

    Just for the sake of curiousity I actually listened to a podcast by Mark Anderson who wrote the book "Shakespeare by Another Name" and it is interesting to hear his point of view though much of his notions are based on correlation.

    But of course correlation does not always equal causation.

    Ultimately to me, the most important thing is whether or not one loves Shakespeare's works or not, and I personally wouldn't feel differently about them if I found out that "Sam the Baker" wrote them. They stand on their own. Likewise if we found out that someone else wrote Beethoven's works I wouldn't feel any differently about those either.

    Still it is fascinating how polarizing this issue is among those in either camp.

    Anyway, I really enjoy your podcast, keep them coming!

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  9. I think the film "Anonymous" is very easy to dismiss, as it presents the most outrageous variants on the de Vere theory of authorship. I think most Oxfordians do not accept the notion that Elizabeth was de Vere's mother/lover, WS as murderer, etc..

    There are indeed some interesting coincidences between the known non-fiction life of Edward de Vere and the writings of Shakespeare, and I think it's at least worth considering what cooler heads have to say about it. See Mark Anderson's writings, blogs, or podcasts for a good introduction to the Oxfordian ideas without the silly add-ons of the "Anonymous" film.

    Enjoying your podcasts.

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