"Othello vs O" Discuss the appropriation of Shakespeares Othello into the film O. Include the context of each text, connections between each, purpose and effectiveness of the appropriation.

"Othello" and "O" tell the story of a great man who suffers terrible destruction as a result of external evil. "Othello" is a tale that weaves an intricate pattern of lies and deceit, beginning with the main character, Othello, being questioned by Brabanzio, the father of his new wife Desdemona who Othello had just married in secret. Brabanzio is not happy with this as not only is Othello a middle-aged man while Desdemona a young women, but Othello is a Moor, (a black man) and the thought of a white women marrying a black man was looked down upon, despite that fact that Othello was a prized general and diplomat, the pride of Venice. Iago, a man Othello trusts is secretly extremely jealous of Othello's happiness, and plotting his downfall behind his back, with the help of Roderigo who is very much in love with Desdemona, but is only a source of money for Iago. Iago manipulates everyone around Othello, including his own friends and makes Othello believe Desdemona is betraying him by seeing Othello's friend Michael Cassio. At Othello's orders, Iago is told to make sure Cassio is dead, and with the help of willing Roderigo who dies as well, Cassio is killed. Desdemona is confiding her unhappiness in her friend Emilia, who is Iago's wife. When Othello comes to Desdemona's bedroom he strangles her, believing Iago's tales of lies out to destroy him. Emilia comes to stop him and tells of what her husband has done, which is silenced when Iago comes and murders her. Othello realises what has happened and finally, draws a knife and takes his own life.

The modern day version, "O" takes place in a white prep boarding school. One of very few black students, Odin, is the star basketball player. He has the love of the most popular girl who also happens to be the daughter of the school's dean. On the other side there is Hugo and Roger. Hugo is Odin's best friend and Odin often confides in him, not knowing that Hugo has always been insanely jealous of him. Roger is madly in love with Odin's girlfriend Desi. Michael is also on the basketball team, but Hugo gets him kicked off as part of his plan to destroy Odin. Emily is Desi's best friend and Hugo's girlfriend. The basketball coach, who is also Hugo's father, favours Odin, to the point in which he virtually ignores his own son. Hugo's jealousy manifests itself into his rich friend Roger, who becomes an unwitting pawn in Hugo's obsessive desire to destroy Odin. Hugo manipulates Odin into having serious misgivings about Desi, planting the seed that she's cheating on him with teammate Michael Casio. In the end, much like "Othello", Odin strangles Desi; Michael and Roger are murdered; as is Emily, while Odin kills himself.

The fact that Othello and Odin are black, immediately creates a tension in the story. During "Othello's" time in the 1600's, a white women eloping with a black man, especially one much older than her was looked down upon. In "O', Desi's father does not approve of Odin and Desi's relationship, forcing them to have a semi-secret affair. The presence of Othello and Odin being black constantly reminds the audience of their isolation and differences in background and upbringing, which fill them with a great uncertainty.

Influential black people in society is ever growing, and the realities of a black leader in a predominantly white community can be drawn on through parallels with black leaders in more recent history, from Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela, and the attitudes of white communities to such people. The history of the various black soldiers who were employed by Venice and other Italian states were, like the Jews, essential to the running of the city, but were not necessarily popular or accepted as equals by the other citizens. In Venice today, there are many numbers of 16th and 17th century paintings depicting Moors and Africans in all walks of life. They evidently made up a healthy component of Venetian life as ambassadors, merchants, doctors, entertainers, etc. Yet the relationship between Othello and Desdemona was still seen as wrong, as were similar relationships in that time period. Even in today's modern world, as depicted in "O", couples such as Desi and Odin are seen to be immoral by their families.

Social tensions are conveyed in both "Othello" and "O", through Iago and Hugo's jealousy of Othello and Odin's lives. Hugo feels he cannot match Odin's skills that his father adores so much, and becomes so envious of his happy relationship with Desi that he plots to destroy him. This is taken from "Othello" where Iago is resentful of Othello's status in society through his accomplishments in the army, and the happiness Othello has in his life with his relationship with Desdemona.

There are strong connections between "Othello" and "O", such as the character names, almost being abbreviated into nicknames for the original characters. Othello becomes Odin, Desdemona becomes Desi. Iago is changed to Hugo and so on. Even the basketball coach is nicknamed "Duke", drawing from the character, the Duke of Venice. The story line is very similar, with "Othello" being set in Venice in the 1600's and "O" being set in a modern day high school.

The plot of each is basically the same, even down to the sequence of events in which the characters die. Iago's jealously is well represented in Hugo through the competitive expectations of the basketball team, which is paralleled to Othello's achievements in the Venetian army. When Hugo gets Michael drunk and in a fight with Roger, this is a representation of the scene where Iago gets Cassio drunk and convinces Roderigo to fight him, just with a teenage high school twist.

"O" helps to give a greater understanding to "Othello", through use of modern conflicts, some of which are in "Othello" and still around today. The audience is able to relate to the plotline of "O", especially the high school dramas and friction. While "Othello" involves using the status of one in society and their associations with the army as the bases of competition and tension, "O" takes a modern approach by having the driving force of the web of lies and deceit as competition on the basketball team. Both use an envious relationship to further progress the jealously and deception. "Othello" can be quite hard to understand as it is written in 'Modern English'. It looks very different to the English used today, but most words still mean the same, or similar. The appropriation of "Othello" into "O" gives the audience a better chance to comprehend the concepts and values in "Othello" which they may not have understood before.

"Othello" is a tragedy, and while these days 'tragedy' is a term loosely applied to anything very sad, Shakespeare's use of the term implies something more precise. A tragedy is a story richly and artistically told, of pitiable, fearful events, which should deeply affect the viewer, but at the end leave them emotionally whole again. "Othello" does this, and "O" takes this further by giving a visual representation of the tragedy, letting the audience experience the Elizabethan play even further.

"O" is well portrayed as an appropriation of "Othello", yet it is sometimes lacking as while "Othello" spins a web or rage, misplaced trust and betrayal, "O" seems to convey it characters as being somewhat stuck up, complaining about their lives. "Othello" is about adults with adult problems, namely a Moor being deceived. "O's" Odin has just about everything, despite having grown up in different surroundings to the others. The overall idea of "Othello's" appropriation is clever in its context of the high school setting, and despite the characters not having as strongly defined personalities as in "Othello", they are portrayed well in keeping to the theme of the appropriation.