Context
·
Produced by Masterpiece Theater
·
First shown in 2002 on PBS
·
Set during Tony Blair’s administration
o
Had a government highly concerned with its own
image
·
Screenplay by Andrew Davies
o
Changes the setting to New Scotland Yard in 1990s
London
o
Originally wanted to modernize the Tempest, was told
he must chose a tragedy, went to get a drink, had the idea to make Othello
Police Commissioner
Intertext
·
Othello,
by William Shakespeare
o
Othello is a Moor married to Desdemona
o
Othello promotes Cassio instead of Iago,
prompting Iago’s rage
o
Iago takes Desdemona’s handkerchief and plants
it among Cassio’s belongings to convince Othello his wife is not loyal
o
Othello convinces Roderigo to attack Cassio
o
Othello smothers Desdemona
o
Othello finds out about Iago’s involvement and
hurts but doesn’t kill him
o
Iago and Othello are arrested
o
Othello commits suicide
o
Cassio is ordered to punish Iago
·
The Murder
of Stephen Lawrence, a documentary
o
a black teenager was murdered by racist thugs in 1993
o
the original investigation was bungled
o
nobody was successfully prosecuted
o
the police were deemed institutionally racist
o
Ever since then the police have been making huge
efforts to clean up their image, but there hasn’t been an increase in the
number of black and Asian-origin policemen being promoted into high positions
·
Richard III, a movie version by Laurence Olivier
o
Lets the villain, Urquhart, talk directly to the
audience
o
Inspires Davies to do the same with Jago
Subtext
Othello –
·
simplified and characters changed
o
Othello is a black police officer married to
Dessie
o
Prime Minister promotes Othello instead of Jago,
prompting Jago’s rage
o
Othello gives Jago his bathrobe to test for
Cass’s DNA
o
Othello attacks Cass
o
Jago tells Othello that Cass’s DNA is on the
bathrobe
o
Othello smothers Dessie
o
Othello finds out about Jago’s involvement and
tells him to leave
o
Othello commits suicide
o
Iago is promoted to Othello’s position
·
Dessie falls in love with Othello after
interviewing him, hearing his story
·
Othello’s bathrobe is the same as Desdemona’s handkerchief,
but Dessie gives Othello the bathrobe
·
Othello does not overlook Jago, but he steals a
job that Jago badly wants
·
Roderigo and Brabantio don’t exist or aren’t
present onstage
·
Jago tells Cass that Dessie and Othello aren’t
in love, that they have a stage marriage (Cass then flirts with Dessie and says
he fancies her)
·
Lulu (Emilia) suspects Jago, but never speaks up
·
Othello smothers Dessie almost killing her,
before he kills her entirely
·
Jago gets away without anyone realizing his
involvement
Stephen Lawrence –
·
made older and more innocent
o
The Police Commissioner is recorded making
racist remarks and is forced to resign
o
Police raid the home of Billy Coates, a middle
aged black man, while looking for drugs
o
Billy taunts the officers
o
Three officer proceed to beat Billy to death
o
A fourth, younger officer stands by in shock
o
People riot, and Othello gives a speech to calm
them, promising justice
o
Othello is promoted to the position of police commissioner
o
Jago convinces the fourth officer to be a
witness in court
o
The night before the trial, Jago gets the
officer drunk, knowing he will take sleeping pills and die
o
Without a witness, the trial results in no
convictions
·
Other officers scorn the fourth officer, showing
how racist the department is
·
Othello delivers an eloquent speech to the
public, like his speech to the senate in Shakespeare (in both, he later
descends into a more crude individual)
·
Similar to Trayvon Martin case, where George
Zimmerman was not convicted
·
Jago is racist (we know because says so during
multiple asides in the movie)
o
He uses the racists officers on trial to get in
touch with some neo-nazis who he asks to attack Dessie and scare Othello into
assigning Cass to protect her
An Interview with Andrew Davies
