robinsontheroof

[robinsontheroof]

a study i did because i realized idk how to draw environments at all LMAO

[robinsontheroof]

today i’m sad about that one line from the creator’s commetary about how zuko is a tsungi horn prodigy and the little letter zuko, aged 7, sends iroh in “legacy of the fire nation” where he very politely requests that iroh come home and teach him pai sho tricks, because that casts such a different light on their interactions in book one.  it was never iroh trying to push his own favorite things - pai sho and music night - on an uninterested zuko, it was iroh desperately trying to reconnect with zuko by recreating the activities he knows zuko used to enjoy.  zuko, aged 7, once begged iroh to come home and play board games with him and now zuko wants nothing to do with him and you know that eats iroh up alive

[robinsontheroof]

tbh rednote cooking videos are so much superior because chinese home cooks can make basic dishes without needing $2000 worth of specialised equipment. like someone please tell americans you don’t need a stand mixer to make a coffee cake for 3 people.

[robinsontheroof]

Hamlet did nothing wrong

[robinsontheroof]

disco elysium heritage post

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This guy won’t leave

[robinsontheroof]

my lil insane wet cat of a man

[robinsontheroof]

Good night, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

HAMLET (2009) dir. Gregory Doran

[robinsontheroof]

i'm obsessed with hamlet. serial procrastinator, famous yapper, who monologues any time anything goes even mildly wrong. he gets POISON STABBED, and instead of dropping dead like his mother, his uncle, and his opponent, he MONOLOGUES ABOUT IT. HE PROCRASTINATES DYING TO MONOLOGUE ABOUT IT. there's just something so beautiful about him clinging to life to deliver one last baller speech

[robinsontheroof]

Hello so was anyone else here aware that in the 2008 production and 2009 film versions of Hamlet featuring David Tennant, the part of Yorick was played by the very real skull of composer and pianist André Tchaikowsky, who donated his skull upon his death to the Royal Shakespeare Company to be used as a stage prop?

Because today I just learnt that this Yorick is the very real skull of composer and pianist André Tchaikowsky

[robinsontheroof]

Sweet prince Hamlet 👑🗡️💀

[robinsontheroof]

in the 2009 hamlet w dt in act iii scene 4 he quickly kisses his mother on the lips nd it isnt shocking anymore bc that whole scene was leaning towards something lowkey sensual and intimate in a sense that is difficult to digest just like she has been looking at him since act i and the kiss has no shock value just heartbreak bc there they go two people broken a mother and son separated after almost, ALMOST getting to agreement ALMOST finding common ground ALMOST picking each other up and saving each other from this tragedy no matter how erratic and desperate they both are

but there they go crying nd laughing and crying and hes seeing ghosts and she never looks as composed as she did before and at the end hes almost coherent but she makes a choice to drink the poison whether she understood what t was or not just to defy claudius and oh theyre both dead. what for. theyre both dead at the end

[robinsontheroof]

I think it’s hilarious how, in David Tennant’s “Hamlet,” they were like, “How do we show madness in the character’s costume?” And someone said, “I’ve got it! We take away their shoes!” And everyone was like, “Yeah, that’s it!!”

[robinsontheroof]

Me, when Hamlet is whining about how much he loved Ophelia at her funeral.....

[robinsontheroof]

Where's that post about Shakespeare writing roles for David Tennant?

[robinsontheroof]

Can we talk about Hamlet’s muscle shirt?

That one, you know the one. The silly muscle shirt.

I see so many people take the piss out of this damned shirt but you know what? I’m breaking my silence. I think the muscle shirt was actually a really interesting choice that communicates so much about this particular Hamlet without ever having to say anything.

Masculinity is something that torments Hamlet in the play. He goes to a modern university and studies the classics. He is happiest when round the players later in the play; he likes the theatre. He is not a warrior like his father; he fences for sport. He is emotional; mourning so openly for his father in front of the court of his future subjects. He is mocked by his uncle for it; “tis unmanly grief”. His father was a masculine ideal he strives for but can’t achieve.

At this point in the play, he’s met his father’s ghost and been willed to act by him. The demand to kill someone has been made. He is grappling with the weight of killing someone balanced against the weight of honouring his father, the late king, like a good son. He swore to his father he would keep his word and enact revenge. His masculinity, specifically his position as a prince and a son, has been put to the test. His insecurities towards that have been poked.

So what does he do? He puts on a costume! A shirt with muscles on! The very symbol of strong masculinity plastered over him. I feel like the fact the shirt was originally going to be a superman shirt only furthers this point. It’s overcompensating for the insecurities he’s battling over his inaction. But, ultimately, it’s false because he cannot act. At least, not until his emotions are satisfied.

Which leads me to my favourite part about this stupid shirt (and why I’m actually glad it wasn’t just a superman shirt). He puts this shirt on when he starts putting on his “antic disposition”. He is acting mad around potential suspects and members of his house to get them to let their guard down around him. He doesn’t want them to suspect him of knowing anything. He is acting confused, and most of all, vulnerable. He is wearing a shirt depicting, cartoonishly, what lies beneath it: a bare chest. But, like the muscles on that shirt, his vulnerability is false. And it’s just about as on the nose as his fake madness is. He’s not exposing anything about how he actually feels, or what he actually knows. But to everyone around him, he is exposing his truest feelings.

The linking of those two ideas, a facade of masculinity and vulnerability, is probably at its most pertinent when Polonius says to Claudius that his madness comes from his love of Ophelia and the fact that she stopped returning that affection on Polonius’ orders. All of this highlights how little the people in that court truly know Hamlet, that they would see such an obvious lie as truth. Of course his over the top madness flies past them completely believed! Of course they immediately drop talk of the madness being related to his grief! He is a man and he is in love! How simple!!

Finally, this particular production utilises the idea of the palace being full of security cameras. Even in his soliloquies, Hamlet is never alone (until he breaks one of the cameras off the wall a bit later on: “Now I am alone”). Anything he reveals in those moments is being recorded and presumably could be watched by someone. Even if we assume that this production stays true to the idea that the words he says alone to the audience are a true and accurate account of his feelings and thoughts, in this context, that adds an element danger to his honesty. By making any vulnerability part of the act, part of the madness, Hamlet can take some control back. The vulnerability shown in the famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy is performed in this shirt (while he is being watched by Polonius and Claudius who are hiding behind a screen/ two way mirror situation). Even if this Hamlet is truly grappling with the weight of carrying on (something I honestly think he is) how could you prove it? Sure, he’s baring his soul but is that also just an act? Just another costume like the muscles on the shirt?

So, yes it’s a silly shirt. Yes, it looks goofy. But isn’t that the point? To make it stand out as the only casual shirt in a room full of formally dressed politicians and royalty? To draw attention to the act he’s putting on and highlight to those in the know how he plans on making it work? To me at least, it tells a lot about Hamlet’s feelings towards the other characters and himself in this section of the play. It shows a lot about how well he knows these people and what they’re likely to react to and with - in his search for truth and answers - and also how aware he is about how little they all know him. I could go on and on about this particular production in general but I really do think the stupid shirt needs more appreciation.

[robinsontheroof]

everybody please watch hamlet 2009