A Shakespearian Tragedy

I am an English teacher; let me rephrase.  I am a teacher of the Language Arts, not a teacher from across the pond with an elegant accent, a penchant for tea, nor the need for a tepid ale (well, I do enjoy tea). But as an educator of the literary arts at the high-school level, a particular moment of resistance stems from the introduction of Shakespeare into the curriculum.  “I don’t understand it,” “It is boring,” “It doesn’t make any sense,” are just a few of the negative responses that are pressed upon me when I suggest that our famous bard is about to enter into our classroom and grace us with his presence.  And while there is agreement that much of the language could be argued as outdated and archaic, the basic premise, especially within the tragedies, are played out in front of us through reality and especially media each day under our noses without a second thought.  History, in fact, does repeat itself, even if it is on a theatrical level, but the inspiration of much of what we consume as viewers, be it from the entertainment that stemmed from the early Greek and Roman tragedies, through the Orient and beyond are undoubtedly recycled within our current satellite companies, streaming services, and especially within the mold of media-driven storylines that pervade our sports teams and heroes/ villains. 

This realization came to me most recently as I continue to see the media attacks and criticism of our most recent athletic embodiment of Hamlet: LeBron James.  James, ironically, King James, is the best player in the NBA – stop if you are shaking your head – he is; the numbers show it, his achievements reveal it, and his success reflects it.  Yet, just as many of you shake your head, his greatness is a divisor amongst fans and media alike.  How has it been seven years since he has won and MVP, but his popularity and achievements only reflect more and more his value?  He should have won last year, his prowess after the Kobe Bryan tragedy and leadership through the championship run in the bubble should have solidified it more, and, as a Laker fan myself, was the moment that I saw and embraced LBJ as a Laker.  Giannis Antetokounmpo has won the MVP the past two years, yet he is not the most valuable player on his team – one could argue it is Jrue Holiday this season.  The Greek Freak is not even on the court much of the 4^th quarter in close games because he is so terrible at free throws – a career lot 57% (declined each of the past three years).  King James is our controversial King of Denmark as he attempts to rectify the assassination of his character from the slew of angst that gets thrown at him each and every day.  His personal strife never comes upon display as he takes the stage, and yet he does play into this tragic narrative as he continues at times with vain attempts to defend or deflect the slurs that are made at his dispense.

And this dramatic narrative is played out in front of our eyes and ears on the courts, through cable television and sports talk shows and radio, and even in sports bars where his place amongst the greats is constantly debated and critiqued.  It spurs anger and joy amongst fans and foes alike as they engage in this play of hero and villain, in fact, he has played both roles through his scrutinized career.  Many say they hate drama, but are continually drawn to it, just like the car crash on the side of the road.  This storyline is a wonderful accident that we cannot get enough of and fuels our lives and our vigor.  And this connection should not be a surprise since we have continually had heroes that have come out of some sort of tragic beginning within their character arch.  We all become intertwined with the stories that captivate our interest.  We give sports figures a Ruthian aspect.  Ruth himself was described as larger than life, and at the time of his athletic success, he was built different.  He was bigger, taller and stronger than over 90% of the players he competed against, so he was a larger than life hero, and was a victor or villain depending on the side of the coin you chose to align yourself with. 

It was not just the current character assassination of King James that connected my educational inspiration with this notion of tragic enjoyment of entertainment, but rather a TV show that I have begun to watch.  Yellowstone, the popular Peacock streaming show has recently been suggested over and over to immerse myself into, which I decided to give it a whirl, and as I watch, I could not get out of my head that I have heard this before.  And my inclination was correct, as I researched, many others have noticed that it is very much inspired from Shakespeare’s King Lear.  And as I continued to watch and re-watch, I realize how we have these continual theatrical motifs and tropes throughout our media and influential consumption so much so that they have become second nature.  What has been lost is the minds ability to make those connections through curiosity and reception to fully enjoy and or even question why we are drawn to them and find them so captivating 

There are definitive roles and situations that play out in life and become spawned within pop culture identification.  Those that are beloved repeat a patter more and more often, and those individuals continue to be reincarnated within generational cycles to be reborn as icons to inspire popular debate and appreciation.  Ironically, what this can reveal, in a depressing way, is to express more validity that true creativity is just the inspiration of a preceding idea in a current form or from a different perspective.  The part the King James is playing is truly no different than that of Kobe, Michael, Magic and Larry, and Kareem before him.  The difference, societal changes in media consumption and social media unrest and criticism.  We continue to be intoxicated by the same theatrical narrative that is played out in front of our eyes.  Even our disagreements that have plagued and shaped our political, sociological, industrial, democratic and philosophical landscape have repetitive patterns and systems that continue to display upon the pages of indoctrinated history books. 

Does life imitate art, or does art imitate life?  A different perspective may be that the line is truly blurred now because of how much we blend the narrative together in our minds and reality.  The theatrics of both have transpired upon the tapestry of mother Earth in a grandiose masterpiece played upon our eyes, ears and emotions.  We combine the characters of our lives into the stories we want to enjoy and partake.  We truly are nuts for Shakespeare as its themes and plotlines have been redone and rehashed for all types of entertainment; both theatrical, athletic and even in the media and political spectrum.  As matter of fact, as we become more enveloped in this particular production the overlap of both brings to mind that of mise en abyme, or a play within a play.  The particulars of both travel across the lines of reality and fantasy to make us characters that become witnesses and actors upon the written page of our lives.  We are fans of Shakespeare, just as my students are, they just don’t know it yet; and as the story continues to play out as our world grows and ascends we actually need to create our own stories and not be enticed by reprocessed storylines that have plagued our growth and existence.  When we step back and think we are all driven by drama, it has kept the world revolving since our comprehension of its inspiring revolution.  Maybe when the lines become more defined, the characteristics of our tragic manifesto will be revealed; but we have to be awake and present to read it: ay, there’s the rub.