Pauline Kael's Problematic Problem and How to Talk About Old Ideas
heplus.substack.com
“Jeff and Sasha talk about Pauline Kael’s “problematic comments” on Othello, whether actors must be gay to play gay roles, and how would Carnal Knowledge play today?” The Pauline Kael passage in question: Olivier is the most physical Othello imaginable. As a lord, this Othello is a little vulgar—too ingratiating, a boaster, an arrogant man. Reduced to barbarism, he shows us a maimed African prince inside the warrior-hero, Iago’s irrationality has stripped him bare to a different kind of beauty. We are sorry to see it, and we are not sorry, either. To our eyes, the African prince is more beautiful in his isolation than the fancy courtier in his reflected white glory.
Pauline Kael's Problematic Problem and How to Talk About Old Ideas
Pauline Kael's Problematic Problem and How to…
Pauline Kael's Problematic Problem and How to Talk About Old Ideas
“Jeff and Sasha talk about Pauline Kael’s “problematic comments” on Othello, whether actors must be gay to play gay roles, and how would Carnal Knowledge play today?” The Pauline Kael passage in question: Olivier is the most physical Othello imaginable. As a lord, this Othello is a little vulgar—too ingratiating, a boaster, an arrogant man. Reduced to barbarism, he shows us a maimed African prince inside the warrior-hero, Iago’s irrationality has stripped him bare to a different kind of beauty. We are sorry to see it, and we are not sorry, either. To our eyes, the African prince is more beautiful in his isolation than the fancy courtier in his reflected white glory.