"unworthy" themes? a play as multifaceted as the Tempest has a lot of themes "right in front of your face" that aren't at all unworthy compared to the colonialism. the colonialism IS so goddamn obvious in the play - caliban is literally prospero's SLAVE, in chains, etc. - that reviewing this ONE aspect of the movie did absolutely nothing for me.

your "unworthy themes" argument falls short, because it would be pretty fucking boring to watch a production of the tempest that shirked the magic, romance, and generally trippiness of this beautiful play, no matter how "right in front of your face" the colonialism was. fail.

You get PAID for this?

The absolute idiocy of this review is seconded only to the half-baked regurgitation of marxist theory in your review of TS3, which I hardly need to add shows a complete lack of creative and intellectual thought.

YOU NEED TO READ MORE THEORY. You have no idea what you're talking about, and are not worthy of a forum in which to express your bizarrely self-important (and poorly articulated) commentary.

This "long-recognized theme of colonialism" is a long-time favorite of pendants, as hackneyed and predictable as the various productions of A Christmas Carol re-inflated annually on stages across land. Concepts are very easy to write about, and very attractive to critics who think they know Shakespearean texts like their local bus route. They are predisposed to view as "unworthy" and to undervalue productions--however well acted and directed--that fail to convey their political viewpoint. Mr. Mudede has ridden this colonial carousel regarding The Tempest before in The Stranger's Annual Issue of advice to incoming college frosh.

For the purposes of this review, her genderfuck aside, Ms. Taymor fortunately toes the party line.