The Tempest: An examination of varied film adaptations as representative of contemporary socio-cultural ethos

Like all art, movies are a representation of the society and vice versa. Among other things, movies entertain, educate, and inspire us, giving us role models or themes to follow. Accordingly, the ingredients that go into the making of a movie need to agree with and appeal to the cultural ethos of the viewers it is intended for. In book adaptations of movies, the very multiplicity of readings renders a variety of meanings to a text, giving it dimensions that were perhaps not envisaged by the original writer. This paper is an extended discussion and examination of kinds of alterations seen in two adaptations of Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest: The Forbidden Planet in (1956) as directed by Fred Wilcox, and The Tempest in (2010) as directed by Julie Taymor. These two versions are set apart by almost six decades, yet what brings them in close proximity is their interest with gender roles and their portrayal. These are tackled very differently as where the former tends to stay close to the mores of a male centric American society of 1950s while at the same time giving the viewers a good dose of a newfound love of science fiction, the latter indulges in completely feministic fantasy with a central figure like Prospero being portrayed as a female. Although the two versions can be compared and contrasted on many counts apart from this centrality, for ease of inquiry the current discussion was more focused on the representations of the main characters, Caliban, Ariel, and Prospero and their varied physical characteristics from one film to the other. This study examined the verbal and physical adaptations of these characters as mediums of interaction with the viewers throughout the showing mode. The study finally shines the spotlight on the contemporary political issues that are represented in yet another version of the same play, Prospero’s Books (1991). The study argues that The Tempest, in each of these film versions, represents different cultural agendas.