"Romeo and Juliet"

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene

I think today may have been the second or third time I have read Romeo and Juliet. However it had a grander meaning to me today because it was read of my own free will. There were no limitations or requirements put upon me by an institute of education. When I was younger and attending one such institute it was not uncommon for me to completely ignore the texts that seemed at the time very uninteresting. I only wish I had taken the time and effort to gain insight from works such as Catcher in the Rye, Romeo and Juliet, Lord of the Flies, and many others. However I did not take the opportunity afforded to me at that point in time and am currently taking the time to re-read and find meaning in these books. I guess it all works out in the long run, I am a more aware and intelligent person now than I was then, and the time has finally come where I can ejoy what I once did not.
But then comes reality, the fact that I most definitely walk a different path. As I finish Romeo and Juliet I segue immedietly into Fort Minors debut album. From classic Shakesperian drama to modern hip hop in a matter of seconds. Is that normal? I don't personally know anyone that reads Shakespeare for entertainment value. I am not saying that makes me better than anyone else, it is almost sad that no one in my group of friends and associates can find pleasure in classic literature and classic movies (Citizen Kane anyone?). People are too attuned to what is current and more stylized. They want the special effects and modern day values, or lack there of. A movie like Citizen Kane hits on all sorts of general themes of society that we still find interesting, but want to see repackaged with a new actor and quicker pacing for the MTV generation of 3 minute attention spans. I love new movies, I love new books, but I also like to go back to the begining and see what current media built itself on.
I think way too much of the current mass media's approach to entertainment is complete rip off's of things done in the past. Then when a movie, book or TV show or real originality comes out people shun it because it is something new and different that they dont understand. Sure even the new things are probabaly somehow evolved from some sort of archetypical story of the past, but it is most likely a story that has been underused and forgotten by the majority of society. I was amazed beyond anything that LOST becamse as popular as it did. Sure it's not completely original, tales have been told about people standed on an island since Robinson Crusoe release in the 1719. Other TV shows such as Land of the Lost and to some extent Gilligans Island paved the way for LOST, but even then I thought that in this modern day the idea of people stranded on an island woudlnt go by as smoothly with audiences as it did a few decades ago. I also thought as I watched the first few episdoes that the supernatural aspects that were being used would make alot of people feel like the show was too fake. Then there came in the fact that 14 different characters were being explored as more than just background characters, and people really have no care for remembering people they meet in real life let along 14 fictional characters in one show. Then the very worst thing, that to me makes it the best thing, is the fact that once you miss a handfull of episodes you have no idea what's going on because the show moves at such a quick pace and takes ridiculously strange twists and turns. So it had all of this working against it and to date it is the highest rated shows for Wednesday nights, has one multiple Golden Globes and other awards, and just keeps on gaining popularity in its second season. Five of my friends took it upon themselves to buy the first season on DVD because they knew how much I loved the show. All 5 of them ended up watching the entire season in less than a week because it entranced them so much, they all are asking me now to have a marathon of all of the second season that I have saved on my computer. That is how powerful this show has been to just a few people I know. The story of people standed on an island is one of those stories that can only be done every couple of generations. To compare take a the story of a haunted house. Basically the same concept in all haunted house stories, but somehow this topic can be related to the same generation dozens of times and still keep it's appeal to some degree. I'd rather a story like LOST every 20 years than a story like The Haunted every year.
I get really passionate when talking about LOST, sorry about the drag on paragraph.
The basic concept I was going for though in all my rantings is that almost everything that is done today is a concept that has been done since the days that stories were only told through the spoken word. Nothing is new, but at the same time instead of dwelling on that fact you should study everything that came before and try and bring a new twist to that same old idea.

For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo