Audio PlayerPurgatory
Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 film, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, modernised the well-known play with young Hollywood stars, edgy music and fashion while retaining its original dialogue, taking the story into popular culture. Many people experience Shakespeare’s plays during their high school studies, meaning they are popular in the sense of wide exposure; however, they are often considered as part of high culture as they are performed in operas, theatre and ballet (Dutta, 1997). Luhrmann’s adaptation into mainstream cinema contradicts the high culture of view Shakespeare, adding to the film’s popularity. Raymond Williams attributes this notion of against high culture as being indicator of popular culture (2018, p.904). The film’s popularity was also seen in its box office revenue for distributor 20th Century Fox, taking $147 million (Box office Mojo, 2021). One theory of popular culture is a commercial and industrial mode of production, as noted by Takacs (2014, p.4) “This body of theory which we will call critical theory, often refers to popular culture as mass culture because it is mass-produced for commercial profit by centralized cultural industries”. With general awareness of Shakespeare’s writing and through understanding how Luhrmann’s film Romeo + Juliet was popularised, the film is an ideal text to create a continuation of the story through a new platform as a podcast.
In this continuation of the story as a podcast series called Purgatory, Romeo and Juliet are trapped in purgatory after their fatal end scene in the film and they must explain their way into heaven with their declaration of true love, against their feuding families, the Montague’s and Capulet’s and their possible sinful behaviour. This episode takes place at the end of the series and features an interview with Leonardo Di Caprio who is the lead actor in the podcast (and the film), discussing the narratives of the series. The podcast series is produced by 21st Century Fox Radio and is available to stream and download from streaming services such as i-Tunes. Listeners can find the podcast through links on the official Romeo + Juliet webpage and via 21st Century Fox Radio.
According to Ritzer and his vision of production, consumption and prosumption; this particular episode can be considered as an example of prosumption, because it was created as a response to the quantity of downloads and comments given by fans via social media (consumers) and produced by a major radio studio, involving both process production and consumption simultaneously. Therefore, this has changed the way we use technology and the way we create media. Jenkins notes, ‘It is clear that new media technologies have profoundly altered the relations between media producers and consumers’ (2008).
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been adapted countless times in film, theatre, books, television and school plays. Despite the variety of adaptations, the podcast Purgatory, creates a transmedia story by extending the narrative where the original Luhrmann film version finished, taking the characters and their history into a new setting and answering what happened to Romeo and Juliet after they died. Purgatory continues in the style of the film, with Di Caprio returning as Romeo and featuring contemporary music and references to current popular culture. Jenkins (2006) explains the importance of extending stories through different platforms in transmedia storytelling,
‘a technique of telling stories across multiple platforms and formats, with each element making distinctive contributions to a fan’s understanding of a story world. By using different media formats, transmedia creates “entry points” through which consumers can become immersed in a story world’
This podcast is part of a story world developed by 21st Century Fox, which includes the film, the extension of the story in Purgatory and as we discover in the interview, an interactive online children’s book series based on the character of Mercutio will extend the narrative beyond the podcast. Romeo and Juliet meet Mercutio in Purgatory as he also dies in the original story (film) and they are all attempting to get into heaven. With the story now extending and across multiple platforms, a brand can be created. Scolari explains, ‘Economic subjects no longer try to sell a product or service by means of persuasive advertising. Now the objectives are much more ambitious: they aim to create a symbolic universe endowed with meaning: brands… Therefore, brands appear as narrative or possible worlds since they constitute complex discourse universe with a strong narrative imprint’ (2009). The universal message of love carries throughout the entire macrostory, with the love between Romeo and Juliet being the most well-known and the central story. With the extension of the interactive children’s book series Mercutio, an interstitial microstory is created around the concept of love, however Mercutio expands this concept to diversity and acceptance as the character is often in drag and enters heaven based on his version of love (Scolari, 2009). Scolari, also mentions the importance of strong narrative imprint through interstitial microstory regardless of their format, while contributing to the overall narrative, or macrostory (2009).
Another important element of transmedia is stories that follow rules, the example here is about Mercutio, who dies during a fight in the original film version, which explains why in the podcast Purgatory, he can meet Romeo and Juliet because he was killed in the film story, so there is a reason why he can return to the narrative. If these rules are not followed, the fans can reject the story as in could be inauthentic. Hills, suggests that transmedial worlds should display “three dimensions of authenticity”: mythos, establishing story; topos, setting in space and time; ethos, characters’ moral codes (2016). In the case of Purgatory, mythos is the love history of Romeo and Juliet; Topos, is the limbo world after death of purgatory as they attempt to go to heaven; and the ethos are the characters’ true love for each other and the belief in the concept of love, despite their families’ differences and continual feuds.
Purgatory, Romeo + Juliet and Mercutio represent what is transmedia storytelling, involving extended complex narratives processes through different media platforms.
References
Box office Mojo, (2021). ‘Romeo + Juliet Box office’, Box office Mojo, viewed 24 March 2021 <https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0117509/?ref_=bo_rl_ti>
Dutta, T (1997), ‘High’ Culture once was Pop, The Harvard Crimson, 3 February, viewed 24 March 2021 <https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1997/2/3/high-culture-once-was-pop-pbtbhis/>
Hills, M. (2016): LEGO Dimensions meets Doctor Who:
Transbranding and New Dimensions of Transmedia Storytelling?,
Icono 14, volumen (14), pp. 8-29.
Jenkins, H (2007). ‘Transmedia Storytelling 10’. Confessions of an ACCA fan. Retrieved 24 March 2021 from <http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html>
Jenkins, H (2008). ‘Convergence culture: Where Old and New Media Collide’ (Updated ed.) New York: New York University Press.
Lister, M et al (2009) ‘New Media: A Critical Introduction’. Routledge, New York.
Ritzer, G & Jurgenson, N (2010), ‘Production, Consumption, Prosumption: The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital ‘prosumer’, Journal of Consumer Culture, 10 (1), 13-36.
Scolari, CA (2009). ‘Transmedia storytelling: Implicit consumers, narrative worlds, and branding in contemporary media production”, International Journal of communication, Vol 3, 586-606, <http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/477/336>.
Takacs, S (2014). Interrogating Popular Culture: Key Questions, Hoboken: Taylor & Francis
Williams, R (2018), ‘Popular Culture History and Theory’, Cultural Studies 32, no.6, pp.903-928, viewed 24 March 2021, Taylor & Francis Online Journals Collection
References Podcast:
FilMagicians, (2017), ‘Leonardo DiCaprio interview on Romeo + Juliet (1996)’, Youtube, 2 October, viewed 24 March 2021 < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFsYfXX00Us>
ls1174, (2016), ‘Leonardo DiCaprio compilation of old interviews’, Youtube, 21 January, viewed 24 March 2021 < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RVIkmQwZlk&t=2580s>
Rasperrymusic, (n.d.), Hip-Hop Podcast Ident, Envato elements, viewed 24 March 2021, < https://elements.envato.com/hip-hop-podcast-ident-8WDGNP2>
