Discussion Topic

Audience analysis of the 1996 film "Romeo and Juliet."

Summary:

The 1996 film "Romeo and Juliet" attracted a youthful audience with its modern setting and contemporary soundtrack, while retaining Shakespeare's original dialogue. The film's vibrant visuals and dynamic performances appealed to teenagers and young adults, making Shakespeare's classic tragedy accessible and engaging to a new generation.

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Who is the target audience for Romeo and Juliet?

I'm not sure what is meant by the phrase "target audience." The original "target audience" consisted of a broad cross-section of Elizabethan citizens. Playgoers at the time consisted of people of all sorts of educational and social levels. What is remarkable about all of Shakespeare's plays, however, is the high degree of literacy they seem to assume in their "ideal" audience.  The scholar who has done most to advance discussion of Shakespeare's audiences is Andrew Gurr.

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There are many different justifications which can be used to identify the target audience for William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.

First, Romeo and Juliet is most read in the high school classroom. While this environment may not have been what Shakespeare had in mind when creating the play, many high schoolers are familiar with the play only because of reading it in school. This audience is important because it helps...

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to teach about the problems associated with young love, parental intrusion, andtragedy.

Second, one could say that the target audience for the play are those who simply love Shakespeare. One's simplistic love for his writings automatically make one a target for his plays.

Lastly, one could generalize the target audience as being one of both the young and the old. Both children (young lovers) and adults (the parents of young lovers) can learn from Romeo and Juliet.

Therefore, one could easily state that there is no target audience for the play. Like most texts, a target audience is hard to define. Unless a text is roted in history, science, or another specific field, an author cannot narrowly specify who will love their work.

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Who is the target audience for the 1996 film Romeo and Juliet?

Luhrmann's film appeals to several audiences. Luhrmann said in an interview that his plan for the film was to make the movie Shakespeare himself would make if he were alive today. In Luhrmann's view, Shakespeare was "a relentless entertainer and a user of incredible devices and theatrical tricks" to engage an easily distracted Elizabethan audience, so his casting of DiCaprio and setting the film in "Verona Beach" can be seen as a way to make the story more relevant to modern viewers who might be bored with a more conventional adaptation. There is also a sense that Luhrmann's update is an attempt to be faithful to the themes of the play. By giving it a gangland setting, he is trying to connect the violence of gang warfare and hip hop culture to Romeo's passions; it's a way of showing that Romeo's great love for Juliet is not a cliche, but lived experience.

Luhrmann's unconventional approach demands the attention of Shakespeare scholars and fans. Whatever audience Luhrmann was after, his film remains the highest grossing Shakespeare adaptation, making over $147 million at the box office.

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The term "target audience" refers to the group of people that a product is expected (or hoped) to appeal to. It's important for a filmmaker to have a clear idea of his target audience if he expects to get people in the theater to spend money on his expensive movie.

Romeo and Juliet, as a Shakespeare play, would normally draw an audience of older, well-educated men and women--probably more women than men. But the 1996 version of the movie intentionally turned the tables on this audience expectation and targeted a younger audience.  

By casting the young and rising star Leonardo DiCaprio, the producers of the movie immediately tapped into the younger movie-going audience. But even more importantly, the movie was re-set in modern times. Although it still used Shakespeare's original dialogue, the movie was shot using cars and guns and all the familiar aspects of modern life. The film hoped to attract the younger crowd, people who normally would not be interested in Shakespeare, and still hold on to some of the older moviegoers, by generating interest in this way. 

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