Getting The Girl 2011 v. 1590

Getting The Girl 2011 v. 1590

Comparing “Crazy, Stupid, Love” & “The Taming of the Shrew”

The “Taming of the Shrew” by William Shakespeare is a comedy from 1590 that proves, men attempting to woo women is a centuries long practice. In “Shrew”, male suitors lined up in large quantities to attempt to woo the beautiful Bianca, with no limit on what they were willing to try to win her heart. The 2011 movie “Crazy, Stupid, Love” expresses the same practice of men doing what is necessary to woo women, and although the tactics that these men use are completely different than in “The Taming of the Shrew”, both proved that the main principle of honesty has been what women respond to the most for years.

Although the tactics that Lucentio and Hortensio use in “Taming of the Shrew” in order to try and win over Bianca are completely different than the tactics that Cal Weaver and Jacob Palmer deployed in order to win over women, the principle of honesty when attempting to woo these women remained there. Lucentio and Hortensio dress up in school teacher garments in order to get close to Bianca. Lucentio uses honesty hidden in his Latin lesson with Bianca, and Hortensio uses honesty hidden within a gamut. All that Cal and Jacob have to do is walk up to women and talk to them. These two situations show exactly how men and women have remained the same through centuries when it comes to what they respond to in the opposite sex. Both of these texts reflect that over years the tradition has been the same, multiple men walk up to attractive women and try to woo them in hopes of being with them. Although the measures in which these men take may have changed, the tradition and principal has remained the same.

“'Hic ibat' as I told you before- 'Simois' I am Lucentio-

'hic est' son unto Vincentio of Pisa- 'Sigeia tellus' disguised thus to get your love- 'Hic steterat' and that Lucentio thatcomes a-wooing- 'Priami' is my man Tranio- 'regia' bearing my port- 'celsa senis' that we might beguile the old pantaloon.”

(Lucentio, Act 3 Scene i, 33-38)

Within this quote, Lucentio is disguised as a schoolmaster and attempting to woo Bianca through pure honesty. He is forced to encode his message within his “lesson” due to the fact that Bianca’s other suitor, Hortensio, is also within the room during this time. He uses this honesty at his advantage, and she responds just as he hoped she would. This is also shown with Cal in “Crazy, Stupid, Love”.

In this earlier scene from “Crazy Stupid Love”, Cal is walking up to a women in a nightclub, and it is his first time attempting to talk to another female since his split with his wife. Jacob gave him a game plan when talking to women, but when that does not go well he immediately apologizes and is completely honest with the woman. “Im sorry! I’m in corporate insurance, I have children, plural. And my wife was cheating on me with David Lindhagen, which I wasn’t supposed to tell you about either. Nice to meet you.” “What were you supposed to tell me?” “I don’t know, I was supposed to say that you are the perfect combination of sexy and cute. Which is actually something that I used to say to my wife, but now it’s become corrupted. And I have 8 layers of clothes on. I’m wearing a shirt, and a tie, and a sweater, and a suede jacket that just seals in all the heat. Seals in all the juices. It’s just all sweat under here, this is all sweat from here down. And this sweater, it’s called slim cut, but it feels like a scuba suit. And I’m looking at your breasts, what is that about?” “You think I’m the perfect combination of sexy and cute?” Just like Lucentio, Cal is completely honest about everything that’s going on. He reveals the facade that he is portraying, and tells her exactly who he really is just like Lucentio. The comedy within this movie surrounds this, and proves to the audience the overall power of honesty when attempting to woo a woman.

'"Gamut" I am, the ground of all accord-

"A re" to plead Hortensio's passion-

"B mi" Bianca, take him for thy lord-

"C fa ut" that loves with all affection-

"D sol re" one clef, two notes have I-

"E la mi" show pity or I die.

Call you this gamut? Tut, I like it not!

Old fashions please me best; I am not so nice

To change true rules for odd inventions.”

(Hortensio, Act 3, Scene 1, Line 76)

In this very early scene in “Crazy, Stupid, Love”, Jacob walks up to a woman named Hannah along with her friend in a nightclub and attempts to woo her. Although he uses complete honesty this is does not work due to the fact that Hannah is not single and does not like his straightforwardness. “That’s weird because I think your friend Hannah is really sexy.” “Oh my god! You did not just say that. How old are you?!..... Don’t you think you’re a little too old to be using cheesy pick up lines?”...... “Wow Hannah, you’re really wearing that dress like you’re doing it a favor!-- That’s a line. Me sitting over there for the past two hours not being able to take my eyes off you is a fact. I mean there’s lots of beautiful women in this bar, your friend included, Hi”, “I love you.” “But I can’t take my eyes off you. That’s a fact it’s not a line.... Ok Hannah, can I buy you a drink?” “It’s time to go home.” In the same way that Hortensio attempted to “get” the women that he was interested in using honesty, Jacob did the same and they both did so to no avail due to different factors. This proves to the audience of these two medias that although honesty does often help when it comes to attempting to woo a person, it is unrealistic to believe that just because you’re honest that person will automatically fall in love with you over any other suitors or people that may want them.