She’s the Man: a Modern Twist on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

            The 2006 film She’s the Man, directed by Andy Fickman, is a modern version of Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night; or, What You Will. In Shakespeare’s play, twins Viola and Sebastian are separated by a shipwreck, and must find a way to support themselves. Sebastian ends up with Antonio, who befriends him and gives him a place to stay. Viola, on the other hand, is advised by the captain of the wrecked ship to dress up as a man in order to obtain work with the Duke of Illyria, Orisino. In the 2006 film version of the play, Sebastian (James Kirk) runs away to London for a band gig. Viola (Amanda Bynes) takes Sebastian’s place at his prep school, Illyria, to get onto the boys soccer team after the girls soccer team is disbanded. Setting up the plot as the film does, helps to make Shakespeare’s idea a tad more believable, if still rather fanciful.

            The movie takes creative license on the characters and events but does a decent job keeping to Shakespeare’s original story. For example, in the movie Orisino is actually Duke Orisino, known as just Duke (played by Channing Tatum), Viola’s roommate; sirs Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek are played as two of Duke’s good friends; while Malvolio and Feste are meshed together into one character, Malcolm Feste (James Snyder), Olivia’s creepy stalker who happens to own a tarantula named Malvolio. Maria is portrayed by two actors; the actual Maria (Katie Stewart), Olivia’s best friend, and Eunice (Emily Perkins), the nerdy comic relief who shows up at random moments and who ends up with Toby in the end.

While the characters vary, the premise of the story stays relatively the same. Viola and Duke make an arrangement; he will help her get onto the first string soccer team if she in turn helps him to get the beautiful and popular Olivia (Laura Ramsey). In Shakespeare’s play, Olivia is a countess in mourning over her dead brother and father. In the movie Olivia is mourning over a breakup with her college-aged boyfriend. The movie is set up so Viola and Olivia are lab partners in chemistry, giving Viola a chance to sell Olivia on Duke. The attraction between Olivia and Viola is a little questionable (I don’t know how many girls think a boy interested in what store carries shoes is heterosexual) but similar to the play in that Viola is able to relate to Olivia.

Besides the relationship between Viola and Olivia, the movie was able to portray the other relationships between characters better than the play. Viola and Olivia become friends as they work together in class; you can see why Olivia would start to like Viola. Likewise, the relationship between Duke and Viola makes for a more plausible ending. While Shakespeare’s play ends abruptly, not allowing for the characters to come together seamlessly, the movie gives more background and foundation to the eventual relationships. Viola ending up with Orisino at the end of the play is kind of out of the blue, while the movie, on the other hand, is able to make a relationship between Viola and Duke that allows for their being together at the end.

            In the movie, Viola spends time with Duke as both Sebastian and herself. There is a scene where Viola must be herself to placate her mother; she has been signed up to work at a kissing booth for a community fair. This is the first time Duke meets Viola as herself and they share a sexy kiss. The spark between the two is obvious, building up for the end where they get together. There are also comedic scenes that play up the cross-dressing factor. While Viola coaches Duke on how to talk to Olivia, they are interrupted by the appearance of Malcolm Festes’ pet tarantula Malvolio. Panic ensues and the two find themselves clutching each other in a manner two heterosexual men aren’t usually found in. The scenes between Viola and Duke strengthen their relationship, presenting the possibility of the two ending up together, something Shakespeare left out. I believe building up the relationship between Viola and Duke is necessary, in a modern context, because audiences today would not be satisfied with Shakespeare’s rushed ending. Modern audiences want the story to be believable.

            As for the believability of the story, the movie must take drastic measures for Viola’s unveiling. The modern audience is skeptical – we demand evidence – so when Viola confesses that she’s a girl, we need proof. In a bawdy gesture, Viola proves she’s a girl by lifting her shirt to bare her bosoms in front of a packed stadium. Sebastian likewise drops his trousers to prove that he is a man. This outrageous act seems . . . well . . . outrageous, and over the top but looking at the plausibility of the situation, it makes sense. The play seems to skim over the unveiling; everyone seems to take everything at face value – they don’t need evidence. The movie shows that the modern audience will not just take a person’s word as proof; there has to be solid, undeniable evidence.

            The movie attempts, with a decent outcome, to make the story believable. The movie successfully presents the believability of Viola’s situation by taking care of the tiny details modern audiences would have a hard time with. For example, it is hardly plausible that a young woman as feminine as Amanda Bynes, could pull off being a boy by just cutting off her hair. The movie, therefore, adds sideburns and thick eyebrows to heighten the illusion. It is also hardly plausible that a girl twin would look so much like the boy twin that she could pull off switching back and forth. In the play, Olivia mistakes the real Sebastian for the fake Sebastian, a situation that is not believable to a modern audience. The movie, understanding the skepticism of the audience, makes the interaction between Olivia and the real Sebastian plausible by doing the scene at night, with Olivia’s eyes closed. When the real Sebastian is mistaken for the fake Sebastian yet again, this time during a soccer game, the director cleverly has everyone on the team wear face paint, blurring any obvious differences between Sebastian and Viola.

            The movie does a good job presenting Shakespeare’s play in a modern context through its believability and through its comedic elements. The characters Malvolio and Feste, for example, are portrayed through one character, Malcolm. Malcolm is the fussy dorm RA. Similar to Malvolio’s position as steward in Olivia’s household, Malcolm takes care of and looks after the residents in the dorm. Malcolm is also obsessed with Olivia. His actions and attitude towards Olivia is pungent, embarrassing and oftentimes inappropriate. In this way the movie presents the failed romantic story between Malvolio and Olivia as equally disturbing to that of Shakespeare’s original play.   

            She’s the Man is probably one of the best modern examples of Shakespeare – despite the unfortunate decision to cast Channing Tatum, whose acting leaves a lot to be desired – I have personally seen. Even with the creative license and the complete alteration of the story lines, She’s the Man seems to care about the integrity of Shakespeare’s play. I found it enjoyable to pick out Shakespeare’s characters from the movie’s cast; picking up on the names such as Malcolm Feste, his pet tarantula Malvolio, and Duke Orisino was fascinating. It was also fascinating to pick out the specific scenes taken from Shakespeare’s play, and to see how it was done in a modern context.  

            Twelfth Night, in its original form, is quite funny; however, the modern version in She’s the Man takes the context of the play and makes it believable and more relatable. The modern version does one other thing that I think is worth mentioning, and that is looking at gender roles. While Shakespeare was a talented and brilliant man, he didn’t seem as concerned about the gender issues that accompanied the context of his play; it would not be so easy to ignore the underlying commentary on gender in a modern context. The premise of the movie is actually based in overcoming gender role biases. Viola goes to Illyria only because she is not allowed to play on the boys soccer team at her school; the coach even goes on about how boys are faster, stronger, and better than girls to present a gender role issue. I think this was a smart move on the part of the movie directors.

            In conclusion, She’s the Man is a smart and modern twist on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. The modernity of the film makes the context of the play seem more plausible while also maintaining Shakespeare’s original plot intentions. The film seemed to respect Shakespeare’s original play; taking into consideration little details in homage to the playwright, even including Feste’s “greatness” speech at the end. I have to mention the writers of this movie, because it was through their work that Shakespeare’s play was able to come to life in a modern setting. Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith wrote a clever screenplay. I think they did a pretty good job converting Shakespeare’s play into a modern tale, and it just shows that his stories really are timeless.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. 2009. 337-369. Print.

She’s the Man. Dir. Andy Fickman. Perf. Amanda Bynes, Channing Tatum, Laura Ramsey, James Kirk, James Snyder, Emily Perkins, Katie Stewart. Dreamworks, 2006. DVD.