Pretending to be Offended by Trump as Julius Caesar

Plus the great #ShakespeareInTheTrump Hashtag

by: Nicholas_grossman on June 18, 2017

Way back in 2008, Michael Kinsley wrote that the main currency in American politics is faking umbrage: acting terribly offended by something political opponents said or did. We just witnessed a fantastic example of this with the “controversy” over Shakespeare in the Park’s production of Julius Caesar.

It features a Trump-like Caesar, and (SPOILER ALERT) he gets assassinated. This, according to the umbrage-takers, condones violence against the right. Yes, the people who mock others as “snowflakes” and blame political correctness for America’s ills are clutching their pearls over a play.

They say the production is among those responsible for the shooting of Congressman Steve Scalise and others at the Republicans’ baseball practice in Virginia. Delta pulled its sponsorship, an activist ran on stage during the play, and Shakespeare actors around the country report receiving death threats.

Of the many, many examples of umbrage-taking in American politics, this is one of the most ridiculous.

First, making Caesar look like the president is not exactly a new idea. There have been professional productions with Caesars resembling Lincoln, Reagan, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama (and probably others). Want modern audiences to relate to your Renaissance play about an ancient emperor? A presidential stand-in is the go-to move.

Here’s a photo from a 2012 production with an Obama lookalike. In this version, Caesar also got assassinated. (Sorry, spoiler).

If you’re wondering if the people outraged today believed that production condoned political violence, the answer is no. Delta even sponsored it.

Besides, the play is a cautionary tale. The aftermath of the assassination is disastrous for the conspirators and their country. It does the opposite of condoning political violence.

I guess this misinterpretation shouldn’t be too surprising. “Snowflake” comes from Fight Club, and the point of that book/movie is how much Tyler Durden sucks; how harming oneself and others and trying to tear the whole system down is a weak and pathetic response to modern alienation, rather than heroic or cool.

It’s hard to believe most of the people driving the umbrage over Julius Caesar really think it condones political violence or motivates left-wing terrorists. (Except maybe the woman who interrupted the play. A few years ago she was protesting Hamilton. Getting mad at the theater is kind of her thing). But they know the political value of pretending to be offended.

That’s especially true for the anti-anti-Trump contingent: the Republicans who voted for Anyone But Hillary, who know Trump’s doing a bad job, but are so steeped in partisanship, so used to treating politics like sports rather than a process to determine the best direction for the country, that they’ll take what they can get. Anything to return to their comfort zone of attacking the left, rather than having to try and defend Trump on the merits.

Trump Forfeits Global Leadership

But there’s a silver lining. Someone on Twitter threw out a challenge to Trumpify Shakespeare and the people responded.

What if all of Shakespeare was really written about Donald Trump? What would the titles be? King Lear –> King Leer. #ShakespeareInTheTrump

— @aravosis

Of course, there was some of umbrage-taking mixed in:

The fact that so many leftists would support a play which shows our President being assassinated is evil & disgusting #ShakespeareInTheTrump

— @_Makada_

But theater nerds, Shakespeare fans, English majors, and people who remember high school all stepped up. The results were glorious.

There were:

ShakespeareInTheTrump To covfefe or not to covfefe? What was the question?

— @The__Rumpus

Here are my contributions:

It is a tweet told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." #ShakespeareInTheTrump

— @NGrossman81

The Merchant of Menace (featuring Steve Bannon as Shylock) #ShakespeareInTheTrump

— @NGrossman81

Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished: For never was a story of more mushner Than this of Ivanka and her Kushner #ShakespeareInTheTrump

— @NGrossman81

Little Marco Lyin' Ted Crooked Hillary Poor Yorick #ShakespeareInTheTrump

— @NGrossman81

Do you bite your thumb at us sir? -I don't know. A lot of people are saying there's been thumb biting. You tell me. #ShakespeareInTheTrump

— @NGrossman81

You guys are just as bad as ISIS" -protester at #JuliusCaesar Harsh. ISIS' version is authentically all male, but terribly acted and staged

— @NGrossman81

Here are some of my favorites by others:

@sarahkendzior As You Leak It #ShakespeareInTheTrump

— @swagjoegreely

Much Ado About Crowd Size #ShakespeareInTheTrump

— @lyn_cade

Fox & Friends, Russians, and the easily duped, Lend me yor ears! I come not to sanction Putin, but to praise him" #ShakespeareInTheTrump

— @RealDonalDrumpf