Continue Watching for Macbeth

Continue Watching for Macbeth: Macbeth's Netflix Preferences and Subsequent Recommendations (in no particular order of importance) 
*SPOILERS*

1. Breaking Bad
You can't tell me Macbeth wasn't the original Walter White. The question we ask about Walt (was he a corrupted good guy or an innate, opportunity-stricken bad guy?) is the same one we deliberate over with Macbeth- do we attribute his demise to supernatural fate or the free will with which he executed his ruthless ambition? Essentially, they both put forward the question of whether or not we can justifiably attribute human actions to external circumstances. Breaking Bad details the changes in Walter White's motivation to become a meth lord in New Mexico, and the variables it encompasses are the same as Macbeth's: an open-ended opportunity (Walt's meth-cooking, Macbeth's ambiguous prophecy), the existing faculties of an individual to capitalize on the aforementioned opportunity, (Walt's chemistry background, Macbeth's ambition as a source of intrinsic motivation) and a seemingly ordinary human (...Walt, Macbeth). Just look at the similarities present in these two quotes:

Macbeth (act 5, scene 7):
"They have tied me to a stake. I
Cannot fly, 
But, bearlike, I must fight the course. 
What's he that was not born of a woman?Such a
One,
Am I to fear, or none."

Walter White (season 4, episode 6)
"You clearly don't know who you're talking to, so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am THE danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot and you think that of me? No. I am the one who knocks" 

Here, Macbeth and Walt are both establishing themselves as Invictus-type figures. Both have begun their journey- Walt has become the notorious and reputable Heisenberg, Macbeth is deeply invested in his ascension to unfettered kingship- and both have developed to become figures self-deluded with the idea of invincibility and authority and a perception of fear as weakness. I'd imagine that Macbeth finds a certain degree of comfort in Breaking Bad- "I'm not alone, my dudes! Hank is basically Banquo, and if Walt murdered him, I can do the same!" Basically, Breaking Bad is the show that gives Macbeth emotional solace via its situational likeness. He'd probably recommend it to anyone who feels like they're just an aimless social anomaly (don't we all consider ourselves discontinuities in some form or fashion)? 

2. Good Will Hunting
Macbeth is constantly struggling with what it means to be a man, particularly in lieu of Lady Macbeth's continual criticism of her husband's masculinity. He's got an idea, she's got an idea, and society has an idea, and where they do and do not overlap undoubtedly wreaks havoc upon Macbeth's understanding of how to fulfill the expectations of his imposed gender. A similar affair occurs in Good Will Hunting- Will, who's a mathematical genius with conflicting mental turmoil resultant of a corrupted past- is faced with the opinions of everyone without truly being consulted for his own. Though Good Will Hunting focuses more on the idea of success, Will's individual definition of success is intertwined with love, and Will's love is headed to California for medical school. The inner battle born of external opinions and emotion vs. logic is certainly one that Macbeth and Will share. 

Lady Macbeth (act 1, scene 5)
"Yet I do fear thy nature; 
It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way:
Though wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition,
But without
The illness should attend
It."

Sean McGuire (Will Hunting's therapist)
"... If I ask you about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus of your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and be truly happy... I'd ask you about love, you'd quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wouldn't know what it's like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything through cancer. And you wouldn't know about sleeping sitting up there in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in yours eyes that the terms 'visiting hours' don't apply to you. You don't know about real loss, 'cause it only occurs when you've loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt you've ever dared to love anybody that much. I look at you... I don't see an intelligent, confident man... I see a cocky, scared shitless kid." 

Watching Good Will Hunting would indubitably give Macbeth some comfort knowing that masculinity isn't as straightforward as people like Lady Macbeth make it seem. As the audience, we can see that clearly. After all, in Macbeth, you're supposed to dismiss your kindness for selfishness, but in Good Will Hunting, you're supposed to completely reduce yourself for the love of your life? (???) Well, which is it? Poor Macbeth is looking for affirmation that his confusion about the idea of masculinity is justified, and Good Will Hunting's parallel character would give it to him. Both men are simply attempting to navigate the tricky terrain that is finding out what you, without the influence of anyone else, want from life. Add this catharsis-bringing show to the list alongside Breaking Bad.

3. The Lobster
The Lobster is dark, dark, dark- in its dystopian world, you must fall in love and find a mate within 45 days or be transformed into an animal. It's a commentary on the superficialness of 21st century relationships, and it's something Macbeth might be interested in seeing, because Macbeth's idea of love develops wildly over the course of the play. Shakespeare doesn't suggest much about what Macbeth's original dynamic with Lady Macbeth was, and because of that, the audience is left to speculation. However, in the thick of things, it might interest Macbeth to be informed of something as left-fielded as the nature of the relationship of The Lobster's protagonist David. 

Macbeth (act 5, scene 2)
"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, 
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing." 

Short-Sighted Woman (David's lover)
"We've developed a code so that we can communicate with each other even in front of the others without them knowing. When we turn our heads to the left it means, 'I love you more than anything in the world,' and when we turn our heads to the right it means, 'Watch out, we're in danger.' When we raise our left arm it means, 'I want to dance in your arms,' when we make a fist and put it behind our backs it means, 'Let's fuck.' The code grew and grew as time went by and we could talk about almost anything without even opening our mouths."

David and Short-Sighted Woman share a bizarre form of intimacy and equitability that I believe Macbeth would be fascinated by. He and Lady Macbeth are both relatively dominant individuals (as are David and Short-Sighted Woman). Thus, the nature of their partnership as exclusively predicated upon passionate, nonverbal communication would hopefully provoke reflection about Macbeth's relationship with Lady Macbeth, especially given that the development of both relationships in play and film take starkly different courses. The factors of time and circumstance manifest uniquely in each relationship- whereas Macbeth becomes cool and callous, Short-Sighted Woman and David adapt. Perhaps it'd provide a platform for Macbeth to think critically about love and compatibility. 

4. John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City 
We all need a feel-good show, and I like to think that Macbeth has a comedic stroke in him. John Mulaney is just so... John Mulaney, and Macbeth is just so... Macbeth. In my mind, Macbeth looks at a man like John Mulaney doin' his thing on stage and thinks, "you know, that's the kind of confidence I need to have in my life." John Mulaney is the incentive for Macbeth to be as openly candid and transparent about his ambitions as he is, because John Mulaney has made it this far in life by literally just being John Mulaney. 

Lady Macbeth (quoting from Macbeth's letter, act 1, scene 5)
"...This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou might'st not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it on thy heart, and farewell." 

John Mulaney
"Your opinion doesn't matter in elementary school. It matters in college. College is just your opinion. Just raising your hand and being like, "I think Emily Dickinson's a lesbian.' And they're like, 'partial credit.' It's like a whole thing."

At the end of the day, I'd say it goes back to that idea of masculinity that Macbeth is always grappling with. I'd posit that seeing someone like John Mulaney, who's really just an ordinary guy well-received by an audience for his candor, is refreshing to someone like Macbeth, who may feel pressure to conceal his passions due to fear of social reception. At least with Lady Macbeth, and at least originally, the two of them are partners in crime- super equal, super cool with one another. Perhaps we can thank John Mulaney for empowering Macbeth let his guard down like that, even if it is only around his wife.

5. Blue Planet II
The idea of ambiguity is a crucial facet in Macbeth, and it's the same concept that would draw Macbeth in for Blue Planet II. As we've so extensively discussed in class, the open-endedness of the wyrd sisters' prophecy is what makes the plot of Macbeth so compelling. Did Macbeth follow through with something that was predetermined or did he make that determination by reading too much into aforementioned prophecy and actualizing his own merciless interpretation? There's evidence to go both ways. Plus, it's a rule of psychological thumb that the more you present something ambiguously, the more your audience will relate because they'll fill in the cracks with their own interpretation. In fact, there are certain statements that palm-readers and such professionals utilize in order to make it seem as though you're reading into your psyche, when really, they're just putting down blanket statements that you're actively crafting to fit your mind. "You seem lonely," I could say to a random stranger. Random stranger recalls failed relationships, occasionally Friday-nights binge-ice-cream-pint sessions, and awkward interactions with their boss at work. Random stranger probably has a great life- but they say, "You're right. I am lonely." It's the same deal with Macbeth watching Blue Planet II. As much as Macbeth can identify with real characters, I bet he also feels for the aquatic organism floating across his screen. Just look at this fish: 

It has a see-through brain so that it can keep an eye out for predators above. Crazy! Macbeth looks at this, sighs, and thinks, "Wow. I feel for this fish. I am this fish. The perpetual threat of Banquo, Fleance, Macduff, Malcom... I, too, am a transparent-brained inhabitant of the deep ocean." *Insert catharsis* Poor Macbeth, always on the lookout, sufficiently endangered as to empathize with the sea.