Once again, it's time to dive deeply into the Shakespeare-related material in The Office—deeper than the broadcast episodes or even the deleted scenes.
This time, we're heading to the Season 8 webisodes.
In "The Girl Next Door," we're presented with a music video that Ryan and Kelly and Erin have made. Not far into it, we get another of several references to Romeo and Juliet in The Office . . . together with a more-unexpected use of Antony and Cleopatra:
Romeo and Juliet are used—as they often are—as shorthand for the most desirable romantic relationship imaginable. Then Antony and Cleopatra are brought in for the same purpose. And then we get the pay off. Here are the relevant lyrics of the clip above:
Kelly's Role:
I'm just the girl next door,
But that's how it goes:
You only see me
As one of your bros.
Erin's Role:
I'm rich and I'm skinny
And I have high self esteem.
People say that I could be
A pageant queen.
Kelly's Role:
We could be just like Juliet and Romeo—
Cleopatra and Mark Antony
Both Together:
Or Marc Anthony and Jay Lo!
Once ShakespeareGeek explained to me that the last line was about the 2004 to 2014 marriage of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, I saw the humor in that. To my credit, though, I had already picked up on the Shakespeare by that point.
It's in Kelley's character to understand Shakespearean romantic couples by means of a contemporary and (to her) more relevant pairing.
But the overall message is clear: Keep searching for Shakespeare! He may turn up in the most unexpected places.
[As a side note, the song itself is reminiscent of some mid-twenty-oughts Taylor Swift.]
Links: The Episode at IMDB.
Click below to purchase the season from amazon.com
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).
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