Continue Watching for Banquo

The Breakfast Club

This movie is the story of a day in Saturday detention for five students: a rebel/criminal, a princess, an outcast, a nerd, and a jock/athlete. Although these students come from "different walks of life," they tell their individual stories, and everyone starts to see each in a different, more positive way. At the end of the movie, detention is over, and the five students get into their respective parents' cars. During the fade out, the rebel/criminal walks across the football field to the song of "Don't You (Forget About Me)."

Banquo would recommend this movie mainly for the final famous song, as he ensures that Macbeth will not forget about him and what he did when his ghost haunts Macbeth during the banquet scene. Also, Banquo would appreciate the message that there is more to people besides stereotypes and what you see on the outside (i.e. Macbeth isn't actually a trustworthy leader). This relates to the motif of appearance vs. reality in the play.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The third movie in the Harry Potter series follows Harry, Ron, and Hermione at Hogwarts, but it also covers the mysterious character of Sirius Black, who is held responsible for the assisting with the murder of Harry's parents. We learn at the end, though, that it was never him after all; instead, it was Peter Pettigrew, and unfortunately, he escapes.

Banquo would most likely love all Harry Potter movies because of the supernatural, but he would recommend this one in particular because of Professor Trelawney's prophecy. Trelawney, the divination teacher, makes the prophecy that Peter will break free and reunite with Lord Voldemort. However, when Harry hears this, he assumes that she means Sirius.

Banquo would feel a personal connection to this prophecy scene, for it was the three witches' prophecy that ultimately led to his own murder. He would recommend this movie to send the message that witches' prophecies end up becoming true through action and that you have to listen to them closely to understand.

Any Disney show

Disney shows are intended for a young audience, so each one's content is clean and familial. For example, episodes of The Wiggles contain healthy life lessons such as nutrition. They made lots of songs about what a healthy lifestyle looks like, and my favorite when I was little was the "Fruit Salad" song (see below).

Banquo would love the down-home, clean Disney shows with positive messages and without displays of negative character traits and/or actions. Throughout the play, Banquo's character is brave and ambitious, yet he does not commit murder to fulfill the prophecy like Macbeth does. In Disney words, Banquo is the "good guy," while Macbeth is the "bad guy." Banquo would want to send out the message to the young "bad guys" that doing the right thing and making good life choices, like he did, is important.

Brain Games, "Morality"

This particular episode of the series Brain Games focuses on morality and where it comes from. Does it come from the brain or from society's expectations? It provides trials for the viewer that "test the strength of moral fiber." The episode reveals in the end that the outside world has great influence on one's morality.

Banquo would recommend this episode because of the message it would send to Macbeth and others similar to Macbeth. He would challenge Macbeth's actions as immoral, while he would consider his own decisions in the play to be moral. He would also want to try to understand why Macbeth did what he did, and exploring how the human mind functions is a good way to start. Banquo would apply the episode's claim that the outside world influences morality to Macbeth decisions. With that, the prophecy, desire for power, and Lady Macbeth all play a role in Macbeth's choices.

http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/macbeth/characters.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/synopsis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2cUscfxfiE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB4MNu6W9sg
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4430376/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhKOAH3Kn3k

Lights, camera, ACTION, Macbeth

Chaucer-like disclaimer: I am taking a risk at the beginning of this post when I briefly reveal a few personal items.

When I was going through a tough time in my life when my parents divorced, I became a fairly spiritual person. With the help of various supporters, I learned to accept the drastic life changes that were occurring and that they were happening for a reason.  I grew to know that this was a part of God's plan for me; He was teaching me early on that life isn't easy.  

With that being said, I believe that the events in my life are in accordance to God's plan for me. However, I also think that I am in control of my actions.  I am the one who decides how to handle each situation that I come across.  As an example, I was the one who made decisions about how to split time between my parents during that difficult time.

Even though I believe in God's "fate," or plan,  Shakespeare did not; it can be seen through his play, Macbeth, that he believed that people are in complete control of their actions.  Through this text, Shakespeare demonstrates his view that fate plays little to no role in life events.  He argues through the character of Macbeth that actions are choices that have substantial effects on the future.

When Macbeth receives the prophecy from the three witches, his actions, not fate, determine the rest of the play, as Shakespeare and I would agree.  It is not fate that drives Macbeth to kill Duncan. Instead, the murder is a power-hungry decision that he made to fulfill the prophecy.  (Of course, he couldn't have done it without the assistance of Lady Macbeth, whose persuasive tactics vary from mockery to encouragement).

However, the final decision to kill Duncan was utterly in the hands of Macbeth.  Once that action was complete, there was no turning back, as indicated when he states, "We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it," in Act III Scene II.  By saying this, Macbeth declares that there is more that he needs to do to fulfill the prophecy, such as order the murders of Banquo and Fleance in the previous scene of Act III.

As can be seen through these examples from the text, Macbeth's actions are not driven by fate, but by his desire for success and power.  He makes things (mainly murder of people who are in the way of his prophecy) happen himself, without the contribution of a higher power to assist him.




Macbeth will DO anything for his 15 minutes of fame... and can you imagine Miley's actions driven by fate? C'mon- she is in complete control of her (questionable) actions.


http://memecrunch.com/meme/SXOA/macbeth-meme/image.jpg?w=586&c=1