Why Exaggerating Stereotypes Progresses Our Empathy From Contemporary Perspectives
Initially I was upset with Julie Taymor’s portrayal of Caliban. In my prior explication I revealed Caliban’s humane and graceful qualities. I looked for my modern interpretation of Caliban in Taymor’s 2010 film adaptation of The Tempest, but found Caliban to be unchanged, still savage and monstrous. Exaggeration is an aspect Taymor utilizes to highlight the callousness and racism of audiences, directors, and actors who have engaged with Caliban. It seems counterintuitive, but hopefully Taymor’s humiliating Caliban progresses The Tempest audiences from apathy to a loving concern. For the same reasons we read literature with the “n” word like Huck Finn, Taymor continues and exaggerates Caliban’s savage nature, so that we learn from our wrongs and progress. This mockery is a poignant reminder to our past racism, unjustness, and cruelty towards the indigenous populations.
The foolishness of Caliban is exaggerated when he stumbles across Stephano and Trinculo and gullibly consumes their strange liquid. This demonstrates that Caliban is a fool for blindly drinking a liquid that is given to him by strangers (I did not pick up on this until I viewed it on film). Because the liquid (alcohol) is so potent, he immediately worships them as gods and becomes their servants. It is simply a bad look. The reason it’s exaggerated is because this foolishness is unrealistic in many ways. Taymor wants us to recognize that this flippancy and fickleness probably is not even typical of a monster, let alone a slave. This abnormal, unfair, and asburd scene paints Caliban as small minded, which begins to make the viewer question the legitimacy of Caliban’s character. Is it a joke? Unfortunately it probably actually was, but I could not laugh when I saw it.
The silliness of Caliban is exaggerated when he mischievously cavorts and zig zags around the island. Stephano, Trinculo, and Calabin are all being chased by Prospera’s magical swarm of bees in retaliation to their assassination attempt on her. I honestly did not laugh at the scene’s silly nature, but rather I cringed. Taymor wants us to, but I question if it was from a loving place. See, I sympathized with Caliban, but in a unfortunately condescending way. It’s like when your friend does something embarrassing and you have sympathy for them but out of pity. Why did they do this to Caliban? Why does it feel cartoony? Maybe Caliban’s humanity has been trapped in a cartoon-like shell since his origin. I am reminded of seeing the painting across the last centuries and Caliban was dehumanized and ridiculed in nearly every one. Taymor wants us to recognize the burden that Caliban endures by being physically trapped in this cartoon like shell and searing monstrous mask that restricts his access to complex emotions and consequently our ability to see him humanely. Now I understand how callous we have all been to Caliban and also Taymor’s aspect of exaggeration so that I may recognize this poor treatment. Taymor reopens the wound that this society has inflicted on Caliban and rips apart our callousness so that we may see Caliban for who he really is: a deeply abused person. When someone is angry and screaming at you, imagine they are reaching out their arms and asking for help. That’s my conjecture to what Taymor is getting at. Further, no one acts in extreme and exaggerated ways unless they are trying to get a point across or work some sort of emotional pain out.
