Olivia Bridges (2019)

The Shakespeare play Twelfth Night centers around Viola, a young woman who upon arriving at Illyria after a shipwreck poses as a eunuch, Cesario, to serve under the Duke of Illyria. In doing so, Viola’s task is to woo Olivia on the Duke’s behalf. Like any good comedy, conflicts arise when the plans go awry and Olivia falls in love with Viola’s alter-ego Cesario; however, all ends well with everyone nicely paired away and Viola and the Duke together. In 2006, director Andy Flickman took a twist on the classic Shakespeare play in the Hollywood movie She’s The Man. Unlike in the play Viola, played by Amanda Bynes, poses as her brother not the eunuch Cesario. The lack of the character Cesario takes away from the progressiveness of the film by excluding other gender identities. Additionally, the movie plays on stereotypical gender identities and societal expectations for women, such as participation in debutante balls. She’s The Man, presents stricter gender roles, but in terms of sexuality the play and the movie are equally strict. The Shakespearean play, Twelfth Night is presented as gender fluid as it acknowledges other gender identities, while its Hollywood rendition She’s The Man has sexist notions of gender roles; however, both the film and the play deter from homosexual relationships and creates an environment of homophobia.

In the play Twelfth Night, Viola cross-dresses as a eunuch and by doing so, the play acknowledges other gender identities and creates an aura of gender fluidity as Viola can transition between female and eunuch. Upon arriving at Illyria, Viola decides she will not pose as herself, rather she will pose as a eunuch and serve Orsino, the Duke of Illyria. “Conceal me what I am, and be my aid/ For such disguises as haply shall become/The form of my intent. I’ll serve this duke./thou shalt present me as a eunuch to him (Shakespeare 169).” Viola’s decision to crossdress as a eunuch allows for the recognition of a third gender identity. Said recognition is significant because most plays and even films have characters who only identify as cis female or cis male. This means, the individual was born within the standard gender binary definition of what is female and male and does not identify as transgender or nonbinary. A eunuch on the other hand does not does not identify as female or male and is an own gender of itself. By presenting Viola as a eunuch one could argue other gender identities could be accepted in Illyria as Viola is accepted. Additionally, when Viola’s true gender is revealed she does not face repercussions for crossdressing. Illyria itself creates an environment that allows Viola to crossdress. Putting the time period into consideration, the existence of a play that romanticizes crossdressing and has more than one gender identity is incredibly progress. Even more so than She’s The Man because in the movie all of the characters are presented as one-dimensional stereotypes that fall in line with standards of gender expectations. However, the presence of a third gender in Twelfth Night breaks away from said standards.

Despite the fact the movie She’s The Man came out in 2006, centuries after Twelfth Night, it is far less progressive. The primary issue in She’s The Man is Viola’s soccer team is cut and she is not allowed to try out for the boy’s soccer team. Cornwall’s coach claims that girls simply are not as good as boys. “You’re all excellent players. But girls aren’t as fast as boys. Or strong. Or athletic. This is not me talking. It’s a scientific fact Girls can’t beat boys. It’s as simple as that (She’s The Man 4:54-5:09).” Rather than arguing the coach is violating her rights to an equal education which is a violation under Title IX, Viola pretends to be her brother and tries out for Illyria’s team. The soccer plot line immediately put Viola in an disempowered position. Instead of presenting Viola as a strong independent woman who will fight for her right for equal opportunity after facing sex-based oppression, she plays into the oppression. She believes the only way to play soccer is if she pretends to be a boy. Viola must first earn her spot on the team as a male before being accepted as a female. The movie creates a pyramid of power with males at the top. When Viola’s identity is discovered the Illyria coach claims: “Listen, pal. You’re in Illyria.We don’t discriminate based on gender (She’s The Man 1:29:49 -1:29:52).” However, like Cornwall, Illyria does not appear to have a girl’s soccer team. Throughout the duration of the film there is no mention of a girl’s soccer team at Illyria, which is a co-ed boarding school. If they truly did not discriminate based on sex, a girl’s soccer team should have been present in the film.

Unlike Twelfth Night, in the movie She’s The Man, Illyria creates an environment with unrealistic gender expectations. While there are multiple examples of female stereotypes, the most prevalent example is the debutante ball. The ball promotes the expectation for females to be proper young ladies, objectifying their agency to their own bodies through means such as the kissing booth. Viola initially expressed her objections to the debutante ball, calling the tradition archaic. She only agreed to participate in order to pursue her own agenda; however, by the end of the movie Viola changes her stance on debutantes. While there is nothing wrong with Viola embracing her femininity the decision is uncharacteristic. The timing of the debutante ball is used for the movie’s own devices in order to move the plot forward and have a clean ending. The ball takes place shortly after Viola’s coming out, it signals her reversion back to womanhood. Prior to the start of the ball Viola promises Duke that she will no longer crossdress: “Okay, but just from here on in, everything would be a lot easier if you stayed a girl (She’s The Man 1:38:21-1:38:29).” When Viola presents herself at the ball she loses her agency because she has bent to the will of society. It is easier to conform to societal expectations of what is a girl and what is a boy because it alleviates transphobic tensions. Viola’s emergence at the ball underscores her previous achievement, establishing that she can be on the boy’s soccer team, but only if she maintains the clear distinction between male and female and remains a proper lady.

While Shakespeare’s play is more progressive than its modern counterpart, in terms of sexuality both the play and the movie contains homophobic angst. In Twelfth Night, when Viola’s brother, Sebastian, discovers the truth of her identity Viola refuses to hug him. “If nothing lets to make us happy both/ But this my masculine usurped attire,/ Do not embrace me till each circumstance/ Of place, time, fortune do cohere and jump/That I am Viola—which to confirm (Shakespeare 341). ” One could argue Viola in part did not want to embrace Sebastian due to stigmas attached to men hugging each other as Viola has already expressed confusion about homosexual relationships due to Olivia’s feeling towards her. Conversely, in She’s The Man, Duke expresses frustration after Viola speaks to him in her real voice while still posing as Sebastian. After embracing each other in fear of the tarantula in the room, Duke claims the voice confused him. Duke’s claim implies he was experiencing homosexual feeling towards Sebastian or at the very least recognized how their embrace could be interpreted. His frustration stems from homophobia. Additionally, when Duke asks Viola to remain a girl because it would make their relationship easier the underlying tone of the conversation expresses homophobia. If Viola were to continue to crossdress Duke would essentially be entering a homosexual relationship, which, according to previous scenes he is abjectly against.

The anxiety around the appearance of a homosexual relationship is not the only source of lack of progressiveness in terms of sexuality. Both the film and the play contains gay characters: Antonio and Paul. While both the characters are vastly different—with Paul portrayed as the stereotypical gay best friend—both men are closeted. Neither the movie nor the play have an official coming out for either character. So while they may heavily imply the characters are gay, homophobic tensions prevents them from having an official coming out because it would mean addressing sexuality and taking a stance on the matter. Neither one wants to do so because both express confusion about homosexuality. Take for example, Viola’s confusion when she discovers Olivia’s feelings in the play. Her confusion can be interpreted as confusion about homosexual feelings in general. Furthermore, Antonio claims he had a run in with the law in Illyria. Despite the lack of confirmation one can infer his situation in Illyria may have to do with his sexual orientation. However, as stated, it is never confirmed which falls in line with Shakespeare’s apparent desire not to take a stance on sexuality despite his fascination with crossdressing. In She’s The Man, the movie stereotypes Paul to indicate his sexual orientation to the audience without having to directly address homosexuality, but in doing so the film unintentionally expresses homophobia by proving their lack of knowledge of the LGBTQ+ community. The movie then further expresses homophobia when the Principle of Illyria pokes fun at coming out of the closet by comparing it to going bald. “There’s gonna be a time when you’ll have to come out of the closet and just accept yourself for who you are. A baldy. Okay (She’s The Man 39:40-39:43)?” So, while the movie does not directly address sexuality, it expresses homophobic feelings without actively coming out as homophobic. However, while both the play and the movie are equally strict on sexuality it is important to put the time period into consideration. Twelfth Night was written centuries before She’s the Man, with this in mind, Twelfth Night should be considered progressive because of the inclusion of a gay character rather than omitting one as many plays did in the early 1600’s.

Despite the fact Twelfth Night and She’s The Man follow similar plot lines, Twelfth Night is more progressive than its Hollywood counterpart on issues such as crossdressing, gender identity, and female expectations. This is in part due to the inclusion of Viola’s crossdressing alter-ego Cesario because Cesario does not identify as a male, rather Cesario identifies as a eunuch. Unlike in the play, Viola in She’s The Man does identify as a male and omits the third gender identity. Further, the movie has unrealistic gender expectations for women and paints them as submissive debutantes. However, while Twelfth Night is more progressive than She’s The Man when addressing gender, they both have strict views on sexuality. Of the two gay characters, Antonio and Paul, neither one has an official coming out. Thus, one can interpret the decision to keep the characters closeted as homophobic; however, while the movie and the play takes similar stances on sexuality, Twelfth Night should be considered more progressive because of the time period it was written.

Works Cited

Flickman, Andy. Bynes, Amanda. “She’s The Man.” Youtube, 2006, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=exBg5qLpd6E.

Shakespeare, William. “Twelfth Night.” The Arden Shakespeare. Bloomsbury, 1602.