Throw Shakespeare in a modern context, make the setting a private high school and give it an edgy hip hop soundtrack and you've got "O", the most contreversial movie of 2001. "O", a remake of the classic play "Othello" originally written by shakespeare, follows a group of teenagers through a twisted plot of jealusy, deciet and, as with any good tragedy, death.
Odin James, played by Mekhi Phifer, is our modern day Othello. A basketball star and the upper class, private school's token negro, Odin finds himself head over heels in love with Desi, the deans beautiful daughter. It starts out as your classic boy meets girl scenario, until we meet Hugo. Hugo, the son of the coach of the basketball team, becomes insanely jealus because his father favors Odin, his star player. Playing off of the emotions of equally desperate, less intellegent classmates, Hugo manages to string together a plot so shocking and evil, it leaves three of his peers dead.
Never just your average thriller, "O" is laced with social commentary about race. The only reason Odin attends the mostly white private school is his athletic ability, like Biggie Smalls once said if your young and black "either you sell rock or you got a wicked jump shot." In this case, it was a wicked jump shot that made Odin James the star of his team and one of the most popular guys in school, that is until he had a violent outburst during a practice, then he was just another nigger to the same people who had been his best friends.
In the end Odin kills Desi, then himself. In the final, gripping scene, Odin delivers a powerful monologue asking everyone to remember that what he did, what he was about to do, had nothing to do with his race or where he came from (even though you know that's the way they'll tell it anyway).
This movie is a bold retelling of a classic theme. Jealusy really is a powerful drug and it can make you do things that you never dreamed you were capable of.
