Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them. – William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (Act 2, Scene 5)

So maybe a line that profound is out of place in a teen flick, but what the hey, Channing Tatum pulled it off. His character Duke Orsino said it to Viola (played by Amanda Bynes) when she told him the truth of her identity in the romantic comedy She’s the Man. I just have to give it to Amanda; she’s really the man, with her freaky boyish facial expressions and movements.

I’ve only read one Shakespeare play in my entire life (The Merchant of Venice), and found it interesting but pretty tedious so I’m not sure if I’m going to ever read another one. But if I do decide to read one more Shakespeare before I die, it will probably be Twelfth Night, the play where the movie She’s the Man was based.

Here are some interesting similarities and differences between the play Twelfth Night and the movie She’s the Man:

– The names used in both the movie and the play were the same for Viola, Sebastian and Olivia.

– In both the movie and the play, Orsino tried to get Viola to help him win over Olivia, but Viola ends up falling in love with him instead and Olivia ends up falling in love with the male version of Viola.

– In both the movie and the play, Sebastian and Olivia got together at the end.

– In the play, Viola fell in love with Orsino, who is a Duke. In the movie, Viola fell in love with her roommate and soccer teammate named Duke Orsino.

– In the play, the country where the shipwrecked Viola found herself was named Illyria. In the movie, Illyria was the name of the school where she transferred to join the boy’s soccer team.

– In the play, Cesario was the name Viola used when she pretended to be a man (not Sebastian, since she was not impersonating her twin). In the movie, Cesario was the name of the restaurant where the high school kids hung out.

– In the movie, Duke’s best friends are named Toby and Andrew. In the play, Toby is the name of Olivia’s uncle and Andrew is the name of one of her suitors.

– In the movie, Malvolio is Malcolm’s tarantula. In the play, Malvolio is Olivia’s steward.