From Windmills to Clown Costumes: A Modern Take on Classic Literature

By Division I Media & Journalism reporter Grace

In order to gain a higher knowledge of Spanish history and literature, Middle School Advanced Spanish has modernized the classic story Don Quixote, an amusing tale of perspective versus reality.  The story (narrated by Scarlett) follows Alonso Murci (played by Kory), a man who, after watching too many Batman movies, believes he is the famed hero himself. The situation worsens when he beats up a clown (played by Jamie) at a birthday party his daughter, Robina (played by Isabel), was invited to (Vilmarie plays the birthday girl, Valeria). Ultimately, Alonso ends up in jail.The movie ends 25 years in the future, when Robina becomes a lawyer for people who have been to court because of mental illnesses, Valeria is a party planner -- she prohibits clowns at her parties -- and Alonso is in a mental hospital.

Thus, the students generated a creative parallel with the classic tale of Don Quixote; the hero is an old man who, after reading too many books on knights, believes he is one himself. The situation worsens when he tries to attack windmills, believing them to be giants.

The group has recently been spending their time in Sonja’s room, recording the video. While it’s fun, the process of filmmaking takes a lot of energy and time. “Making a good quality video takes an incredibly long time,” Kory told me.“Learning your lines is incredibly important, because if everyone had learned their lines, we would have been done in 2-3 days.” Perhaps they could have finished the video sooner if they hadn’t been tilting at windmills.