Harmy wrote:

none said:

Should I feel wronged and disturbed as I saw 'West Side Story' before reading 'Romeo and Juliet'?

Yes.

Before Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' (1591-1595) was Arthur Brooke's 'The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet' (1562) and William Painter's 'Palace of Pleasure' (1582). Ovid's Metamorphoses (year 8) had a story called 'Phyramus and Thisbe', guess the plot. How many generations does one have to endure to appreciate the latest and greatest. I understand this undercuts some of the imaginary value people place onto the quote original star wars unquote. but geesh if Shakespeare wrote his version less then 30 years after another version, think of all the versions between Ovid and Shakespeares. Why these things are popular, I can only investigate and speculate. Society chooses which versions continue on. Each individual playing their part to retell their favorite tales, carrying them from generation to generation. Sure the pessimism underlying this topic is sad, but that sadness stems from our limited brains. Waste your time blaming evolution or the deities of your choice.

On the main topic, i'm still waiting to see a really phucking crappy degenerated washed out old film print version.